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Commonly Overlooked By Beginners?

I actually did a lot of reading before I bought my first snake, but this valuable piece of information is frequently overlooked on caresheets: you need something to regulate your heat source. That was my beginner mistake, and thankfully I use a temp gun once or twice a day to check on my critters so I caught the problem in time.
 
ShenziSixaxis said:
With what I said? 'Cause I know I'm pinching a few nerves in some users when I say co-habbing is okay when done right.
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You are pinching nerves when you try to begin a debate about cohabbing in a thread that is a service to newbies, pointing out subjects they may have missed. The thread is an inappropriate venue for such a debate.
 
I'd say one huge mistake is when n00bs come on to forums (such as this one) and ask questions about how to care for their snake, how to solve a particular problem, etc. and they totally ignore what people tell them to do.

Either they just don't want to do it, or for some reason they think they know more than all of you people with a whole lot more experience/knowledge than they do.

:shrugs:
 
Porro said:
I'd say one huge mistake is when n00bs come on to forums (such as this one) and ask questions about how to care for their snake, how to solve a particular problem, etc. and they totally ignore what people tell them to do.

Either they just don't want to do it, or for some reason they think they know more than all of you people with a whole lot more experience/knowledge than they do.

:shrugs:
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That's because their uncle/neighbor/pet shop employee is a Herpetologist!
 
You know, when I got Fiesta, my first snake (Okeetee), I discussed the situation with the kind woman I bought him from, and asked where I should go for advice before I decided if I could take on the beastie successfully. She sent me here. I gained a TON of information and good advice before I decided that I could "probably" handle the needs of a corn snake.

I also saw, looking through various threads, some really heavy-duty bickering. I had to wade through enough of it on one day that I questioned whether or not I would get enough good info here to make it worth joining this community. I'm glad I was able to look past "personalities" and joined!

So, I guess my advice would be, besides the already-stated good advice, is to research well--but remember that in the end you're getting your advice from many different people/personality types when you come looking in any forum for that information, and remember that even while bickering, most people have only the best interest in their passion (here, that would be snakes) and are trying to be helpful. Sit back and listen to people who know what they're talking about, realize that they're human and aren't always going to speak/act the same way you might be inclined to, and be polite. People of all sorts are here to help. Make use of their knowledge, and don't be offensive with your lack of it, lest you alienate the very people who want more than anything to make sure that your chosen pet has a good, healthy life and its owner has a pleasant experience with keeping it, because s/he knows in advance what needs to be done, and where to go when there are questions that need answering.
 
ShenziSixaxis said:
With what I said? 'Cause I know I'm pinching a few nerves in some users when I say co-habbing is okay when done right.
Click to expand...

The trouble is that n00bies DON'T do it right. And look what happened to a breeder recently -- 2 dead males -- and he isn't a n00bie. N00bies like me are much, much, MUCH better off not cohabbing. And although experienced keepers do it, we should probably try to be all on the same message for n00bies -- don't cohab. Wait a few years. Learn a lot. Then think about it.
 
Around here, I would say the two biggest beginner (even long term owners) mistakes would probably be feeding live & heat rocks. I know those two things kinda shocked me when I found out about them, because *everyone* (pet shop employees, other snake owners) around here *know* that is what you do for snakes. When we got a Petco in, they had on the snake cages a placard saying to please feed F/T that they sell, rather than live. That was the first I'd heard that they would take anything other than live & when I first started to consider getting one. Before, I hadn't because I couldn't stand the thought of feeding live mice. When I really decided to look into getting one I was pretty shocked that all these sites on the web were saying not to use heat rocks! I was pretty glad I decided to check them out on the web first. I'm not sure what you could do to fix that though, since the info is already out there in books & on the web, people just have to look for it.
 
In my opinion, many snake owners think snakes are a walk in the park.
After all, they don't shed, don't smell, don't make messes, eat once a week, and are very quiet.
But they need more than a hide and a water dish.

I admit I am addicited to Yahoo! Answers. There I see many, many idiots.
the most common is that they skip research all together, so they purchase the snake and ask, "I got a corn snake, how do I care for it?" which makes me very, very upset.

A lot of people go straight for the pythons, why I will never know. But for some reason, if they had the choice between a corn snake and a royal python they'd go for the royal. Because they think that a royal is "cooler" than a corn snake.

A lot of people think that a snake must eat live, so they feed it a live pinky. Once you feed live it's tought to get it on frozen.
Why do they do this? It's because they did little research, OR a pet store advised them to.

