How did retics get so popular?

[YungRasputin]

A few fundamental mistakes in that line of thinking IMO...

The only thing that is basically the same to all critters is the goal to reproduce. Many give it all to do so.

The part about 'it just takes exhaustive research' is another side glance that will cause keepers to miss the good stuff (important if you want full understanding).

Some folks go the extra mile in research but fail when it comes to basic observation...Husbandry is about noticing the fine details of separation between similar critters...such as keeping boa constrictors of different locals. A boa is not just a boa. They do not have the same (fine) needs if one is paying attention to the attributes of what a critter prefers.

Excellent research will get you a 'well kept' critter...personal observation will reward on a level above that...

tbh i think you’re misinterpreting what i’m saying and have run with it which tbf i was rather vague and nondescript in my initial comment but here is an example of what i mean:

eg: yes, my scrub python and my Indian red scorpion are 2 completely different animals, with 2 different lifestyles, from 2 different parts of the world, etc - however - it is the *art* (and science) of terraculture which effectively makes the keeping of both the same thing

what do i mean by this? i mean terraculture is all about building and creating the closest approximate facsimile of what a natural space would be, as is possible but to do this you have to breakdown the same things for every animal: how much space do they occupy, both as in their den and also, their surrounding environment, in their natural locale what is the relationship and dynamic between those 2 spaces, what are their niche lifeways, what are their generalized behavior patterns, what is their natural locale’s generalized weather patterns, how does X specimen cope with that, etc

it’s just like with scorpions, a lot of novice keepers and so on, tend to do research in a v simplistic and problematic way by assuming that because it might be 110F in X Desert for Y animal that this means you should replicate that temp not realizing that scorpions are nocturnal, they burrow to escape heat and cool down, they’re opportunistic hunters that primarily stay in their dens, etc - i feel the same could be said of snake keeping in that respect

long story short i think we agree