Sometimes I'm like !*$&@

My aunt came over for dinner last night. Her friend/neighbor has a ball python, so I took her upstairs to see the snake rack. She's freaked out by snakes but was fine with checking them out. So I slid Panndor's tub out (I call him the puppydog; he's the one I always take out when people are over because he is SO docile) and my aunt just gasps and goes, "He's just in that little thing!" She was absolutely shocked that he stayed in just a 41 qt tub with one hide and a water bowl. I explained to her that his needs are met, and he spends 98% of his time in the hide, and is perfectly content that way. She didn't mention any specifics about her friends husbandry, but given her reaction, I'm picturing a 50 gallon tank filled with all kinds of crap... whatever... So I'm chitchatting, holding Panndor and letting him do his thing, and suddenly she mentions, "Oh yeah, my friend walks around the neighborhood with her snake around her neck everyday." I must have such a look of horror on my face. She goes, "Oh the snake just loves it." I go, "No, your friend needs to read a book." My aunt was obviously kind of aggrevated by this, and kept insisting, "The snake loves it! He does!" We live in the scorching south, by the way. I was like yeah right, she needs to read a book about her snake, he's probably stressed as hell by that. Next, she asked if I fed mice. I said I fed rats weekly, and she was shocked as hell by this too. She goes, "My friend feeds once a month." I said wow, why in the hell does she do that. She insists the snake would never eat more than that, how could someone possibly feed more than once a month. I was sufficiently aggrevated but didn't want to put off a relative, so I just said again, "Yeah, she really should read a book."

I'm not sure if I'm more aggrevated with this woman's utter naivety towards a pet she's had for three years, or my aunt's constant validating of her friends "facts".

Anyway, yeah... :nerd:

I think we need bp.net business cards for situations like this...

some snazzy catch phrase er something..

"go here...get educated...ball-pythons.net"

Its called "the herd effect"...

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Originally Posted by nathanledet

I think we need bp.net business cards for situations like this...

some snazzy catch phrase er something..

"go here...get educated...ball-pythons.net"

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You know that sounds like an excellent idea. "Stop being a DB to your snake -- Go to bp.net!"

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Originally Posted by nathanledet

I think we need bp.net business cards for situations like this...

some snazzy catch phrase er something..

"go here...get educated...ball-pythons.net"

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Now THAT'S an idea!

Unfortunately many ppl don't even care enough to spend the time online to find out what they are doing wrong...

Justin

Aren't you supposed to have 2 identical hides?

btw, i didn't know snake around one's neck is bad for the snake. I've seen people doing that all the time with pythons and boas.

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Originally Posted by hammerhead

Aren't you supposed to have 2 identical hides?

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Depends entirely on the setup. Most often, especially with someone starting out with a basic tank set-up, two hides is ideal. But if set up differently, they're not always needed. The enclosure itself, in a rack, acts as a hide because it is pretty dark and secure.

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Originally Posted by jkobylka

Now THAT'S an idea!

Unfortunately many ppl don't even care enough to spend the time online to find out what they are doing wrong...

Justin

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That's true. Still might be worth the effort though.

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Originally Posted by hammerhead

Aren't you supposed to have 2 identical hides?

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I think it depends on your set up. Most people with a rack system only have one hide. I typically only use one hide because the backs of the rack are already dark enough...

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btw, i didn't know snake around one's neck is bad for the snake. I've seen people doing that all the time with pythons and boas.

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I wouldn't say it's "bad". You'd be surprised at how tolerant some snakes are if they're used to the situation. I went to a club once and a girl was walking around the club with a ginormous red tail boa on her shoulders. I asked her how it ate and she said it's a beast every week during feeding time. The boa was very docile and appeared comfortable in a loud club. Now, I wouldn't condone that type of showing off, but I think it simply goes to show that snakes are pretty tolerant.

Ever since I built my rack, there really hasn't been the need for a second hide. If my snakes prefer the opposite side, they just lounge openly in the other end of the tub. It's dark and quiet, and a very low-traffic room, so they are perfectly comfy.

