Beginner's husbandry mistakes

We were all beginners once-upon-a-time, and for a lot of the people on this site, they're still beginners too!
I know almost all of us have probably made bad husbandry mistakes here and there-- especially about some of the things that we as herp keepers generally warn people against on a semi-daily basis.

What were some of your early husbandry mistakes when you were starting out, if any?

I was one of the people who were misinformed by bad pet stores and the like and believed what they were saying and when I look back on my experience while learning, sometimes I want to smack myself.

1. My very first snake ever was a BCI that I had gotten from a pet store. When discussing the species, I had been informed that they were just as good a beginner pet as a corn snake. Oi.
2. I had a heat rock at one point.
3. I used unregulated heat sources other than the heat rock.

Thankfully I was lucky enough that no harm ever came to the snake, who was re-homed when we had to move about a year into her care.

Anybody else have a similar history?

I would probably still be feeding Nessie too small if I'd listened to the pet store. They told me once every three to four weeks was plenty for a BP. Eesh.

My sister is a vet tech who worked with BPs at the Toronto zoo in the past and I made some bad husbandry mistakes from what she was taught there.

They said a heat lamp is a must as they like to bask also tree branches as they are "tree climbers".
I was also told that feeding inside the same enclosure is 100% not allowed as they get very aggressive. Oh and as close to 50% of the floor should be water. And a hide is not mandatory.

Needless to say after discovering this site I've been trying to get them to change the housing situation at the zoo through my sister.

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The biggest one for me was that I was told there is no need for a thermostat because the reptiles will move if they are too hot, that an the stick on thermometer was "highly accurate" so no need for a digital one.

Relying on stick-on digital thermometers and hygrometers! Oh, and thinking that the snake was the most expensive part of the hobby! Haha

I did not have a computer for the first few years i had BPs. The only information i had was what i read from old books, and from the pet store i worked at. I kept a pair in a 55 gallon tank, with giant tree branches that i got outside, used liquid crystal stick on thermometers, and unregulated heat sources. I gave my female a pretty bad belly burn :(. I also loved to take my snakes with me everywhere, all the time. That was 15+ years ago. I also had a clutch of eggs every year that i couldnt hatch. I didnt have an incubator and didnt know how to make one. It wasnt until i made friends with a few breeders at a reptile show did i realize i was doing everything wrong. A little while later i found this site :D. A newbie and not-so-new bie can learn a lot from here. ;)

sent from my incubator

50% water? whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat that's insane

I had the same mistake of a lamp too-- well not really mistake but an unnecessary measure that my snake didn't care about.

I also was told that if they're hot they'll just ~move~

I came to this site after becoming not-so-newbie-ish and I have to say I've learned a lot from here too. I wish I had people like everyone here back when I was 10 and got my first snake.

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Originally Posted by tpkaos

My sister is a vet tech who worked with BPs at the Toronto zoo in the past and I made some bad husbandry mistakes from what she was taught there.

They said a heat lamp is a must as they like to bask also tree branches as they are "tree climbers".
I was also told that feeding inside the same enclosure is 100% not allowed as they get very aggressive. Oh and as close to 50% of the floor should be water. And a hide is not mandatory.

Needless to say after discovering this site I've been trying to get them to change the housing situation at the zoo through my sister.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

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And zoos and vets are the 'experts'....

Letting the stupid pet store lady talking me into getting a tank. I should of gone the PVC route to begin with. I think I spent 100 or 150 for a 20gal tank set. That's a lot of money when I only ever used the tank/screen top/ and dome fixtures. The bulbs were wrong for it, water bowl too small, hide not secure enough, and the dials crap.

Relying on advice from a local big box pet store, where I was told:
- A mouse pinkie is an adequate meal for a 100 gram BP
- All snakes have mites (well the ones in your store do!)
- You don't need a thermostat for a UTH because the snake will move if it gets too hot
- Tanks are fine for ball pythons
- The half-log wooden hides are fine for ball pythons
- Analog thermometers and hygrometers are plenty accurate
- Ball pythons can co-habitate just fine

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Relying on advice from a local big box pet store, where I was told:
- A mouse pinkie is an adequate meal for a 100 gram BP
- All snakes have mites (well the ones in your store do!)
- You don't need a thermostat for a UTH because the snake will move if it gets too hot
- Tanks are fine for ball pythons
- The half-log wooden hides are fine for ball pythons
- Analog thermometers and hygrometers are plenty accurate
- Ball pythons can co-habitate just fine

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I got told all the same things when I got my first BP back in the early 90s. I also got told that they didn't need hardly any humidity because they come from the desert in Africa. That it was normal for them to shed in pieces because of that. Oh and I also got told that play sand from the hardware store was a good substrate for them as well. Also got told they only need to be fed once every 3 weeks.

Oi, the memories...

