The "Simple" Questions

This came from a comment in another thread about answering "simple" questions. Just my thoughts and certainly not meant to be directed specifically at any member new or old here so please don't take offense but instead see this thread for what it is.

Simple questions, those posted over and over by newcomers to owning herps....are they that "simple". For those of you that breed large numbers of snakes, they must feel that way. You know this stuff like you know your own social security number and you've likely answered these questions about a million times. I've only been in this hobby a couple of years and I know I have and sometimes I don't want to quote temps or humidity yet again or answer yet another "it won't eat or shed right" thread.

But these are not "simple" questions really. This is information that will help a newcomer and could save a snake's life folks. We all know that most feeding issues are based in husbandry problems. That improper housing/husbandry can lead to a snake that is likely to end up with an RI, belly rot, etc. Certainly not simple stuff, it's actually quite vital.

Sure new owners should all do their homework, have their enclosures running perfect and buy from reputable breeders but we know this is often not the case. We are coming into the time of year when petstores have a lot of baby BP's and we see a lot of new owners that have gotten little to no information about how to care for their petstore purchases (or even worse, horribly incorrect information).

I was once a new owner, heck I'm a nervous wreck being a newbie breeder this year. I can feel for these folks and I can remember coming to BPNet and feeling dumb as dirt. I started thread after thread and thread after thread I got the right answers, I got patience from the members and I got encouragement. I'm sure a lot of my questions made experienced folks roll their eyes but they dug in and they answered my every question or concern. They helped me and Mike learn to care properly for our snakes and to feel proud of ourselves and confident enough to be able to pass that help along to others down the road.

I remember feeling actually shocked that Kara from NERD, Adam Wysocki and Joe Compel would even bother with a question from little ole nobody me but they did and they seemed quite happy to be of help. They showed me what a caring snake breeder is all about. They set a bar high that I strive to someday meet in my own small way.

So please, next time the question seems too "simple" remember the day you got your first snake, maybe it was even before the internet, remember how scary and confusing it could be, or how you worried that asking a question on a forum might get you laughed at or looked down on. Remember that if you, the experienced person, don't step up and help, then someone with far less experience will and the results could be less than good.

Remember that when you lead by example you are building someone up to be a good leader themselves one day. :)

Standing ovation - awesome post Joanna!


It's my hope that some of the breeders here would lead by Adam's example and actually help out with the "simple" questions. Some wonder why Adam has so much respect here - it's because he's dug his heels in and rolled up his sleeves to help new owners, he wasn't just posting pictures, or just answering morph or breeding questions, but answering the more important questions - how to get your snake set up properly and eating reliably.

Anytime a new breeder joins here, I'm always hopeful that they'll jump in there and help with husbandry and general questions, not just in PM's that helps only one person. I really can't get my arms around why they wouldn't be more willing to contribute on these type of questions. :confuzd: Unless there's some other agenda? :rolleyes:

I don't get it either Robin but I'm hoping that this thread might encourage more of those with experience to step up to the plate. In the end it won't do anyone any good if you spend your cash on a high dollar morph but you don't understand the basics of snake keeping in the first place. Teaching proper care, sharing one's own passion for the snakes, well I think that only encourages new owners and in the end is good for business (if one wants to look at it from a purely business point of view).

Personally I think that's the smartest marketing tool around but what do I know, I'm not a breeder.......yet. :)

Jo....simply one of the best posts I've read in a LONG time. :clap: You're awesome, girl!!

Around here...it shouldn't be about who's big and who's little....but just about who's willing to help and who isn't. And if someone isn't....that's ok. Just realize that it gets noticed...and it means something.

Kinda funny you posted this, I was actually asking "simple" questions only like 3 days ago? and now with the help of everyone on this site I set up my cage and my cousin who is experienced with BP's was asking me for help re-configuring his cage to work as well as mine does haha I found that pretty funny. and before getting my BP I was nervous as hell and now i'm pretty confident and not so afraid or worried about messing up. I've even learned A LOT about BP genetics which I find extremely interesting. So thanks guys. I'll be sure to help out where I can :]

It certainly does get noticed and I often wonder Judy if some of the breeders just don't recognize the value of this sort of thing. Here's my own experience as an example....

Back when Mike and I were contemplating our first morph we looked around....here, other ad driven sites, etc. We searched a LOT of websites and sure we got all impressed with pictures and nice flashy logo's, who doesn't. In the end though we went with Adam Wysocki and his participation in BPNet is in large part why he got our hard earned money. Not purely because he produces great snakes or ships them so perfectly (though that of course matters) but because he's here, day in and day out. Answering the most basic of questions, answering the much harder breeding/morph questions, joking around, sharing his passion. Adam helped us with snakes he didn't even sell us, had zip financial gain for doing so but he did. This gave us a level of confidence in purchasing that just cannot be bought with the standard type of online marketing tool.