I don't think it's a good idea to walk around a neighborhood in the blazing heat, with a good chance of dogs being around. And it is pretty much plain showing off. My red tail, funny enough, probably wouldn't mind it. My bp, however, won't eat if I take him out more than 3 times a week.

Nice thread title change too.:rofl:

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Originally Posted by JLC

Depends entirely on the setup. Most often, especially with someone starting out with a basic tank set-up, two hides is ideal. But if set up differently, they're not always needed. The enclosure itself, in a rack, acts as a hide because it is pretty dark and secure.

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yep, thats what I was thinking.

Ive got this before also, about my leopard geckos. my friends sometimes say, how can they survive in that etc. no use explaining to them, they dont get it haha

I hate that, when people see my racks full of snakes and think that I'm just hoarding as many snakes as I can into the smallest possible space for my own twisted and careless amusement. One of my girlfriend's friends once went off on her saying how my snakes are going to die and how horrible I am for keeping snakes in tubs with no light or space to crawl around and excersise.

I think the business cards are a great idea. Maybe we can even have Adam come up with a test, then BP.net can print persanalized cards for members.

Ball-Pythons.net
The World's Largest Knowledgable
Ball Python Community

Jake Wallace
Certified Ball Python Expert
w/ appropriate sized tub housing

Visit ball-pythons.net and
learn your head from your @$$, sucka

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Originally Posted by PythonWallace

Maybe we can even have Adam come up with a test

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heh?

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then BP.net can print persanalized cards for members.

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In theory, it'd be nice. In reality, it's MUCH cheaper to print a few thousand of only one card.

I'm thinking it would probably be easier to have something like this at the bottom:

Referred by: ____________________

if you hand a card out, you write your username down.

One time I got yelled at for NOT letting Milton run all over the house! This girl couldn't believe I imprison him (and I use an aquarium setup!).

How about a pamphlet that users can print out- something that looks pretty cool and has a bunch of common myths on it! We could put quotes in from the top breeders in the world (heck, we have some of them as members!), and maybe a few zoo experts. Also, maybe we could put a basic caresheet on the back.

That would give us an easy way to educate without people taking it wrong- we could just say 'Hey, I found this great information...'

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Originally Posted by nathanledet

heh?




In theory, it'd be nice. In reality, it's MUCH cheaper to print a few thousand of only one card.

I'm thinking it would probably be easier to have something like this at the bottom:

Referred by: ____________________

if you hand a card out, you write your username down.

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Next time I'll try to make it more obvious that I'm joking :)

Ouch.. this sounds like the classic older-school snake keeper response to the more contemporary use of tubs that we prefer. :) People that visit us often comment in amazement on the "dresser drawers" our snakes live in, as if we are folding them up like laundry and storing them. I explain that..
Number one: The tubs have just about the same amount of floor space as a tank that you'd keep the snake in.. and none of that unneeded open-air space that is hard to heat and unnecessary for ground-dwelling BPs
Number two: a rack of 7 tubs is much less space-comsuming than 7 tanks!!
Also: I refer them to any big breeder's site. These people that know what they are doing and are dealing successfully in the husbandry of hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of snakes sometimes. If they use racks, I use racks.. go with the pros' husbandry, not the pet store down the road!

Bussines cards sound good. Members could purchase a small amount from the site and fill in their user name on referral line. I'm sure many people would be interested in buying some. I see too many people doing things wrong and never have a pen and paper handy to give the site address out.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

Ouch.. this sounds like the classic older-school snake keeper response to the more contemporary use of tubs that we prefer. :) People that visit us often comment in amazement on the "dresser drawers" our snakes live in, as if we are folding them up like laundry and storing them. I explain that..
Number one: The tubs have just about the same amount of floor space as a tank that you'd keep the snake in.. and none of that unneeded open-air space that is hard to heat and unnecessary for ground-dwelling BPs
Number two: a rack of 7 tubs is much less space-comsuming than 7 tanks!!
Also: I refer them to any big breeder's site. These people that know what they are doing and are dealing successfully in the husbandry of hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of snakes sometimes. If they use racks, I use racks.. go with the pros' husbandry, not the pet store down the road!

