Reptile & Amphibian Forums

now i've only been a snake owner for about 3 weeks so I cant imagine what kind of things you have heard. these are the "reptile experts" at the local stores. feel free to add your own dumbest quotes as well. remember this is just retail stores not breeders, wholesalers, internet posters, e-mail etc. that is a whole other thread.

"All snakes are nocturnal"
"hey that snake just peed on me"
"65F is just fine for a ball python"
"BP's need lots of UVA light or they will die"
"don't bother with thermometers just feel the snake if it is cold turn the heat up"
"never use an under tank heater"
" all a bp needs is a hide some newspaper a basking light and a water dish, at night just turn the light off"
"they are supposed to take the guts out of the frozen mice, the snake will get sick if it eats them"
"ceramic heaters will kill your snake"
"we feed all our snakes live mice, but, were professionals. You should only feed frozen"

if i think of any more i'll add them.
Mike

never been peed on by a snake mike ?
usually only happens when holding on your lap, while sitting on your couch. they hypnotize you into a false sense of security, then as soon as you start watching animal planet... next thing you know you're doing unscheduled laundry.

patience, it will happen.
ck

uuum well in this case it was a very nervous pueblan milksnake, and it wasn't pee. someone will explain it to you.
mike

and yes if a large BP were to excrete urates onto me whilst watching animal planet i would not be overjoyed

Nope, milksnakes will definately pee on yah when they get freaked out. So will kingsnakes. I get peed on at work on a regular basis thanks to inexperienced customers wanting to hold a nervous little snake.

The white stuff (which can look like something more X rated) is urates, or solid urine. Lots of reptiles pee/musk/pass urates as a defense mechanism. Garter snakes can put out some pretty nasty musk if you squeeze 'em.

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

Never had to squeeze one to get it to musk. All I have to do is catch one...and pow...musked.
Had one flick it's tail and spray me all over the face. The books are right...
that stuck tastes like...well...and expletive I won't use.
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"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

"100% Het pastel"

"I used to have 20 foot male ball python"

"My wife had one of those. I bet it weighed 75 pounds."
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself

Haha! Yeah I have a few het spiders too I always hear..."sure it is fine to house your ball python with your corn snake, or burmese, or rosy boa....etc." Aren't pet stores supposed to know what they are talking about (yeah right)

I did have a customer kill her ball python with a ceramic heater though, so maybe that isn't so far from the truth! She was using CHE in a ten gallon! Now I send home buyers with a "I strongly urge you not to use a CHE" warning
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Thanks,
Amy
My Boids

it is insane how hot those things can get, i think that ceramic heaters and UTH's should all come with digital temp gauges, and some kind of basic temperature regulator. they are all ridiculously overpriced anyway, why not add a few more bucks and save some pets from cooking to death.
mike

They really aren't a bad idea IF you match em up properly with the right size tank. I've got five I use on everything from geckos to ball pythons, and nobodys fried yet

Quig
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself

"and nobodys fried yet"

Least not any of the critters!!!!

~~~~ LOL ~~~~
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Tosha
JET Pythons

Whatchewtalkinboutwillis?
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself

Try standing on the other side of the counter and listen to what the reptile EXPERT customers know. I would say we correct at least one if not five to ten people a day on their misconceptions of reptiles and their care that they were told by a local pet shop, super pet store, friend or the internet.
Bruce Delles c/o Twin Cities Reptiles
IN THE RETAIL REPTILE BUSINESS SINCE 1978

i had a customer stop by once and tell me that he had a way to train a ball python not to bite.

whenever it struck at him, he would put it in the freezer, on "time out" for 20 minutes. he did this 3 or 4 times a week. he swears the animal was learning to be "tamer".

takes all kinds!
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

if someone tries to stuff me in a freezer for 20 min you can be damn sure that they are gonna have to punish me again for it the instant they are within teeths reach of me

.
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-Jacob

Why do people say .02 cents??? So, what, your opinion is only worth a 50th of a cent?

Did you report him to the authorities?

Quig
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself

((falls off chair laughing))

This adds new meaning to "blue balls"
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Upon catching her breath she took a deep gulp and said,"you certainly have been blessed with an impressive set of regius's"
1.0 pastel Python regius
0.1 mojave Python regius
0.1 normal Python regius
0.2 Terrapene carolina thriunguis
2.3 Terrapene carolina carolina
1.4 Kinosternon baurii
1.0 Malaclemys terrapin terrapin
2.1 Ambystoma tigrinum
1.1 Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.0 anerythristic Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.1 Iowa snow Thamnophis radix
1.1 heterozygous for amelanistic,carmel, and stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 anerythristic motley Pantherophis guttatus

I've heard some ...interesting... things. Some of my favorites:

(This was an actual phone call we got at the pet store I used to work for)
"My turtle's head is falling off, what should I do?"

(another one from the old pet store
"I think my rat's pregnant, but I'm not sure. If I brought it in could you guys tell me?" "Yeah, sure."
(Few days later)
"This is the pregnant rat." "Uh... Ma'am...this rat has testicles. I don't think it can get pregnant." "Oh. I thought those were tumors."

"My ball python lives with the big boa we have at home. They're best buds, the python likes to cuddle with the boa and he rides around on the boa's back." (IBD, anyone?)

You get some pretty bizarre stuff from the customers. Everyone seems convinced that the snakes in the locked cages are poisonous - nevermind that people might steal them, they must be locked for some other reason! And I'm only trying to sell the thermometer to make their total go up, and they don't really need to heat the snake because that's just a ploy to get their money, too.
Granted, I've had people in some stores tell me ball pythons are arboreal snakes from south america, but some of the stuff customers come up with can be just as bad!

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

If your ball python only has a heat lamp and doesn't have a heat pad it will DIE!

customer asks "How long does a bearded dragon live?"
pet store owner says "I don't know...let me look it up."

A red tail boa is a GOOD starter snake

If you buy your pet food at walmart your mouse, hamster, ferret, rat whatever will suffer from malnutrition

And to top it off this lady has no idea what she gave up
she GAVE...I mean GAVE...free...an Argentine Boa just because my boyfriend hung some shelves for her...lol

Nice a free snake for hangin' some shelves. Hell, I'd do that all day for a snake like that. Nice score on that one

Shoot she had sold the snake 3 times and they brought him back cuz they were scared of the HISSING...shoot when we got him here it sounded like a cobra in the bag...lol...Here is a link to some pics of him...or her...lol
Fearless Fonzie

I worked at a vet clinic where we got the following phone call:

"My wife and I just got our first snake last month and now its eyes are cloudy and it won't eat. Is it going blind? Will it die?"

This guy couldn't tell us what kind of snake he had, and insisted on speaking to the vet even after we explained about shedding.