Now fast forward to our own dreams of one day selling snakes we produced. Will my participation in BPNet help that endeavor....sure it will and I'd be six kinds of fool to not recognize this. Do I help out only working toward that end....nope. I help when I can because I like to help, I love seeing new owners succeed and snakes thrive. It's a great way of paying back this wonderful site for all it did and still does for me and Mike. Do I recognize that when someday someone is thinking about choosing our snakes for their purchase that this site will influence that decision....sure I do and I darn well appreciate that.

I think the best breeders, small or large, know that passion and good business sense work hand in hand. You can have all the passion in the world but if you have no head for business, you will fail. If you are here only to make some bucks off some snakes, we'll know and we won't buy and you'll fail.

Show me your passion for snakes....I'll show you my cash. :)

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Originally Posted by Kennyxemerson

Kinda funny you posted this, I was actually asking "simple" questions only like 3 days ago? and now with the help of everyone on this site I set up my cage and my cousin who is experienced with BP's was asking me for help re-configuring his cage to work as well as mine does haha I found that pretty funny. and before getting my BP I was nervous as hell and now i'm pretty confident and not so afraid or worried about messing up. I've even learned A LOT about BP genetics which I find extremely interesting. So thanks guys. I'll be sure to help out where I can :]

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Bingo! All the talk of breeding and marketing....that's what it's still all about around here! :)

Fantastic post Jo! Its what a lot of the so called breeders will never get, and why they are destined for failure. Anyone can breed an animal, but that is just a small piece of the puzzle. Customer service is a key to all business but in my opinion, nowhere is it more important than in the animal trade. Customer service is more than just being there after the sale, its about showing people your passion and caring before you have collected a penny.

Great post Joe.

I knew after last night you guys would attack away so that is fine. Here is the deal I don't have the time that a lot of others on here do. I have a job that is very demanding and I work 12hour night shifts so I don't get much sleep also I have a family so that takes time also. If I had the time to answer everyone's questions I would but then again if I respond someone would call me a know it all so it can be a double edged sword. I help out everyone who has ever bought from me and I have helped a few people on here already. All you have to do is pick the phone I am real easy to talk to. Now I am sorry if I offended you by calling them the simple questions. Also I know that when I got into this in 03 there was a ton of information on the internet. Ralph's website for one helped me out a lot. You can research so much on this website by just doing a search.

Anyways attack away that is cool! I will help out whoever I can and they contact me anytime you will find I always get back to you.

Brock Wagner

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Originally Posted by Brock Wagner

If I had the time to answer everyone's questions I would

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Maybe I can help with some time management advice? ... you seem to find the time to post pictures .... how about mixing it up a little bit and posting a few less pics and answering a few more questions? I think the entire community here would appreciate it!

There's no attack here ... I think that all anyone would ask is that if you're going to come here and promote yourself, give a little back to the community ... This is a tight group of very very good people and someone with your 3 years or so of experience would be a valuable resource to new people that haven't figured out the search feature and are just looking for the best possible information

Remember, back when you started, I'm pretty sure that you were emailing breeders with questions and even though they were all very busy, they took the time to answer you as best they could ... share some of that knowledge brother, it feels good! :sweeet:

Hope to see you become a valued member here Brock!

-adam

I think that I even called you Adam! Oh those were the days. If you only knew how busy that is cool. I am actually shy about answering questions online believe or not because you never want to give the wrong advice! I had some spare time so I took pics this weekend I know that you would never believe that. Trust me I know that this is your website I will help out the best I can!

:sabduel:
Brock

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Originally Posted by Brock Wagner

Trust me I know that this is your website I will help out the best I can!

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Sorry buddy ... not my site at all ... I'm honored to be a member here just like everyone else and I pay to run a couple of banners and support the site because it's given me so much over the years, but that's where it ends. I've just been here a long time and help out as much as I can (I'm busy too with owning 2 companies, familiy, friends, church, etc) .... during that time by posting as much as I have, Ive become very fortunate to have made many friends here that are very good to me.

-adam

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Originally Posted by Brock Wagner

You can research so much on this website by just doing a search.

Anyways attack away that is cool! I will help out whoever I can and they contact me anytime you will find I always get back to you.

Brock Wagner

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Brock this is not an attack from me. And I am with you the search is great. How ever I did a quick search for: Tank setup, and got this.

http://www.wildmorphs.com/forum/1.jpg

thats 500 threads not post to go through to find the answer to their specific question.

so I narrowed it down I put quotes around it "Tank Setup" And got this.
http://www.wildmorphs.com/forum/3.jpg

Ok now its only 98 threads.
See people can search but its hard to find a specific answer without tons of time.