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I'll be honest and admit that when I first found this site and was reading through a bunch of the threads even before I became a member, I was a little shocked that people kept their snakes in tubs. But that was because I had never heard of that before. I had seen petstores keep some snakes in tubs that weren't out on display yet, and had wondered why they do that. But the more that I read and learned from this site, the more that I understood better the basic needs of snakes, and now I have a snake tub of my own (although I hope to have many more tubs with snakes in them in the future!!:))

I do think that the business card idea is a good idea also. And though many owners may not take the time to look online to even do minimal research in proper care for their reptiles, I think that even if (ie.) a hundred cards were passed out and it attracted one new member to this site, the cards would have been well worth it. Just my opinion!!:)

1. i like your hair

2. she apparently doesn't know, and was probably told by the pet store she got it from how to care for it, let her know about bp.net, and we'll hook her up

3. i like your hair

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Originally Posted by hammerhead

btw, i didn't know snake around one's neck is bad for the snake. I've seen people doing that all the time with pythons and boas.

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physically holding a snake around your neck is not harmful to the animal but may be for the holder(depending on the species).

the people you see doing it all the time are most likely people who crave attention and know little about the animal that they care for. also the people doing this are most likely unaware of the extra stress they are putting on their animal and most likely give out incorrect information to curious bystanders or scare the hell out of others.

either way it is not too great for the animal and for the image of all us reptile owners out there.

and just because something is seen all the time does not necessarily make it okay. am i right? :snake:

i totally have no problem with the tubs people keep there pythons in i will prolly go to them when i have so many tanks i have to (i build my own for a fraction of the ones you buy at pet shops) i also could sell them for good money later to invest in more morphs
i also believe that if the conditions out are right and your not at the dang amusement park its fine to have them outside if your responsible enough to keep it safe... i had my first one out plenty of times in the 7 years i had him
for just my peace of mind i like to keep mine in large tanks short but kinda long so the snake can stretch out(hell i stretch alot after sitting on here for hours reading about morphs so why shouldnt my baby be able to also ::snake: ) also i like to be able to view the python without disturbing it as much ( unfortunately my male died at the age of about 14 he waas prior owned and twards his later years of me having him had been bitten badly by a fiesty rat (grabbed way to far back)which i later brutally murdered.... he refused to eat i did what i could but he eventually lost the fight)
now that i have written a book on here im gonna go stare at my new pair of 100% het albino balls for a few

all in all though people who own pets do need to learn as much as possible about there needs

by the way i know that pre killed animals are better for the snakes safety but at the time i had no way of getting them in that manner unless i did it myself......which if i cant get them easily this time its rat slaughterhouse time

Yeah, it rubs me the wrong way too, seeing people traipse around all day with their snake around their neck. Granted, if the weather is nice, and you're tooling around at home and maybe want to show the neighbors or take some pics, that is fine.. but wandering around all day with a poor stressed-out snake attached to you? Seems kinda lame to me.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

Yeah, it rubs me the wrong way too, seeing people traipse around all day with their snake around their neck. Granted, if the weather is nice, and you're tooling around at home and maybe want to show the neighbors or take some pics, that is fine.. but wandering around all day with a poor stressed-out snake attached to you? Seems kinda lame to me.

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Agreed....

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Originally Posted by reediculous

1. i like your hair

2. she apparently doesn't know, and was probably told by the pet store she got it from how to care for it, let her know about bp.net, and we'll hook her up

3. i like your hair

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LOL I get the feeling you like my hair? :D Thanks!

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Originally Posted by BoGarda420

which i later brutally murdered....

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i dont mean to be an a$$ but you seem pretty new so ill inform you that many people here keep and breed rats as feeders and as pets and may not appreciate that type of disrespect towards them. just be a little wiser with your wording...

thanks!

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Originally Posted by bigballs

i dont mean to be an a$$ but you seem pretty new so ill inform you that many people here keep and breed rats as feeders and as pets and may not appreciate that type of disrespect towards them. just be a little wiser with your wording...

thanks!

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yeah, i was just wondering why you would brutally murder an animal for defending itself against a deadly predator....