poll-what kind of keeper are YOU?

[Miss Tuniwha]

I chose "intermediate hobbyist"

I have about 20 snakes, and a dozen lizards.. I breed, but don't have anything SUPER fancy.

I guess I would think advanced hobbyist would be someone that sinks a lot of money into it, has more fancy morphs, etc

[garweft]

I guess I would think advanced hobbyist would be someone that sinks a lot of money into it, has more fancy morphs, etc

Ok, now I feel the need to put in my 2 cents to what an advanced keeper is. I'm just using your words as the quote, Brandi, but it's not directed at you. I feel a lot of people put the value of someones collection and the coolness of their BP morphs into consideration when thinking about what an advanced keeper is but I think that's about backward of what one is.

IMHO, an advanced keeper is one who has mastered all the tools of being an intermediate keeper and takes it to the next level. You cannot become an advanced keeper by spending money, or even by breeding BP's for the next 100 years, this might make you a BP god, but not an advanced keeper.

An advanced keeper is one with experience with a wide range of herps. They are people who have worked past the caresheets and books. They are people who are ready to work with new species who's care cannot be found by googling it. They use their wide range of knowledge and previous experience with other species in order to add greater understanding to animals that previously have not thrived in captivity.

Too many people put stock in what someones BP collection is like when they think about what level someone is on. That's not where it lies. You can keep and breed 300 BP's in cb70 racks for the next 50 years, but unless you take the plunge into transferring your experience into advancing herpetoculture, you are not an advanced keeper. You're just following someone else's recipe to keeping and breeding the species.

[Miss Tuniwha]

Ok, now I feel the need to put in my 2 cents to what an advanced keeper is. I'm just using your words as the quote, Brandi, but it's not directed at you. I feel a lot of people put the value of someones collection and the coolness of their BP morphs into consideration when thinking about what an advanced keeper is but I think that's about backward of what one is.

IMHO, an advanced keeper is one who has mastered all the tools of being an intermediate keeper and takes it to the next level. You cannot become an advanced keeper by spending money, or even by breeding BP's for the next 100 years, this might make you a BP god, but not an advanced keeper.

An advanced keeper is one with experience with a wide range of herps. They are people who have worked past the caresheets and books. They are people who are ready to work with new species who's care cannot be found by googling it. They use their wide range of knowledge and previous experience with other species in order to add greater understanding to animals that previously have not thrived in captivity.

Too many people put stock in what someones BP collection is like when they think about what level someone is on. That's not where it lies. You can keep and breed 300 BP's in cb70 racks for the next 50 years, but unless you take the plunge into transferring your experience into advancing herpetoculture, you are not an advanced keeper. You're just following someone else's recipe to keeping and breeding the species.

hrm.. I do understand .. it is an odd line that divides the categories.. hrmm.. *ponders*