Controversial topic?

[waldo]

Without the forum I probably wouldn't have the snakes I do now. Not because I want to show them off but because I wouldn't have been aware of all the different morphs.

 

[Hypancistrus]

This guy is a good example of a person who keeps his pets for the cool factor

Just a vibe I got from the video...

 

[Tula_Montage]

A question for those who have said whatever they buy is there till death, say this is a species you haven't kept before and you found you were not suited to each other, would you let your pride of not selling pets on you feel a responsibility for overtake your incompatibility with your new pet and not sell it on? Ultimatley owning an animal for life that you can care for, but are not particuarly fond of owning?

 

[snakewispera snr]

For me, I would let an animal go I thought was too much out of my league...
Hopefully, research into the animal will prevent this happening in the future...
If it was an animal that didn't tick all the boxes, I would still keep it. I have Royals here, I'm not really into them, but they are here now so they get to stay.....

 

[PurraLovesJazz]

A question for those who have said whatever they buy is there till death, say this is a species you haven't kept before and you found you were not suited to each other, would you let your pride of not selling pets on you feel a responsibility for overtake your incompatibility with your new pet and not sell it on? Ultimatley owning an animal for life that you can care for, but are not particuarly fond of owning?

I'm not sure. With Calcifer, part of the reason he went was because I couldnt get him to eat. He was a cute little wedge-face, but I couldnt take care of him. If it was just one I didnt like... I'm not entirely sure how that would go.

 

[Toshiro]

A question for those who have said whatever they buy is there till death, say this is a species you haven't kept before and you found you were not suited to each other, would you let your pride of not selling pets on you feel a responsibility for overtake your incompatibility with your new pet and not sell it on? Ultimatley owning an animal for life that you can care for, but are not particuarly fond of owning?

I feel you are responsible for the animals you buy.
You should give them (all you can) all they need.
But pride may not be an issue if you're concerned about your pet's best interests.
If you really aren't compatible, then you should look for the best solution.
You can't let an animal "suffer" just because of your pride.

I think if I'd ever buy a pet and turns out I'm not fond of owning it,
I'd keep it, if I could take 100% good care of it.
If not, I probably would sell it or give to a really good home.

 

[diamondlil]

A question for those who have said whatever they buy is there till death, say this is a species you haven't kept before and you found you were not suited to each other, would you let your pride of not selling pets on you feel a responsibility for overtake your incompatibility with your new pet and not sell it on? Ultimatley owning an animal for life that you can care for, but are not particuarly fond of owning?

I don't keep my pets out of pride, I keep them because they're my responsability and I can't imagine not being fond of one of my pets!
Ellie was quite frankly dangerous at one point with her over-developed guarding instinct, so I put in all the training and control needed to make her manageable and maintain her and others' safety. Until the boys were older and as Ellie mellowed she would only obey commands from me, which made her a huge responsability. She certainly wasn't the cute friendly dog I'd fondly imagined I was getting.
My old rescued tomcat, Ted, had health issues due to having had untreated cat 'flu. He was the ugliest cat imaginable, with short legs, a fat body, and he shed white hairs year 'round. With stinky nasal discharge in the winter, which needed antibiotics and steam treatment every year.
At least half my snakes are 'common morphs', neither spectacular examples of that morph or of any use for breeding plans, but they're my pets that I've raised from little worms.
I'd rehome pets if I had insurmountable life-changes that meant I couldn't meet their needs, but only after trying all avenues to keep them. I get far more from my pets than I give them, it's my love of and respect for them that makes me want them in my life, not misplaced pride.

 

[KJUN]

The question is, would you own ALL the animals you currently do if you couldn't share them with others and show them off on the likes of internet forums? It seems that unfortunatley there are some keepers out there who only buy new snakes to impress OTHER people and not actually buying the animals they personally want. I have seen this result in the individual constantly buying and selling snakes to "show off". If forums didn't exist would you still take the same pride in your animals and still want to own every single one you currently do?

I didn't read all the responses, but I can say "Yes" without a doubt. I had over 450 snakes BEFORE digital cameras were common and before internet forums were really even out there. Both existed, but nobody HAD them or USED them.....lol. The ones that have been in it for a while tend to have lost interest - not gained it - with the advent of the black heart side of the internet..... Shrug?

The problem you bring up is that humans are in love with WANTING more than HAVING. It is how our brain works. we can't help it. We WANT something we see. Once we get it, it always seems to be a let down and we move on to wanting the NEXT thing. We are in love with WANTING....not just in love with HAVING. That's part of the reason the images in the forums spur people to buy and sell....because they think the next HAVE will satisfy them while the WANTING is what their psych craves.

