Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Now that KS has been saved by a new owner. I figured I'd make a post letting others know that they aren't alone. A few of us still hop on here from time to time.

Maybe if enough people are on here, we can go back to using KS a little more and get a break from the constant bombardment of nonsense found on FB.

Glad to see you here, Aaron !!

Thanks,
Scott

Thank you both for being here, and all you've done for the hobby!

If you guys could write an article on anything you wanted for the hobby to see, what would it be about?

There are two articles I'd be interested in writing. The first would be how different species (and even ssp.) can and arguably should be kept very differently. This ties in with the whole racks vs. tanks vs. plastic enclosures debate that rages regularly. I'm adamant that some species can be kept in all of the above without even the slightest concern, but that there are other species that absolutely shouldn't be kept in one or more of the above options. Quick example, a small mountain king or milk in a 41qt tub with deep substrate, adequate heating, snug humid hide and large clean water bowl is living the dream. While a coachwhip in anything smaller than a room sized enclosure is downright cruel. I recently did a series of very simple experiments spanning a few months with 3 milks snakes, 3 russian rats, 1 ball python, and 2 argentine boas. It was focused on heat source preference and response to UVB light. It became crystal clear that each group has different preferences towards heat and light and husbandry should be tweaked accordingly. (Spoiler, milks don't give a crap about UVB)

The second would probably be a deep dive on the Ecuadoran/Andean/Black milksnakes. While I love all milks, that's probably the group I'm most spun up on. It's also the group the average reptile keeper knows very little about. People think "they get big" and leave it at that. There's a lot going on with them if you take the time to read, obsesively analyze iNat and bombard guys like Steve Hammack, Scott Ballard, and Cole Grover with questions. I'm of the personal opinion that they should be their own species or at least considered different from both polyzona to the north and from each other. So, for example, L. m. micropholis/andesiana/gaigeae in my mind rather than L. polyzona (micropholis).