Question about caresheets

[Gerardo]

Before i got my first BP i did the responsible thing and did my research (this was before i joined this site) and got alot of different information about BPs. Things like BP size, feeding, handling etc. varied from source to source. They never say "this is how we do it" or "this is what has worked for us". Just that whatever was on that site was the truth. What i learned here is there are MANY correct ways of caring for a BP. Not everybody is looking to have a collection of animals or breed them. Some people have nothing to compare their 1 snake to. Im sure thats why we sometimes see new members doing simple things wrong or asking "dumb" questions (including myself) about BPs. The "casual" BP owner might not come to forums and read threads and discussions about alternate husbandry practices and many other topics that are discussed. It seems confusing when you just read a caresheet but cant get any feedback from it. My question is why is there so many DIFFERENT "facts" about how to keep BPs all over the place?

[dr del]

Precisely because there are so many ways to keep them.

The various methods can make differing demands on the keeper and slight changes to the setups.

As long as enough care is used in the first instance to make sure not to "pick and mix" the wrong ingredients without understanding it could be a problem then I'm not sure it matters which you choose.

[TheSnakeGuy]

Every care sheet is a little different because there is no "definite right" way to care for your animals. Every person who publishes one has a differing opinion. I tell my customers at PetSmart as much info as I can, give them a pamphlet with minimal requirements, tell them to google search a care guide for their animal, and to read the first 4 links shown. That way they get varying opinions on care and they can meet the happy medium for the animal.

[Gerardo]

That makes sense. But what about the myths about cage aggression? I first read that on a caresheet.

[BHReptiles]

Not all caresheets have been written by scientific experts. They are all written by everyday snake keepers, like you and me. Each caresheet will be different depending on who wrote it. Caresheets are a great thing for first time owners to taper their care to. Once they get more confident in how they are keeping their animals, they can branch off and find what works better for them.

It's important to realize that caresheets are only guides...not rules.

[FireStorm]

That makes sense. But what about the myths about cage aggression? I first read that on a caresheet.

I'm not exactly sure where this myth comes from, but it isn't specific to BPs. I think probably what happened was that people keeping a species with a much stronger feeding response came to the conclusion (incorrectly) that it was because they fed in the enclosure. You have to remember, reptiles really haven't been kept in captivity in large numbers for all that long. And, for a good part of that time we didn't have the Internet to share info like we do now. When people started keeping a species in captivity, they took a guess at what would work, and if they were successful (nothing bad happened) they concluded that whatever they tried was the "right way". For example, if they incubated eggs at 90 degrees and they hatched, they just kept doing that. Why change and risk failure? Now, people are starting to try different things, and communicating, so now we know you can incubate much cooler (I have gone as low as 85). The same principle applies to many other aspects of husbandry...