Can't believe how much books lie!!!!!

[4theSNAKElady]

I work in warehouse that fulfills orders of books and media, and a book caught my eye....Terrarium Animals....hey it had cool lizard photo on the front. I ttok a few moments to flip through the book, which was basically a basic herp care book-each page had a photo, lifespan, care,feeding, etc. and a difficulty rating from one to three: 1-beginner, 2-some prior experience needed,3-expert only, !-venomous/extreme caution, for scorpions and tarantulas. After perusing the snake section I was appalled!!! They gave BP's a rating of three, but a burm a rating of 2, and a BRB a rating of 1!!!!!! And in the care part forBP's, they said to house them as pairs, or in groups with only 1 male....(????), and to add 20% more cage space for each addition!! They also listed the food as mice,rats, chicks...I could be wrong, but I have NEVER heard of any one feeding their BP chicks. I checked the copyright on this little literary disaster, ...and it was 2005!!! Now, If I was an average gal, who was completely new to snakes (which I'm not),looking for a new herp, particularly a snake, I would probably pick up this book at a local library, and completely pass up a BP purchase, and completely go for a rainbow boa or burm instead, because gee, they look easier to care for for me because I am a beginner, right? I didn't have time to look at any others like corns or kings, because I was working, but gosh!!! I have read quite a few books that conflicted with each other, and when you are a beginner completely ignorant, but trying to learn everything you can about the care of the pet you may be getting, It is unfair for books to give incorrect info. You can't completely blame a new snake owner if they "went by the book", esp. since not everyone has a computer. That is why I am sooo grateful for all you experts on this forum that answer any/all questions with warm and welcome advice ...because I am sure there's someone out there screwing up majorly (not on purpose) with their herp because they don't have the privilege of accessing a BP.net forum!!

[Danielle(THM)]

I can't believe that someone out there would peddle their garbage book, let alone buy it. This isn't going to end very well, especially when the ASPCA comes to pick up an 12 ft Burm because it ate the cat.

[shhhli]

did you get the publisher's information from the book? if you can, i suggest you get it and write them about the gross mis-information of the book.

[frankykeno]

Sad part seems to be with a lot of general lizard/herp type books is the author's probably regurgitating stuff he/she read somewhere oh about 20 years back that was in itself regurge of other unrealiable information. Basically an author presenting themselves as an "expert" who likely hasn't had 10 minutes of hands on time with most of what they are writing about. Toss in some nice photography and bingo....makes it pretty appealing to a newcomer. Lots of pet stores stock those kinds of books. They have a big visual impact with little attention to content (bet the pet store manager never even cracked the book open). Spend your money on books from solid breeders that are specific to what you are looking to raise is my take on that (NERD's new book is an excellent example of this).

Then compound that by the misinformation that does come out of a lot of pet stores (not all and I know some of you work hard in pet stores to do your very best...sometimes without managerial support). A lot of herp owners get their first one through a pet store. We certainly did with Rionach and a combination of our own research, a bit of blind luck and this forum is what made that experience very positive.

For a lot of folks with that sort of bad information coming in as "facts" (plus a lot of WC sold as CB) you get snakes doing poorly or ending up dead or abandoned and people turned off the hobby because they went by the book or the pet store and it was a total bad experience all around. Oh and you get the whole BP's are poor feeders, shedders, difficult snakes stuff....funny but I see a ton of folks on here not struggling unduly with their well started, well cared for BP's.


~~Jo~~

[4theSNAKElady]

Yeah, I totally agree frankykeno...after reading so mant "vague" and general basic ball python and herp books, the info does seem kinda redundant and regurg'd. The net is so awesome, cause you get to talk to great breeders like Adam who have first hand and up-to-date info. I made the mistake of "going by the book" with my first clutch of eggs.......needless to say they didn't hatch. i just wish i had the net then......

[frankykeno]

Well by the book is fine if it's the right book. The internet is fine too but there's a whole lotta bad info floating around there too. When Mike and I were first researching BP husbandry and didn't know anybody from anybody or who to trust, we just made it a habit to write some husbandry thing down (like temps) and then not believe a word of it until we had the same info from at least three independent sources. Then I'd circle it and put that info down as reasonably certain it wouldn't lead us too far wrong.


~~Jo~~