Ever feel like a crappy pet owner?

So, without going into big details, one of my parents suffered an extreme medical event on the 20th and my life has basically been in chaos. When I initially came down to be here, I couldnt even bring my girls because I was going to be at the hospital all day and didnt know when I get back home.
I finally did get them but I feel like a crappy owner. I haven't handled them and basically done the bare minimum for husbandry. And worse (for me), I keep getting Argos feeding days screwed up so she's gone a day past when she's SUPPOSED to eat twice. Tali is easier as she's on 7 days so she eats mondays but Argo is on 5 days, so it changes week to week. I was supposed to feed her yesterday, but forgot until now. I'm going to tomorrow afternoon because I've been trying to keep it around the same time each time :(


I just feel like a bad owner right now :(

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First, I am very sorry to hear about your parent and I hope that he or she is on the road to recovery.

Second, if it causes you less stress you can put the every fifth day feeder on the every-Monday schedule for a while. She won't starve.

Finally, most snakes really don't care if they are handled or not - they are fine if their basic needs (food, clean water, and a clean, comfortable environment) are met.

It happens.............. part of our life cycle. Dont beat yourself up over it.

I'm sorry to hear about your parent, and I hope they are doing better. I understand feeling like a bad owner, especially this time of year :(

Remember that reptiles are really forgiving when it comes to feeding, as they don't have schedules in the wild. They can go a while without food (enough that some people are willing to go on vacation for a week or two without worrying about feeding during that time). Yes, she is probably used to the schedule if she's been on it for a while, but she'll be fine. I've found that writing down feeding days on a calendar has been really helpful. Maybe you could try putting reminders into your phone?

I got an app called SnakeKeeper for my iPhone, because all three of mine are on 5-day feeding schedules and they are not all synched up on the same days. I can set a reminder on the app for each snake, down to the time, so I set it to the time I need to take out the feeder to defrost so that it is ready for feeding time. It has helped me stay on schedule, and has freed up some "brain space" from not constantly checking the calendar. I hope your parent is on the way to recovery. Let go of the guilt!


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Snakes can go months without food if they need to. He's not even going to notice that it's a day later than usual. He can easily switch to once a week to line up with your other one if that makes it easier for you.

That's definitely not something I would worry about.

Same with the handling. They aren't dogs or cats. They don't need the interaction like other pets do.

It's part of why some people like snakes for pets. When life things pop up, they are much more forgiving than cats/dogs/etc when it comes to feeding and interaction.

Hope your parent heals up quickly. As for the snakes, like the others said, they're just fine. They don't need or care about being handled. As long as they have a warm place to be, food, and the right humidity, they're fine. You're providing all those. And my guys sometimes have to wait a few extra days. They're just fine, if not more than willing to eat with the couple day delay.

I know the crappy owner feeling well. It grips me at the end of each semester when I only open my rack for husbandry issues or feeding. I'm combatting it this time. Last night I set up my exo-terra 36x18x18" for my big male spider Mojave. The idea being that seeing them each time I come in the room will make me stop everything else and put in some animal time.

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Sorry about your parents:(, im very forgetful to, a day wont starve your snake