My dad, who kept reptiles since he was a kid, had a great store of general husbandry knowledge that helped me not make as many mistakes. There was also this fellow, Mike, who owned the petshop where I spent as much time as I possibly could in my early years. Dad and Mike always did their best to steer me in the right(usually safer) direction - like that time I came in looking to get a baby monitor and walked out with a newborn bluey, or that time I was eyeballing the imported bloods and went home with a captive born brazilian rainbow boa. That shop did a great deal of breeding in house but I was only interested in general husbandry at the time. Still, we had a pretty good thing going. I wanted to work with as many species as possible but was limited in space. I generally bought babies and would raise them up for 2-3 years then bring them back to Mike for store credit. He received subadults in great condition for breeding stock and I got to broaden my general knowledge with yet another species. Even though I moved away Mike was always available to offer advice, via phone, for many years to come.