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

See people can search but its hard to find a specific answer without tons of time.

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your exactly right!

example...Yesterday I was trying to show my husband the pics of the bp that ate the other and I could NOT find it! I know it was in a couple threads but I couldn't find the link to the pic. Could somebody tell me where that is??? please. :please: and thank you ;)

Is this the page your looking for meme?



clicky

there was one with a boa as well somewhere but I can't seem to find it in my saved links. :oops:



dr del

Jo http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...reTheWoman.gif, great post.

Great great post Jo!!!

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Originally Posted by dr del

Is this the page your looking for meme?
clicky
dr del

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Why yes it is! ;) thank you :blowkiss:

Great post Jo... and if anyone feels like this thread is an attack at them... perhaps they should consider why they feel that way.

awesome post btw!

both ways that you look at it. If you are helping someone with "simple" questions, you feel good both about yourself and for the person asking the question. and for the person recieving answers (much like myself), they feel good when their questions get answered. the giver and reciever both feel like the community is all around them.

read my sig people! :D :rockon:

great post!! i remember when i first came here i had questions and felt a bit shy about asking but eventually i realized that the people here are here to help me.

Brock I've been out all day so am just catching up on this thread. First I'll address your post. You haven't been around here long hon but anyone that knows me online or off will tell you if I wanted to address a problem I had with you, it would get addressed straight up. There would be no confusion about who I was talking about or what I was concerned about. I don't start threads that hint or double speak about members. Neither do I participate in online "attacks" which quite honestly are cowardly and I believe pretty far beneath the sort of person I strive to be. I come by the nickname of a "mouthy broad" quite honestly and carry it quite proudly. :) I'll spell it out for you Brock, I have no problem with you at all, I don't know you well enough to have made that sort of decision, you simply made me think.

When I think, I post threads to see who is thinking along those lines too and get a feel for the community here. I'd actually been speaking with another member about a month ago about this very topic, so basically your choice of words simply brought it back to the forefront of my rather busy brain. If you see it for more than that, that would be your problem Brock not mine but I'm sorry if you do as that was not my intent (and I thought I covered this in the first paragraph in my original post).

Although I try to respond to posts, I don't usually post to a thread if someone else has already offered the information asked for. If someone posts on here and says "What temps should my ball python's cage be at?" I'll actually go grab my book to double-check. Yeah, I know.. I'm OCD that way. But generally by the time I've gotten around to checking the forums here, someone else has already beaten me to answering it.
I talk to a LOT of people every day, and when they ask me the same dumb question over again, I think of the fact that to them, it's the first time they've asked it. They don't have a clue that I've answered it 100 times already. All they know is that maybe I've got that information they want. So they ask. So... I answer, and I try to even answer with a smile and some encouragement.
Sometimes it's gritting the teeth more than smiling.. but it's an attempt.
With animals it's easier, since you can ALWAYS rationalize that you are helping the animal by stating ONE MORE TIME.. "No, ball pythons do better when housed alone, never house two or more together." It might be the 500th time YOU'VE said that... but it's probaly the FIRST time THEY'VE asked it.
Good post OP, and good responses.
Brock, you shouldn't feel defensive for not having more time to answer questions here. But if you feel you are 'fed up' with questions on a particular night, then don't answer. Someone else will be along to answer, and that way you don't have to feel you got 'short' with someone because you might be tired or grumpy. I've had nights that I refuse to post responses at all here.. not becuase the posts I read are particularly stupid, simple, or bad.. but because I'm pretty sure *I* am grumpy and would snap or post snidely.
I'm not saying you did, BTW, I don't know what post you posted that you were referring to. The advice is just as valid for Adam as it is for Brock, or Jamie, or Joanna or myself! I'm pretty sure we all get tired of answering the same 'simple' or 'obvious' questions. Just step back when it happens, and let it pass. You'll be all happy and raring to answer newbies questions later on!
Wolfy

I love me some fiesty women!

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Originally Posted by tmlowe5704

I love me some fiesty women!

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I thought last night you were saying that a weak pulse is all ya need? :confuzd: ;) :P

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

I thought last night you were saying that a weak pulse is all ya need? :confuzd: ;) :P

-adam

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:8: :8: :8: :8: :8:

Ohhh fiesty is so much nicer than the b word that rhymes with witch. I like it, I like it! :D

Awesome posts Jo! Said in a very effective way :)

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

In the end though we went with Adam Wysocki and his participation in BPNet is in large part why he got our hard earned money. Not purely because he produces great snakes or ships them so perfectly (though that of course matters) but because he's here, day in and day out. Answering the most basic of questions, answering the much harder breeding/morph questions, joking around, sharing his passion. Adam helped us with snakes he didn't even sell us, had zip financial gain for doing so but he did. This gave us a level of confidence in purchasing that just cannot be bought with the standard type of online marketing tool.

