Facebook Groups

I’m just wondering if anyone here is part of the Ball Python Enthusiasts group on Facebook?


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Good luck with them.......

Ayup. I don't read it much or follow it though.

I was - but I NEVER posted. They are a brutal and unlikable bunch. This forum is like a home cooked meal from your favorite grandmother, that FB page is like getting mugged in a dark alley and punched in the face.

I just joined last night. All I can think thus far is.... [emoji849]


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every Hobby and every Group has its toxic people. Some even frequent here on this forum, but thats life and sometimes the best you can do is avoid and ignore them.

Try "Basement Ball Python Breeders/Hobbyist" instead, they're a little less intense and more helpful.

Me when it comes to Ball Python Groups -> :bolt::frustrate

I am a member of a few groups and it's the ones where people just show pictures of cool stuff they produce Clown Breeder Group, Pied Breeder Group, Leopard Breeder Group etc

All those groups that supposedly try to help people are usually ran by people that make themselves instant expert and usually don't have a clue, and I just can't deal with that.

Lets be honest.... the Admins of that group are just plain ignorant and if you dont agree with them they will harass and boot you.
It was interesting entertainment for about a minute.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Lets be honest.... the Admins of that group are just plain ignorant and if you dont agree with them they will harass and boot you.
It was interesting entertainment for about a minute.

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I’m just can’t believe some of the stuff I’m reading and the way people are treated. It’s like some weird cult. There’s their way and no other option. It’s ridiculous


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I left that group when someone chastised me for suggesting newspaper as a viable substrate option.

They insisted that newspaper should NEVER be used, claiming that newspaper doesn’t absorb water and that a member of their group had done a video that showed water rolling off of newspaper to prove it.....

I was like I’m not even arguing this and just left lol.




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I’m a member of that group and yea....I got chastised for saying BPs do fast....I got called out after Ramsey finally ate after 3 months....naturally they said there shouldn’t be a single reason they stop eating told me to check my husbandry....tanks are always clean plenty of clutter and hell I live in Florida....humidity isn’t a problem....


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"Not Just a Pet Rock" is a good ball python group on Facebook. Friendly and helpful and willing to ban people for getting nasty or making personal attacks. They also recommend larger and more enriched enclosures, and will help you succeed in figuring out husbandry details to make them work.

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Originally Posted by Aerries

I’m a member of that group and yea....I got chastised for saying BPs do fast....I got called out after Ramsey finally ate after 3 months....naturally they said there shouldn’t be a single reason they stop eating told me to check my husbandry....tanks are always clean plenty of clutter and hell I live in Florida....humidity isn’t a problem....


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And BPs NEVER need light. You should ONLY use a CHE. They NEVER climb for fun, only if something is wrong. And apparently Africa never gets cold at night.

I just can’t. 🤦🏻:cens0r:♀️


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i'm a member of our NW BP group and a Uroplatus group, tho i don't pay much attention really. our NW BP group is heavily controlled by one guy. like he has to approve every post which is annoying before publishing it/making it public or whateer. he had some sort of breakup and meltdown last year, moved to the SW, came back this year and was like why is this group so inactive? :rolleyes:

but the main reason why i don't like FB groups or similar social media outlets is that lack of real threads. it's hard for me to follow conversations or have real discussions, search topics, etc. unless you're constantly on top of things, it just all becomes a big clutter to me.

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Originally Posted by Ax01

i'm a member of our NW BP group and a Uroplatus group, tho i don't pay much attention really. our NW BP group is heavily controlled by one guy. like he has to approve every post which is annoying before publishing it/making it public or whateer. he had some sort of breakup and meltdown last year, moved to the SW, came back this year and was like why is this group so inactive? :rolleyes:

but the main reason why i don't like FB groups or similar social media outlets is that lack of real threads. it's hard for me to follow conversations or have real discussions, search topics, etc. unless you're constantly on top of things, it just all becomes a big clutter to me.

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Social media is much better suited for sharing media than it is for discussion. That's why I'm still on forums.... way more detailed and well-rounded of various topics etc.

