I'm relatively new and don't know if this has been discussed before. But it's a slow day and I thought I'd express some thoughts. Forgive me if this is posted in the wrong forum, and mods feel free to move!

A friend asked me the other day why I bothered to answer ball python husbandry questions. My first reaction was "Well, if the questions were easy to answer and helpful to other people, why not?" But then I thought about it a little more and this is what I came up with:

Ball Python husbandry is like baking a cake. Most members here know the BEST recipe or two for making a cake. If you follow this recipe exactly, you'll get the perfect cake. (Of course, you can customize it slightly, such as which frosting or flavor to use, but it's the same basic recipes)

Unfortunately there are lots of people out there who don't know the perfect recipe. They come here complaining "Why isn't my cake a cake?! What went wrong?!" We ask them: "Well... what recipe did you use?", they tell us their recipe, we compare it against ours and point out the obvious issues: "You used baking powder instead of baking soda", "You didn't bake the cake at the proper temperature", "The recipe called for 2 cups sugar and you added 4"... It's easy to tell where someone strays from the recipe!

After that, it's only a matter of getting them to fix it. (Though, sometimes it's easier just to give them the whole recipe and hope they follow it next time) There will always be those people who, when you tell them "You tried to bake your cake in a dutch oven, when you should have used a cake pan." respond "But I love dutch ovens! I want to use them for all my cakes!". I personally know that dutch ovens CAN be used to make cakes, and sometimes those cakes are quite good, but ultimately dutch ovens weren't made to bake cakes, so it's a lot harder to get a good result.

In short, unlike the really challenging issues in life (like which males and females to pair next breeding season, and what to have for dinner tonight), ball python husbandry is easy to troubleshoot. Sure the problems can be compounded by egos, sharp tongues, sarcasm, bad grammar and run-on sentences. While other snakes might be comparable to "easy" recipes like soup or pancakes, baking(/ball pythons) are a complex recipe that requires a bit more effort and precision to get right. But once everyone is following the recipe to a T, the results are satisfying!*

Which gets to the root of the issue: how do we get everyone to follow the recipe exactly from the very start?

* Thejennabird does not advocate the consumption of ball pythons as cake.