That, and some people think expensive morphs makes them look like a "big person" in others' eyes. I can't tell the time small breeders have said they like to stand behind a table because it makes them FEEL important. My response is, "Heck, get rid of the snakes, and you are still important. You shouldn't need snakes to FEEL that way."

 

[Tula_Montage]

I don't keep my pets out of pride, I keep them because they're my responsability and I can't imagine not being fond of one of my pets!
Ellie was quite frankly dangerous at one point with her over-developed guarding instinct, so I put in all the training and control needed to make her manageable and maintain her and others' safety. Until the boys were older and as Ellie mellowed she would only obey commands from me, which made her a huge responsability. She certainly wasn't the cute friendly dog I'd fondly imagined I was getting.
My old rescued tomcat, Ted, had health issues due to having had untreated cat 'flu. He was the ugliest cat imaginable, with short legs, a fat body, and he shed white hairs year 'round. With stinky nasal discharge in the winter, which needed antibiotics and steam treatment every year.
At least half my snakes are 'common morphs', neither spectacular examples of that morph or of any use for breeding plans, but they're my pets that I've raised from little worms.
I'd rehome pets if I had insurmountable life-changes that meant I couldn't meet their needs, but only after trying all avenues to keep them. I get far more from my pets than I give them, it's my love of and respect for them that makes me want them in my life, not misplaced pride.

Nice answer J9.

 

[DaGiant]

I keep them because I like what I have, BUT....
I probably wouldn't have certain species or the quantity
that I have w/o the forum, and I probably wouldn't be caring
for them properly either.
I have learned and still learn a great deal from the great people on here
and have gotten most of my snakes through/from them.
I have developed what I feel are great friendships through here,
and value all I have learned from them.
So.. would I still have snakes? Yes! Would I have the quantity? No..
And I definitely wouldn't have the QUALITY I have, and wouldn't
be interested in breeding.
This is a very fascinating hobby and I am glad to be a part of
it and this great forum!

 

[MinLynn]

Would we have as many snakes as we do without the forums? Probably not. I was terrified of the 3 we rescued and really left all the care up to Matt. I came here looking for care info since we knew these guys had been neglected. As I continued reading and looking at pics my heart started to slowly melt for these little guys and the rest is history. Now if the forums just disappeared one day, would I continue to purchase and own snakes? Yep, I sure would! We are hopelessy addicted to this hobby now and so are our kids. I have hundreds upon hundreds of photos of my babies and I'll show 'em off to anybody that'll look at 'em!

 

[v_various]

well, considering my first corn was a free normal (even after lurking here for a year and knowing there were fancier morphs available, I just figured I could give him a good home). My next two snakes were kind of foisted on me, "hey, I don't want him anymore you should buy him off me" - and neither are really anything special. And my latest snake hasn't really really be shown off that much *at all*.

I'm going to say with certainty that what other people think has no effect on my collection.

 

[jpccusa]

The forum came to me as a learning tool. As with all my animals, I researched A LOT before getting my pet snake. I plan to show his pictures as much as possible and the forum is a great tool to do that as well.
I tend to obsess about having pets. My wanted list is huge:
- Dart Frogs
- Ferret
- Hedgehog
- Macaw
- Cockatoo
- Capuchin Monkey
- Skunk
- You name it
All of them would be acquired for self indulgence and not to show off. Fortunately I have enough reasons to NOT have them, otherwise I would be living ALONE in a petting zoo (my retirement plan?).
Maybe this is a little off topic, but something interesting that I've noticed in the greyhound adoption group I belong to is that the more pets you have, the less amount of attention you are able to provide to each of them. To exemplify, a person w/ 1 dog provides much more affection, love, discipline to that dog than a person w/ a pack of dogs does. I guess that also helped me to stop at 2 greyhounds, 1 cat and 1 snake (not counting the fish or the earthworms). If I had to keep dividing my free time amongst more and more animals, there would be a point where each one would receive a maximum of 5 minutes attention, OR I would have to start favoring one over the other, which I don't find fair either.

 

[Calift]

Thats funny you mentioned that about greyhounds....it's almost like their owners start collecting them! They are beautiful, easy-to-keep dogs that I'm sure are each well loved, but definitely define the potato-chip syndrome.

 

[ZoologyGirl]

some day i'll have a greyhound, they were always my favorite (i love sighthounds!). When I can fit one in my lifestyle I'm definitely adopting an ex racer.