Show me your passion for snakes....I'll show you my cash. :)

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That's the reason Adam has gotten my business. And the reason anyone else would. If your to big to answer questions then your to big for me :)

Well darn it all I have to spread some rep around before I can come back to you Jotay honey! Great post!

I think another part of this participation thing is how we often see newcomers that post a pic or pose a question about their snake and put in "it's just a normal". Almost every single one of us started out with normals, most of us have a number of normals in our collections and we value them highly. I think though for a newcomer to BPNet, when they see all these lovely morphs they can get a bit overwhelmed and think we are morph snobs and their snakes won't count for much around here. Nothing of course is further from the truth.

The more though that we welcome, encourage, educate and support our newcomers, the more we help them see their normals are as valued as any high dollar morph. Robin put it so very well in a recent phone conversation so I hope she won't mind if I quote her...."they are just snakes with a different paint job". I'm very proud that here at BPNet we care as much for the $50.00 PetCo purchased snake as we do the expensive morph. We show that over and over by our participation in the questions that naturally come with that snake's purchase.

I'm very proud of breeders here that treat their normals as they do their morphs. They set a wonderful standard. :)

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Robin put it so very well in a recent phone conversation so I hope she won't mind if I quote her...."they are just snakes with a different paint job". :)

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Actually.....I said "they are all ball pythons, just with a different paint job. Doesn't change their requirments one whit". Bless your heart.......

Oh hush up Robin! I have way too much blood in my caffiene system to remember anything right now. Juan more coffee por favor! (and as my granny would have said "bless your pea pickin heart"....why she said that I haven't a clue! lol)

nice post jo! alot of us agree completely.




your avatar cracks me up! :)



vaughn

For whats it's worth Brock has helped me out a ton over the past month or two. He responded to a thread I posted and then sent me a pm asking me to give him a call sometime. Since that day I've been picking his brain on a regular basis and have racked up several hours in cell phone minutes all with my newbie questions and nothing related to buying or selling.

just me two cents. larry

Thank you Larry but again perhaps I've not been terribly clear. This thread is NOT about Brock. It's not about any member or breeder specifically. It's not an attack or a backdoor way of slamming anyone or questioning anyone's helpfullness. It may well have come out of a comment Brock made but I think I've explained more than once, it simply brought a brewing issue in my mind to the forefront. Therefore I asked the community to basically examine what they think of this sort of thing - more of a self-examination I hope that an attempt to point fingers.

Nice post Jo...I'm normally a lurker. I've been around native herps most of my life. After reading your post and wanting to start taking part in some of the contests, I decided to try to become a more active member here. I'm always nervous to post because I don't want to get slammed if I'm misinformed on the subject I'm posting about.

GREAT post Jo!! I agree!! I know of a forum that extremely dislikes the simple questions.....But thoughs forums will never bee like ours!! BP.net RCOKS!:carrot:

Keith, one of the best things about BPNet in my opinion is that we have the expanse of experience here. From the newer keeper who can simply share the recommended temps and their own experience as a newcomer all the way up to breeders with 100's of snakes and everything in between. As long as you are speaking from your experience level and have common sense I think no one will ever call you on it. We might disagree on certain aspects of husbandry but I think to the most part that is kept fairly nice and respectful of each other's ways.

Thanks Vaughn! I love my silly avatars! :) Yep Justin, this place truly ROCKS!

Great post Joanna, you helped me a lot and I appreciate it.

This is a wonderful forum. I had a bad first experience and you guys helped me thru it, patiently. FF made a call to the herp vet to try and help me. You just can't get any better than you guys. http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/...oticons7/6.gif

Helping each other out, sharing the ups and downs is a big part of why BPNet is in my opinion the best site of this type out there Faith. The fact is though in your sharing this experience with us, so many of us have learned from you too. I know as much as I can read about an eggbound snake, reading your direct experience taught me much more about what can be done to try and get the snake through it. Your dedication and determination to save your snake is a shining example as well that where there's life, there's hope and giving up without a hell of a try isn't an option.

great thread!

i find my time is really limited here but i try to find any threads which don't have a response yet - and if i know the answer (or think i know the answer), i respond.

obviously i don't know (anywhere close to) everything and i can only respond from my own experience and from the knowledge i've gathered from reading threads, websites and books... but i try to assist others. :hug:

excellent post lass. one sky covers the world ....we all breathe air ...so we all the same in effect.....good to see an online COMMUNITY of peeps that care enought about there own Herps AND those of others ...very very refreshing ...Kudos to you all

Royal Tartan

I can't imagine a day without a visit to BPNet and all you wonderful folks. :)