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Originally Posted by alittleFREE

Social media is much better suited for sharing media than it is for discussion. That's why I'm still on forums.... way more detailed and well-rounded of various topics etc.

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totally agree!

Im in a Burm FB group. The only reason is because there isn’t a Forum for them. Burm Junkies has problems or isn’t activated anymore idk which. In all the Forums around they are grouped into “Other Pythons” etc.. which ends up being mostly Retics or Bloods..
This winter I’m thinking of working on a Sticky for this site that is for all Burm Info.


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Don't know if I'm weird, but after you talking about it in this way, I wanna try, maybe then I will be more grateful for this forum!:D

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Originally Posted by Michelle-07

Don't know if I'm weird, but after you talking about it in this way, I wanna try, maybe then I will be more grateful for this forum!:D

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If you want to be thoroughly amused and thoroughly annoyed, I highly recommend it.

I joined a handful of them and honestly, I think they’re all ridiculous. A couple of them, you can’t talk about keeping them in tanks at all or they tell you how stupid you are and that you’re killing your snake.

Some of them tell you that lights are the worst thing on the planet and your snakes will be stressed and die if you use them.

Some are of the opinion that if you spot clean and only fully clean weekly or monthly, your snake is being abused. Apparently you need to chance all substrate and deep clean every time they eliminate.

In all of them, if you don’t agree with the collective opinion of the main users, they treat you like absolute garbage....name calling, bullying and then they boot you.

It’s pretty sickening and absolutely ridiculous.


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Ohhh...and red lights damage their eyes. [emoji849]


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I couldn't really find active snake groups on FB. I didn't look under ball pythons specifically, but then, I don't have a BP...

Other than forums about managing wild snakes, I found one forum for REALLY large snakes, which was not very well attended...

and another where, again, people post ocassiaonlly and don't even answer questions to their own threads. For example, one guy posted who he built a live vivarian for his snake, with live plants. I asked what kind of plants are ok for snakes, and never got an answer....

Even online, I applied to one forum that literally never responded to my request to join...

glad we found this place!

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Originally Posted by ErostheSnake

If you want to be thoroughly amused and thoroughly annoyed, I highly recommend it.

I joined a handful of them and honestly, I think they’re all ridiculous. A couple of them, you can’t talk about keeping them in tanks at all or they tell you how stupid you are and that you’re killing your snake.

Some of them tell you that lights are the worst thing on the planet and your snakes will be stressed and die if you use them.

Some are of the opinion that if you spot clean and only fully clean weekly or monthly, your snake is being abused. Apparently you need to chance all substrate and deep clean every time they eliminate.

In all of them, if you don’t agree with the collective opinion of the main users, they treat you like absolute garbage....name calling, bullying and then they boot you.

It’s pretty sickening and absolutely ridiculous.


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[emoji1360] 🤣

🤣

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b8291786f3.png


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Forums have been losing members in recent years & people kept telling me it's because so many have gone to Facebook...how sad, knowing how they
poorly they handle questions ("our way or the highway"). I'm not a fan of FB, so I've never personally checked them out, & I'd never waste my time
on them now, for sure, having heard all this. Thanks for telling me what I'm not missing...

Rarely do I use Facebook and dont even bother joining up with a group on there. Pretty much agree with everyone else on the groups... They are rude, cruel and ridiculous! If you want to find a good group, look no further than right here. This is the best group of people I have met and they dont judge you! Thats is a plus on my book..:thumbsup:

*imagines a bp bursting into flames when the lights come on like a vampire.* :rofl:

I mentioned the "Not Just a Pet Rock" group on Facebook, which is specifically about ball pythons. But it's actually affiliated with a larger one called "Advancing Herpetological Husbandry" (which has several offshoot groups for specific common species). Great information, knowledgeable people, and moderators won't tolerate abuse.
They also have really extensive files containing articles, care sheets, and especially scientific papers. They really stress backing up claims and recommendations with research.

Also, people post gorgeous photos of amazing animals!

