Am I the only one who notices this?

It's sad, but like others have said most people don't join forums, or even look up more than one care sheet (if they look at all). They trust that the petstore will tell them how to take care of the animal, which is a crapshoot at best (as someone who knows an employee who cares for her own snakes and works in the reptile section at a Petco, I can't say they're all bad)

My BP does just fine in a 55 gallon tank! I have fake Ivy for her the covers the whole bottom. She does not freak out from to large of a enclosure :mad: In fact she tends to enjoy it :) Feeding time I place the mouse on top of the screen (get the smell going) she comes out of the hide and posts up in the ivy. From there she waits in ambush to eat. The funy thing is she goes to the side away from the hide (even though I remove hide for feed) to do this! So she obviously knows her area, and is not scared of it!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FatBoy

"BP.net guidelines????? That seems like an unfair statement. Many breeders has worked for YEARS observing these animals in captivity and in the wild. They took all the information gathered in the wild (which is how the snakes "want" to live) and tried to make captivity as close as they could. They live in burrow holes in the wild so we give them hides and realize they like tight spaces. They stress out when approached in open areas in the wild so we give them small enclosures. When drug out of burrows in the wild there was always one snake so we feel it's better to keep them housed seperately...I could go on and on. Bottom line is BP.net did not send a group of members to Africa to gather all this information. The members here, or most of them, feel like it is best to follow the guidelines set by all these breeders that did go to Africa to observe, then spent countless hours trying to make living in captivity as close to living in the wild for these animals. I have written a care sheet...but it is truly from "0" experience (I have never been to Africa). I only follow the standards set by the great men and women that took interest in these animals and dedicated the time in learning how to take care of them. Although there may be a couple areas that can be tinkered with to find what works best for you and your animals....there is not a BP.net way of taking care of ball pythons, there is a "right way".

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I don't think she meant to insult bp net but just wanted to state that you don't have to follow the guidlines on here to a "T" to have a happy snake!