[rant] a recent social media post caught my attention

[tttaylorrr]

i frequent reddit and keep up with r/snakes and r/ballpythons. the other day in r/ballpythons someone posted a photo of a snake with obvious stuck shed and what appeared to be stuck eye caps.

first comment: is that a stuck eye cap?

OP states they're cataracts...but look at this photo.







a cataract does not look like that; that's obviously skin!!! but of course, i don't have the clout or backing of my community here, so i stayed silent about it. i'm worried they'll think i'm "attacking" them and "b-but that's what my vet told me."

people on social media are not looking for education and constructive criticism; they're looking for fake internet points. this person is ignorant and it frustrates me to no end that people on social media can proudly share images like this and others dance around these obvious issues bc "be nice."

/rant

[Ax01]

looks like perfectly stuck eye caps to me. also it looks like two indents in the the zoomed-in pix indicating stuck caps and/or dehydration.

[Bogertophis]

"Cataracts" my foot! Poor snake with ignorant owner...I wouldn't stay silent, but then again, I don't do "social media". Many reasons that include wasting time
on the drama.

[C.Marie]

As if that snake ever saw a vet a day in it's life and if it did I demand my money back for incompetence agree with the others here it looks like stuck eye caps. Gotta love the people who believe themselves experts at everything, I full acknowledge my very limited knowledge and love all the great advice everyone gives here certainly a great group of people what a blessing this site is

[MissterDog]

Yup, I find this often on sociel media and it's disheartening sometimes. I'll sadly see ball pythons frequently with stuck sheds, cohabbed in tanks and having their owners help "peel off" their skin like it's a bonding process on Instagram.

However worst I've seen are wannabe breeders trying to start a business or YouTube channel and having no idea what they're doing and being super careless about it. The problem is everyone thinks they can dive into things without researching beforehand and social media doesn't always help with that when people are motivated by "I wanna be popular!"

The absolute worst encounter I've had was this guy live feeding his snake leopard geckos but injuring/breaking the poor gecko's legs so he could leave the geckos overnight in the tub with his snake because he was afraid the geckos would "slip out". Seems he frequently leaves live prey unsupervised with his snakes and just laughs at anyone who thinks breaking gecko legs is animal cruelty.

Makes me worried how people like that are representing the hobby and community :/

[Ax01]

Yup, I find this often on sociel media and it's disheartening sometimes. I'll sadly see ball pythons frequently with stuck sheds, cohabbed in tanks and having their owners help "peel off" their skin like it's a bonding process on Instagram.

However worst I've seen are wannabe breeders trying to start a business or YouTube channel and having no idea what they're doing and being super careless about it. The problem is everyone thinks they can dive into things without researching beforehand and social media doesn't always help with that when people are motivated by "I wanna be popular!"

The absolute worst encounter I've had was this guy live feeding his snake leopard geckos but injuring/breaking the poor gecko's legs so he could leave the geckos overnight in the tub with his snake because he was afraid the geckos would "slip out". Seems he frequently leaves live prey unsupervised with his snakes and just laughs at anyone who thinks breaking gecko legs is animal cruelty.

Makes me worried how people like that are representing the hobby and community :/

gross! that laugh just means he probably enjoys it. very disturbing.

[Bogertophis]

...
The absolute worst encounter I've had was this guy live feeding his snake leopard geckos but injuring/breaking the poor gecko's legs so he could leave the geckos overnight in the tub with his snake because he was afraid the geckos would "slip out". Seems he frequently leaves live prey unsupervised with his snakes and just laughs at anyone who thinks breaking gecko legs is animal cruelty.

Makes me worried how people like that are representing the hobby and community :/

Oh that's going to haunt me, even without actually seeing it. And yes, the horrible impression that people may get of herp-keepers can work against us with
laws & restrictions getting passed if people believe we're all like that...so we don't have much choice really, but to speak up & deal with the resulting "drama".

[MissterDog]

gross! that laugh just means he probably enjoys it. very disturbing.

Could be. I just HOPE it was more ignorance. He seemed like the type that thinks he knows exactly what he’s doing and brushing things off as “this is just part of feeding snakes. lol -insert emoji here-”

Oh that's going to haunt me, even without actually seeing it. And yes, the horrible impression that people may get of herp-keepers can work against us with
laws & restrictions getting passed if people believe we're all like that...so we don't have much choice really, but to speak up & deal with the resulting "drama".

That was my worry too! The hobby and community already have enough heat from organizations like PETA as is. It’s also concerning that he and others like him are making unsafe and inhumane practices appear acceptable within the community. Very concerning!

[dr del]

I agree with the stuck eyecap call. I've had a corn who had cataracts and they didn't look like that at all as the spectacle was clear and normal looking despite the eyes themselves looking cloudy. I've also seen eye-scuffing from unglazed terracotta hides and again it looked different.

But while I think it is probably stuck eyecaps I don't see anything that makes me certain and I'm always wary of diagnosing anything merely from pictures.

If I could see torn edges to the skin around the spectacles I'd be more likely to feel confident enough to say to the owner. But in this circumstance ( given the attitude you suspect you might encounter ) I'd probably just sigh and stay silent myself.