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Originally Posted by Coluber42

I mentioned the "Not Just a Pet Rock" group on Facebook, which is specifically about ball pythons. But it's actually affiliated with a larger one called "Advancing Herpetological Husbandry" (which has several offshoot groups for specific common species). Great information, knowledgeable people, and moderators won't tolerate abuse.
They also have really extensive files containing articles, care sheets, and especially scientific papers. They really stress backing up claims and recommendations with research.

Also, people post gorgeous photos of amazing animals!

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I joined that group as well. So far, it’s been the only one I can tolerate. :)


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That group is super aids. I don't suggest it at all.

If they are anything the automotive technician groups I'm in it can be great, terrible and everything in between.

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Originally Posted by Jnksnakes

That group is super aids. I don't suggest it at all.

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Which one?


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Originally Posted by Helonwheelz383

If they are anything the automotive technician groups I'm in it can be great, terrible and everything in between.

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That’s what my husband said about the truck groups he joined on FB.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by ErostheSnake

If you want to be thoroughly amused and thoroughly annoyed, I highly recommend it.

I joined a handful of them and honestly, I think they’re all ridiculous. A couple of them, you can’t talk about keeping them in tanks at all or they tell you how stupid you are and that you’re killing your snake.

Some of them tell you that lights are the worst thing on the planet and your snakes will be stressed and die if you use them.

Some are of the opinion that if you spot clean and only fully clean weekly or monthly, your snake is being abused. Apparently you need to chance all substrate and deep clean every time they eliminate.

In all of them, if you don’t agree with the collective opinion of the main users, they treat you like absolute garbage....name calling, bullying and then they boot you.

It’s pretty sickening and absolutely ridiculous.


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Yeah, I haven't been accepted yet, but I think I'm gonna regret and go away soon because of the way you all talk about it - it sounds awful.

I just tried to join Advanced Herpetological Husbandry and right from the get-go I see a huge red flag.

In the questions you have to answer, they state, “In this group we do not believe in minimalistic housing.”

What’s with everyone trying to make everything so black and white, right and wrong? Don’t misunderstand me - there ARE distinctly bad and good husbandry practices. But there’s also a lot of grey area in between that depends on the species, the keeper, and the individual animal. I just hate it when people are so hell bent on one particular ideology they can’t open their darn eyes to recognize that there might be a place for more than one way of doing things.

I have naturalistic-ish setups right now, so I’m obviously not against them. But it still grinds my gears because I’ve done the minimalistic route in the past and quite frankly, the only one who noticed the difference was me. The snakes behaved exactly the same and thrived regardless - talking about BPs and boas here. Other species might differ. But I want to do naturalistic right now because I have a small number of animals and it’s rewarding to me to set up the enclosures and display them in my house etc. If I had more animals, I might go back to minimalistic, because it’s easier to maintain.

It’s so frustrating.


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A lot of those Facebook groups are like the cult lol. Some I’ve got the boot some I’ve booted myself. This is one one the best in my opinion


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Originally Posted by alittleFREE

I just tried to join Advanced Herpetological Husbandry and right from the get-go I see a huge red flag.

In the questions you have to answer, they state, “In this group we do not believe in minimalistic housing.”

What’s with everyone trying to make everything so black and white, right and wrong? Don’t misunderstand me - there ARE distinctly bad and good husbandry practices. But there’s also a lot of grey area in between that depends on the species, the keeper, and the individual animal. I just hate it when people are so hell bent on one particular ideology they can’t open their darn eyes to recognize that there might be a place for more than one way of doing things.

I have naturalistic-ish setups right now, so I’m obviously not against them. But it still grinds my gears because I’ve done the minimalistic route in the past and quite frankly, the only one who noticed the difference was me. The snakes behaved exactly the same and thrived regardless - talking about BPs and boas here. Other species might differ. But I want to do naturalistic right now because I have a small number of animals and it’s rewarding to me to set up the enclosures and display them in my house etc. If I had more animals, I might go back to minimalistic, because it’s easier to maintain.

