Just For Fun: What Were Your Newbie Mistakes?

[GoFride]

My favorite newbie mistake - buying one bp and thinking I would STOP!

[Neal]

Good thing I have never bought an animal from petco/petsmart. My first snake was my anaconda, which I did some researching before purchasing, so thats not a mistake because she will always be my first snake and she's sweeter then ever.

My first mistake would be listening to the petco/petsmart idiots on how to setup a tank. Even though I did still question and I later talked to a different guy and had all the kinks worked out.

[Simpson Balls]

Luckey for me I did all my research before I bought my first snake (Blizzard Corn) For almost a year I wanted a snake I knew everything about them but the problem was I was a girley man to feed the snake rats/mice. I went to 2 expo's before I bought my Corn and said when I went to my third "Daniel don't be a girley man buy a snake" So I did and now no rat/mice scares me!

Daniel

[Neal]

Luckey for me I did all my research before I bought my first snake (Blizzard Corn) For almost a year I wanted a snake I knew everything about them but the problem was I was a girley man to feed the snake rats/mice. I went to 2 expo's before I bought my Corn and said when I went to my third "Daniel don't be a girley man buy a snake" So I did and now no rat/mice scares me!

Daniel

You just reminded me....

I've been messing with snakes for years, catching them and relocating them, mostly copperheads/cotton mouths that like to stay very near my house because of my pond in my front yard, so I would catch them and relocate them. Been doing that since I was about 9, though over the years it's slowed down a bit till I really don't see anything venomous anymore around the house. I of course made stupid mistakes(catching them barehand) but hey I was a kid ya know? Though I have caught ribbon & garters over the years just to snap a few pictures.

My first ever pet snake, was in late October, when I got my anaconda, but i'll tell the story to it. I usually watch tv at work, I watch a lot of discovery & animal planet, and they had a show that aired about them searching for anacondas. Well that was like October 1, or 2nd. So what I did is I said, my first snake will be an anaconda because I know they aren't as bad as people make them seem and I think it would be great to work with one. That's when I discovered Yellow Anacondas(from the show). Did a bit of research then ordered mine from Matt Crews(victoryreptiles).

[h00blah]

yaaay

my list:
1) wuts a thermostat? (how does it work?)
2) bought a 40g tank
3) bought a heat lamp
4) used heat pad w/o t-stat
5) fed hoppers instead of adult mice
6) bought from petco (even tho i love her to death =D)
7) 1 bad shed
8) no vet
9) 1 half log hide ONLY
10) bought a mean snake (my sisters albino) T.T....

[Neal]

yaaay

my list:
1) wuts a thermostat? (how does it work?)
2) bought a 40g tank
3) bought a heat lamp
4) used heat pad w/o t-stat
5) fed hoppers instead of adult mice
6) bought from petco (even tho i love her to death =D)
7) 1 bad shed
8) no vet
9) 1 half log hide ONLY
10) bought a mean snake (my sisters albino) T.T....

Freak, mine would be feeding hoppers instead of adult mice also, I think that may be the one reason my anaconda isn't a little bigger then what she is now. Though I have picked up her feeding a bit more in hopes she regains that size, I really want her to be 6ft+ soon.

[Seneschal]

Haha, I'm seeing so many that I did!

- Bought a snake from a reptile shop that I cringe about having even been in now (so lucky she had no mites!)
- Baby BP. 55 gallon tank. LOL.
- Half log hides.
- I thought the bedding needed to be deep enough for her to burrow into...so I made sure I put no less than 3 inches of bedding all over the 55 gallon tank.
- HUUUUGE WATER BOWL. It's actually about the perfect size for her now that she's 2400g....
- I fed her the day I got her.
- Held her the day after feeding and getting her home...
- No T-stat
- Dial thermometers and hygrometers
- Climbing sticks
- Quarantine? What's that?


I think that's it, haha. I was pretty obsessive about cleaning the cage, and water bowl, and about humidity. I did only feed every 14 days, because I was told that feeding more often would make her aggressive and fat--luckily, I did research, and fixed that within a few months.

[Patricia]

Darn, almost forgot this thread....

Hey, thanks for all the chuckles. I'm so new, not only am I still making these mistakes, I don't even realize it until looking back! Thankfully, our li'l BP is not only surviving but actually growing too!

[Derrick13]

I pulled a noob of a mistake just afew hours ago. I soaked the frozen mouse in warm water like always, while it was still in the bag. It was in their for roughly 20min, like usually, however I did not feel the mouse to see just how warm it was. When I presented the mouse to my bp he definetly had its scent, but unfortunetly only saw one heat signiture, me. I didnt get nailed but he was fallowing me all over the tank and even tried to come out after me lol. No worries, I heated his meal with a hair dryer and he devoured it.

[americangypsy]

Luckey for me I did all my research before I bought my first snake (Blizzard Corn) For almost a year I wanted a snake I knew everything about them but the problem was I was a girley man to feed the snake rats/mice. I went to 2 expo's before I bought my Corn and said when I went to my third "Daniel don't be a girley man buy a snake" So I did and now no rat/mice scares me!

Daniel

that was funny.