Husbandry vent

[JLC]

...I said no one is willing to look at all the info and deviate from the care sheets. You are proving my point very well.....

... Like I said if they follow the care sheet they should have no issues for keeping their snake in good shape. ....

Here's the problem with this discussion. Your "vent" is an unwillingness of "everyone" to not deviate from care sheets. But at the same time, you defend care sheets by saying if folks follow them, they should be fine. So why the vent?

We're here to help beginners (primarily) learn how to care for their animals. It's hard enough getting folks in general to grasp the basics of animal husbandry. It would be impossible if we tried to explain every possible option available and customize our advice on each individual's ability (or lack of ability) to read their snakes and understand whether or not the animal is under duress or getting sick.

You get frustrated that "no one" is willing to deviate....but it's obvious from this discussion and the few who have participated, that LOTS of people are willing to deviate...once they get a solid understanding of their own animals and personal circumstances. We just don't recommend all these different methods and customizations for the very reason I just stated above.

Sure, in some threads, individuals may seem to get on a soapbox about following care sheet steps "or else"...but they may still be new themselves and not understand the flexibility of ball python husbandry, and/or they may understand that they are talking to someone who is completely new and should really be starting with the simplest and most risk-free methods for keeping them.

I DO think keeping ambients in the 60's is far too low. You go on and on about temperatures where they are from, but nowhere in all that data do I see them living 24/7, 365 days a year in temperatures that you describe as "proper." At best, maybe a few weeks out of the year...at the very most.

I don't keep tons of snakes myself, but I've had the privilege of visiting many of the largest breeders in our country. Not a single one of them keeps their ambient temperatures below 78 degrees, although some (but not all) give the snakes a cooling period for breeding purposes and drop the ambients down to around 73-74. Nothing extreme. Most of the time, the temperatures in those ball python rooms are around 80 degrees. These are people that have been keeping and breeding TENS OF THOUSANDS of snakes for DECADES. Never heard a single one of them suggest they should ever be kept at temps below 70.