It’s so frustrating.


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I am in this group! As well as the Not Just A Pet Rock group. I love both groups. I think they probably just focus on the naturalistic enrichment style of enclosures because almost EVERY other group has more of a focus on minimalistic enclosures. Obviously minimalistic can work and the snakes do fine in them, but almost every other group you will find for Ball Pythons has that theme, so I personally think it's a bit of fresh air to see one going the other direction. While I prefer large, naturalistic, bioactive, enrichment filled enclosures for my snakes, I also concede that the more minimalistic style works fine for people as well - that said, it's nice to have one place of all my BP social groups I am in that has naturalistic as a focus. :)

For the most part I stay far away from other BP Facebook groups. Nasty bunch of people.

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Originally Posted by alittleFREE

I just tried to join Advanced Herpetological Husbandry and right from the get-go I see a huge red flag.

In the questions you have to answer, they state, “In this group we do not believe in minimalistic housing.”

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I’m not sure why that’s a “red flag”. They have a reason for existing, and they’re making sure you understand what it is.

They don’t actually insist on “naturalistic” enclosures, either, just that enclosures be decently sized and offer appropriate thermal gradients, more complex and enriched environments, multiple hides, choices of microclimates, and lighting. That often means they’re naturalistic because it’s easier and cheaper to do that and also make it pretty using natural materials. And they’re definitely still in favor of sterile environments for quarantine or for sick/injured animals.

I keep my ball python in a cage just shy of 4x2x2, and wish it was bigger, because he definitely uses it all. Maybe someday I’ll build a bigger one. It has things like colored PVC and plastic bendy tubes, plastic hides, etc in it as well as soil and plants. So it’s not really “naturalistic” in appearance, but it offers the snake a lot more options, exercise, and variety of microclimates than a tub with two hides and a water bowl.

I’m glad to have this group as a resource for things like which plants are likely to survive and look good, seeing how other people heat and light larger enclosures, and of course getting inspiration from the cool things people do. And I do appreciate the philosophy that we can do better than minimal setups that prioritize the convenience of the keeper and the ability to keep more animals in the same space.

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Originally Posted by Coluber42

I’m not sure why that’s a “red flag”. They have a reason for existing, and they’re making sure you understand what it is.

They don’t actually insist on “naturalistic” enclosures, either, just that enclosures be decently sized and offer appropriate thermal gradients, more complex and enriched environments, multiple hides, choices of microclimates, and lighting. That often means they’re naturalistic because it’s easier and cheaper to do that and also make it pretty using natural materials. And they’re definitely still in favor of sterile environments for quarantine or for sick/injured animals.

I keep my ball python in a cage just shy of 4x2x2, and wish it was bigger, because he definitely uses it all. Maybe someday I’ll build a bigger one. It has things like colored PVC and plastic bendy tubes, plastic hides, etc in it as well as soil and plants. So it’s not really “naturalistic” in appearance, but it offers the snake a lot more options, exercise, and variety of microclimates than a tub with two hides and a water bowl.

I’m glad to have this group as a resource for things like which plants are likely to survive and look good, seeing how other people heat and light larger enclosures, and of course getting inspiration from the cool things people do. And I do appreciate the philosophy that we can do better than minimal setups that prioritize the convenience of the keeper and the ability to keep more animals in the same space.

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I second this! This is what I was getting at and couldn't find the proper words for. :)

I've been accepted to the "Not just a pet rock" and searched it a little bit closer and honestly, I quite like this group... But another one I've been accepted to is.. Well.. Not worth speaking about.

I explained in detail why I think that is a red flag.

I’m not a fan of groups that try to push a particular agenda and don’t accept differing opinions or outlooks - that’s all.




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My local reptile and amphibian organization made the change from forum to facebook group a couple years back after some shakeups and quite honestly I miss the old format. The facebook group has more members but its less active in comparison and harder to navigate (IMO). I've just put in applications to join some of these facebook groups that were mentioned, the good and the bad (bad being for my own "amusement"), so we'll see how this goes.