1. Unregulated heat rock
2. Screen top with maybe 30% humidity max
3. Fed once a month
4. Always fed in a seperate container because BP's can get aggressive
5. No hide

All of this came from the "snake expert" at the local pet store. He also has a herp club meeting at the store every month. It lasted half a year and then he stopped because no one came back. Now I know why!

I think I made all of them. :rofl:

Bought an assist feeder import from a store I shouldn't have. Tried aquarium gravel as a substrate with an unregulated heat mat inside the tank and a light bulb on a mesh topped tank ( guarded at least ) to provide the hot end. Housed multiple snakes in one huge viv (with a ceramic on a thermostat ) and not a thought of quarantine when I got more, knew nothing about humidity or accurate temps.

Joined here and got schooled - and it turned out to be the best thing ever for my snakes. Though I acted a bit butt-hurt at first. :oops:


dr del

Use UTH thats unregulated! My lesser got a minor burn; you guys might remember that post. That was probably my biggest issue because I took someone's word for it. Not much of anything else yet but I'm breeding this year so Uh oh lol

With my corn I got a few months ago, I was only using a 50W day bulb for the warm side for about a month before getting a thermostat and UTH (luckily the tank was always hovering around 75F so she never had any regurges or anything).

Not a huge thing, but in my reading as I was preparing to get my boa, I kept reading on care sheets that you should always feed in a separate enclosure. So I did that for about a month. And now at over five feet there is no way I would want to move her in feeding mode. I'm definitely glad I feed in the cage now.

I tried cheaping out on a thermostat!
:please:

Ohh boy... I am sure I will lose a lot of respect for this one... But here goes.. When I was about 10 I had to have a green anole. In my science class we kept them and I just had to have my own. I begged my parents and they agreed and took me to a local petshop. My mother bought all the essentials. a 10 gallon lights substrate heaters all the jazz. Of course at 10 I assumed my mother was the end all expert at everything but sadly she was not... We brought 2 anoles home, my mom set up their cage. I was so proud of my very own anole terrarium! I invited my friend over to marvel at my new pets and we left for dinner shorty thereafter. When I got home I rushed in to my room to check out my kritters but they weren't too active.... A little too well done for my taste.... My mothers anole setup in hindsight was much more of an easy bake oven. Poor little guys. I had owned them for not even a few hours. I was so distraught it would take years to bring home another reptile and when I did my mother certainly did not provide husbandry advice.

When I was 12, I caught a copperhead (I named Gary), sneaked it into my room and hid it in a plastic tub and stuck it in the closet. I didn't have a adequate heat source, or a hide, nor food (fed it fish out of my mom's aquarium). This went on for a couple weeks, and my mom spots me catching a fish out of her aquarium, follows me to my room and sees me feeding Gary....I tell you what, she was a very unhappy mommy, and them dreaded words "WAIT UNTIL YOUR DAD GETS HOME" has been spoken.

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Originally Posted by winglesshornet

When I was 12, I caught a copperhead (I named Gary), sneaked it into my room and hid it in a plastic tub and stuck it in the closet.

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Part of me says A for effort, because you clearly really wanted a snake. The other part of me is thinking, well you know...:O

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Relying on advice from a local big box pet store, where I was told:
- A mouse pinkie is an adequate meal for a 100 gram BP
- All snakes have mites (well the ones in your store do!)
- You don't need a thermostat for a UTH because the snake will move if it gets too hot
- Tanks are fine for ball pythons
- The half-log wooden hidee for ball pythons
- Analog thermometers and hygrometers are plenty accurate
- Ball pythons can co-habitate just fine

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Whats wrong with them, I use to half log hides and he uses them all the time, there are other hides too but he choses the half logs, I use a Terapod vivarium designed for reptiles which is a 'tank' and it works fine for me, he uses all the space and even climbs up the vines at night and analog hydrometers made by zoo-med are fine, I use one and well according when my snake sheds well, its completely right

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Originally Posted by Badgemash

Part of me says A for effort, because you clearly really wanted a snake. The other part of me is thinking, well you know...:O

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Yeah that was many years ago and I was always trying to catch critters when I was a kid. Now its like "What was I thinking?". Did I know it is venomous, most likely. For husbandry mistakes, that one would really be my big first screw up. A little later down the road when I wanted a critter, Mom and Dad would make me have a way to support it (like working on a farm, or mowing grass for people, etc.) and learn everything about that specific specie of animal I can, before i can get it.

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Originally Posted by SnakeDoctor

Whats wrong with them, I use to half log hides and he uses them all the time, there are other hides too but he choses the half logs, I use a Terapod vivarium designed for reptiles which is a 'tank' and it works fine for me, he uses all the space and even climbs up the vines at night and analog hydrometers made by zoo-med are fine, I use one and well according when my snake sheds well, its completely right

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Tank = fish tank with screen top
Every one of my half-log hides eventually molded, I burned them in the wood stove.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by winglesshornet

When I was 12, I caught a copperhead (I named Gary), sneaked it into my room and hid it in a plastic tub and stuck it in the closet.

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Filed under "seemed like a good idea at the time."

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