 

[Hypancistrus]

A question for those who have said whatever they buy is there till death, say this is a species you haven't kept before and you found you were not suited to each other, would you let your pride of not selling pets on you feel a responsibility for overtake your incompatibility with your new pet and not sell it on? Ultimatley owning an animal for life that you can care for, but are not particuarly fond of owning?

For me, I would let an animal go I thought was too much out of my league...If it was an animal that didn't tick all the boxes, I would still keep it.

I feel you are responsible for the animals you buy.
....I think if I'd ever buy a pet and turns out I'm not fond of owning it,
I'd keep it, if I could take 100% good care of it.
If not, I probably would sell it or give to a really good home.

I don't keep my pets out of pride, I keep them because they're my responsability and I can't imagine not being fond of one of my pets! .... I'd rehome pets if I had insurmountable life-changes that meant I couldn't meet their needs, but only after trying all avenues to keep them. I get far more from my pets than I give them, it's my love of and respect for them that makes me want them in my life, not misplaced pride.

*points above* What they said. I have a small white and black mouse that I got as a "left over" when we did mouse mazes in biology. No one in his group was interested in having a mouse pet, so Mocha came home with me. This was early 2007 and that mouse is still here. I don't play with him much, but he's tame and I feed him well. He seems happy. I'm not a big fan of boy mice, but he came into my posession and he'll have a healthy, safe life here for as long as he lives.

If I couldn't care for my pets, I'd rehome them in the best homes possible (probably using forums like this one!)

Maybe this is a little off topic, but something interesting that I've noticed in the greyhound adoption group I belong to is that the more pets you have, the less amount of attention you are able to provide to each of them... If I had to keep dividing my free time amongst more and more animals, there would be a point where each one would receive a maximum of 5 minutes attention, OR I would have to start favoring one over the other, which I don't find fair either.

It really depends on what kind of animals you're talking about. Do snakes NEED to be held every day? Not really... in fact they probably do better without us messing with them. Furry pets tend to need more interaction from us, but even among those, there are variants. The mouse described above, for instance, seems quite content without interaction from me (other than food delivery and fresh veggies from time to time). I spend more time with animals that need my attentions every day-- my cat, my dog, my chinchilla, my rats. Others get one on one attention every couple days or so-- the hedgehog, gerbils, lizards. And still others I check over once per week, and handle once per week for a general health assessment and cage check.

Animals have varying needs. I enjoy meeting them.

 

[carnivorouszoo]

Was having an interesting conversation with a snakie pal the other night, and realised I had been meaning to post a topic like this for a while.

The question is, would you own ALL the animals you currently do if you couldn't share them with others and show them off on the likes of internet forums?

Sure! I have always had cats. The local legal limit of them actually! I fostered ferrets for a year to be sure I really wanted one of my own then rescued my lil guy. Um, the mice I have are to feed my snake which I got after hubby asked about how I felt about snakes over a year ago which started our research!

Um, I love showing off what I have but its a living thing not a piece of jewelry So sad so many people see pets as accessories instead of pets.

 

[Cflaguy]

I would....

But consider this... I'm still stuck on garden variety because when I was forced out of reptiles the availability was still low. I always wanted an Eastern Milk for example. I had to go to the NE and look for one. I went into Reptile Shack last year and BAM! An Eastern Milk. Same with my Eastern King. Short story long, I'm currently still collecting those I couldn't w/o difficulty years ago.

As for corns, I want what I want, don't care what anybody says.

 

[Carinata]

Well IMO forums are great and All but I Favor face to face conversation. I mean I love forums but face to face is better. Forums are easy to cheat at copy past or google makes you an expert! As far as bragging goes I like rare snakes for me and no one else. They make ME happy

 

[vetusvates]

Elle, I've been meaning to bump this thread for a couple of weeks now. Meaning, only a week or two ago did it really dawn on me what you meant in the OP. Or perhaps it struck a chord with me,...over some specific event or thought.
I really really know, without any reservation or confusion, that if I had had access to the snakes, I would have bought them only because of what I learned on this forum, of course, and because I personally wanted/liked that snake.
Said differently, if this forum disappeared today/tonight (Heaven forbid),....I would keep and love my babies....and many many people would never know that I had them.

And actually, you know, I cannot name off all your snakes, what you have or don't have,....because I don't know. You have never made an issue of broadcasting that in detail. That you really really love your snakes....seems kind of a personal private thing.