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wots the worst piece of reptile advice you've ever been given??

CornDude

New member
just wanted to know, wots the worst peice of advice a shop keeper has given you, which you knew was wrong, or now know is wrong?

ive got 2... both from the same "expert" lol
"corns dont climb"
"royal pythons dont like heat mats"
 
The store where I bought my first corn gave me a 100 watt bulb for my 20 gal. tank. The warm side got upto 100 and was still on its way up when I turned it off! Dont know if that falls under advice but still very stupid! Good thing I had the manual or my snake would have been COOKED.
 
Pimple faced kid that runs the reptile section of a mall pet store:

Bring your Green Tree Python to me so I can sex him and "check him out" for parasites, "I'm fully certified to do that".

The temperature out was like in the 30's and I explained to him I had gotten my snake from a reputible, well-known and loved dealer. This was an absolutely insane suggestion since I had told him that the GTP was eating fine, was definitely a male and definitely didn't have anything wrong with him. The stress of bringing him in "just to be checked out" surely would've resulted in either loss of eating or death. All he really wanted to do was see a GTP which he had told me he hadn't seen before.
 
When I was looking into buying a leopard gecko, a BREEDER told me all he feeds his are wax worms, because "they are the most nutritious food for them." He then proceeded to argue with me when I said that wax worms are too fatty.

Needless to say, I didn't buy a gecko from him.
 
I had run out of frozen pinks, so I went to the mall pet store to get a few until my order frozen mice came in. The guy asked me what they were for and I told him they were for a few baby corns.
He then told me that I should be feeding them crickets because they are more nutricious. Needless to say we had a nice little argument with him and I walked out and went to another pet store that was a little farther away.
 
Are you sure you picked out two LARGE fuzzies??? I asked for the third time since I called to have the petstore pick out a couple for me. Yes, I'm sure! the pet store girl said, nodding her little brain... I got home, opened the bag, and there were two of the littlest fuzzies ever seen! Next time, even if I'm running late, I'm checking the merchandise before I leave! My snake was mad she only got hors d'heuvres and not big macs! :)
 
"Snakes have great vision" "Snakes cant tell the heat" And the sad thing is that dudes parents just bought him a red tail boa. I offered him $50 for it, he said "No, i know everything about snakes. He is going to live for a good 10 years" I swear, i was expecting him to say something like "10 human years is like 30 snake years"
 
When I bought my second hatchling corn ever... the pet store told me it would be fine to house two corns together (even a male and a female) and that they would not breed unexpectedly because "male corns are infertile unless they hibernate". Needless to say, I lost that second corn to egg binding. Four good eggs did come out before the others got stuck and the female died. Those four eggs were the start of a crash course on PROPER husbandrythat landed me a passion and a few years later over 100 snakes. Gee just think, if I hadn't gotten that bad advice I may have never ended up spending hours a week feeding and cleaning after work.... :crazy01: :headbang: Now due to the events following that advice I am hopelessly addicted, maybe I can sue???:D
 
The best bit of infomation i ever had was when i went to look at some baby corns. I went to look at what was supposed to be ghosts - oh dear lets just say botht the parents were amel and the offspring were meerly light in colouration (hence there "ghost" hertitage). I tried to explain about hypo, amel and anery, and why you cant get ghosts in amel form but they wouldnt listen - lets just say i left laughing
 
i`ve only ever sought advice here and so all the advice ive been given has been of the greatest quality!
 
i was talking to a guy in the pet store and told him i needed a UVA and uvb light for my bearded and he told be all they need is a heat light and i can use a normal light bulb. walked out shaking my head at him, he just didnt get it.
 
Hmm a few:

'it's fine to keep multiple corns together'
'I feed my leos 25 mealworms every 3 days, why do you feed crickets? That's so unhealthy'
'Ball pythons DO eat crickets. Mine did so don't tell me they dont' to which I replied 'how is your Bp?' and they said 'Dead'
'You are a rodent killer! There are alternatives to feeding mice you know. Like fruit and veg'

I think that's about it although I have heard some very stupid things on a different forum where some people obviously don't know anything about reptiles!
 
'You are a rodent killer! There are alternatives to feeding mice you know. Like fruit and veg'


that's hilarious that you've had someone say that b/c.....just last nite i had a girl tell me the exact same thing. She overheard a conversation i was having with a friend and butted in, "why do you raise mice?"

we were at a bar, so i had a few drinks and sorta laughed and said, "to feed my snakes"

Whoa buddy, she went off. At first, i tried to explain to her that there is a thing called a food chain, but then i got the "everything should be vegetarian speech". So then we went back to shooting pool and just ignored her. I just love some of the "educated" people that you meet in college.
 
Do you think there's enough sustenance to feed these veggie crazed individuals to the snakes???? :) Perhaps I should just let my snake explain her preference :D
 
when i was first concidering a repitilian pet, a guy told me (in an actual reptile shop in Leeds, UK) that cornsnakes were constricters and ate crickets...

now, i still haven't worked this one out and if anyone can shade some light, id love to know!
 
Worst advice was given to a guy I once met. He came over to see a pal of mine and brought his noneating boa constrictor. My buddy asked him why there was some lettuce and soda crackers in the cage. That was what the pet store said it ate. :rolleyes: It really shocked the guy when the snake chowed down on a weanling rat. :D

On the vegetarian thread, just tell them that you use the mice for plant food. Plants gotta eat too. ;)
 
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