BP Lifestyle/Culture (Question heavy)

[Valentine Pirate]

BPs in particular haven't changed my life, but actively pursuing herpetoculture has. I've always had pets around, but was never allowed to have anything "caged" (and a dog in a house is...?). Once I moved out I'd already been researching reptiles for three years, and decided to start off with a pair of BPs, they're colorful and easy. While I love my snakes and have many projects that I wish to work on, I want to get involved with species that don't have CBB animals readily available. Most reptiles and amphibians absolutely fascinate me, regardless of what it is, and once I get the swing of BP breeding I want to try getting a reverse trio of viper boas, or maybe a pair savu pythons. Who knows? I've noticed that I tend to gravitate more towards snakes, but I also hold an interest in keeping some lizards as pets (love those citrus bearded dragons, northern blue tongues, panther chams, etc.). I do spend a good deal of time handling/caring for my pets, but many times it's while I'm doing other household chores as well, and especially with the snakes it really doesn't take much time when it comes to maintenance. Our green iguana takes more care than the rest of my reptiles put together!

When it comes to culture reptile keepers are so varied that it's hard to really pin down something that ties in everyone, but there are definitely smaller groups that form when it comes to species specific topics (take bp.net, for example). You can't put everyone in a box, but in general you can see patterns. Lots of rhacodactylus keepers/breeders keep those kinds of geckos because they dislike dealing with bugs, some people prefer garters over other snakes because they don't have to be switched to rodents (worms and fish, I think), etc. One thing that really sets the reptile community apart is that we are MUCH more supportive of new keepers and breeders than the warm blooded breeding community (generalization, I know there are exceptions for certain circumstances). There's almost a clique feeling to a lot of the rat/ferret/hedgehog communities I browsed, and if you haven't mentored under this person and work with certain bloodlines from x breeder you can get your butt flamed the :cens0r: out of there. I understand the worry of pets ending up in shelters and whatnot, but I wholly believe that's the buyer's responsibility and fault rather than the breeder, but that's a different topic.

I also have to second that our biggest weakness is irresponsible keepers. In a hobby where so much is regulated on good/mostly bad press, it really hurts us when sensationalized accidents get out as stories, such as the recent article on the "killer ball python attacking a baby".