Did you know you all are "no better than Google?"

[Hypancistrus]

Was talking with a girl on my crested gecko FB page and she's been using coconut oil and water to get stuck shed off of her cresties toes. I mentioned that I have a BP who is having shed issues that have resisted my many attempts to solve them and wondered if she had ever used this on snakes.

So this one keyboard commando launches in to me about how my husbandry is clearly terrible. If only I had a humid hide the snake could fix the problem itself.

I said no really, I've tried humid hides, she won't use them. Have also tried misting in and around her favorite hide, putting damp moss in her favorite hide, adding a giant water bowl with a heat lamp above to increase humidity, etc, etc. The only thing that has worked to get the shed off is something I got here... putting her in a shoe box of tepid water with a towel for a little while, and then letting her run through the towel.

So she keeps badgering me... heat lamps are terrible and they dry it out... UTH's are the way to go. I have one I said. Well is it on a thermostat? YOU'LL COOK YOUR SNAKE. I said "Really, I've been keeping snakes over 10 years and BP's since 2007, I know these things," I'm trying to be as polite as possible and this woman just. won't. stop. badgering.

She finally tells me I need to join a ball python group on Facebook so "experts with 100's of BPs can tell me all I am doing wrong" with my BPs (nevermind that the other one is fine and has no shed issues at all). I said "Well how about Ball-Python.net, I've been a member there since 2009."

And that is when she told me that BP.net is "no better than google." At which point I said peace out.

[OhhWatALoser]

You must of not read the welcome screen when you joined an animal facebook group. it says "Welcome, there is only one way to take care of an animal and your logic and experience doesn't matter."

[Hypancistrus]

You must of not read the welcome screen when you joined an animal facebook group. it says "Welcome, there is only one way to take care of an animal and your logic and experience doesn't matter."

Yes, that seems to be par for the course!! I must have missed the fine print.

[MarkS]

Did you ask her how long she's been keeping snakes? I've noticed that people who have successfully kept a snake alive for a year or two are the only TRUE experts and if your husbandry skill varies from their experience (or at least the experience of someone else who has kept a snake alive for a year or two and are therefore an expert that THEY trust) you are WRONG WRONG WRONG...

[Hypancistrus]

Did you ask her how long she's been keeping snakes? I've noticed that people who have successfully kept a snake alive for a year or two are the only TRUE experts and if your husbandry skill varies from their experience (or at least the experience of someone else who has kept a snake alive for a year or two and are therefore an expert that THEY trust) you are WRONG WRONG WRONG...

I did not, Mark. But I can tell you that I took a peak at her profile pic and I think she may possibly have been in middle school when I was successfully raising my first BPs.

[M.P.C]

Was she trying to get you to join "the ball python people" because she sounds like a member from that group, bunch of people who swear they know everything, but give a ton of wrong info and when you correct the wrong information you get grilled by the admins and a threat to boot if it happens again.

[Hypancistrus]

She encouraged me to join the "ball python enthusiasts" FB group.

[blue roses]

And this is the reason i refuse to get a face book account nor join a face book group,. I'll stay here where the real experts are thank you.

[M.P.C]

Ball python enthusiest isnt a bad group, im part of that one and everyone on there is helpful and knowledgeable... Only problem i have is the constant flow of people who claim to have read a ton of info and done all their research on bp care and always need to know what the basic husbendry is supposed to be like, what they should be using for heat or supstrate... But for the most part all the facebook groups ive joined are alot worse and the peolple running them arent much better or even mature at having discussions... Its just our way or you get the boot.

Here everyone is helpful, kind and appears to just be a big group of people with a common goal of helping THE SNAKE before holding someones hand

[Hypancistrus]

I struggle a bit with the crested gecko group myself. It seems to be very "all or nothing." For instance... it is impossible to keep more than one crested gecko successfully together. It does not work. They will die horrible deaths. And yet... I've done so several times in the past with females and it was okay. My personal favorite piece of knowledge they spread is relating to caging. According to the crested gecko FB group, an 18" square ExoTerra can BARELY hold one crested gecko... and it's absolute cruelty to keep a crestie in such squalor. They feel that an 18"x18"x24" ET is the minimum for an adult crestie. And that will only hold ONE crestie of course.

I just bought an 18"x18"x24" for my new day geckos and it seems overly large for two of them. I cannot imagine only housing one crestie in it. What a waste of space. My smaller females and adult males do quite well in 12"x12"x18" vivs, and my largest female is happy in a 20 gallon. But perhaps it's because my geckos don't have a FB account and aren't "enlightened."