Other problems are:
Temps (They don't get any heat source for their snake)
Wrong substrate
Wrong food (think it eats insects)

Now when we found Muscles I was a total noob to snakes. And I admit I made some of the worst mistakes.
The first was, I used sand and hay as a substrate. Looking back I'm like :eek:
I caught ROACHES and expected them (we found a garter snake too at the time) to eat it. I actually forced Nippy to eat one :nope:
I DID do my research but it was too late. as I found out more about them, my mother became less and less happy about keeping them.
The last mistake was that I was very unwilling to do the one thing that was essential: feed mice. I loved mice and didn't want to feed my snakes them!
But eventually I sucked it up and fed a mouse to Muscles. Nowadays I look at mice like burgers (not that I eat burgers, just a comparasin)

Just an example of the many mistakes noobie snake owners make.
 
I'd go with buying a heatmat and assuming it won't need a thermostat. In fairness that's a pretty reasonable assumption and shops rarely push stats for some reason.

Second is thinking that Corns can live together safely because they were like that in the shop. Again, that's a reasonable assumption based on observation that won't be corrected unless they come and ask somewhere like this board.

Another mistake is believing that the people who work in shops that sell Corns, know all about them. A further very reasonable assumption and some shops employ or are run by exceptionally knowledgable folks. However, some come across as experts when they're generalists who don't know Corn specifics e.g. recommending UV when Corns don't need this but some other reptiles do. I ran across this myself recently, when "The Man In The Shop" assured my young nephew that his eight month old male Corn was on a breeding season hunger strike. I went on for weeks about checking temperatures and was either ignored or told that temps were fine. I eventually took my digital thermometer round (again, Man In Shop told them that the dial-type were fine) and found that the UTH was off and there was no heat at all. A week after switching it back on and correcting the stat probe position, the Corn started eating again. I've been keeping and breeding Corns since Man In Shop was at nursery school but I still had less credibility than him. *sigh*
 
I actually work in Petco, and have gotten lucky because the majority of the people I work with are knowledgeable and dont have a problem saying no, if they feel that the person interested shouldnt have that particular pet. what i see besides what others have mentioned about feeding, heating etc.

A couple of the biggest things I have seen are people come in, decide they want a snake, and have never handled a snake in their entire lives! Now dont get me wrong before I got Cherry my most awesomest corn ever (lol) I had not handled a snake in years, but I "practiced" on the ones in the store and at a reptile shop that is close to our house. So that even though I was new to snake handling, I had the basics down. It helped a lot, but I see people come in (mostly guys where I live) and get all excited because we have snakes then I get them out and they are terrified of them, and dont want to touch them. It is hard for me to be encouraging when they have so much fear towards a little 14 inch corn snake. Yet they are ready to lay down their money for one.

And the second thing I see is the first thing out of their mouths is "do they bite" My most used response is " Yes, everything with a mouth can bite, however there are steps to take to help prevent a snake bite" The look on their faces when I say yes is generally HIlarious! But it would be mis-information if I said no. Because snakes can and do bite.

Ah I see I have written a book about this, my apologies, apparently this is a bit of a pet peeve for me lol.:shrugs:
 
wstphal said:
The trouble is that n00bies DON'T do it right. And look what happened to a breeder recently -- 2 dead males -- and he isn't a n00bie. N00bies like me are much, much, MUCH better off not cohabbing. And although experienced keepers do it, we should probably try to be all on the same message for n00bies -- don't cohab. Wait a few years. Learn a lot. Then think about it.
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Leaving a female in with a male that is half her size is also something you would think common sense says to not do, especially over a long enough period for her to get hungry. :nope:
 
I am new to owning a snake but I did a lot of research before purchasing my corn and still didn't get the regulating the heat bit right until I had him for a week. I broke down and bought a Herpstat ND and absolutely love it.

My recommendation for someone BEFORE they get their first snake is to read, ask questions, read some more, ask ask ask, and purchase their snake from a reputable breeder who will help them with questions in the future. All of that wil prevent most beginner mistakes and make for a much better experience for the owner and the snake.

Impulse buys are a no-no, and there is no such thing as a disposable pet.

Of course I'm still a n00b enough that I get excited when he poops. Go figure.
 
From one beginner to another, maybe don't be *so* trusting of the nice pet store people. I'm sure she was trying to be helpful, but I ended up with a TON of stuff I simply didn't need, or would have been dangerous for my snake if I had kept using it. I did a bunch of research before I bought snakey, but I still needed some basic help. I was relying on her for some helpful information because this is a locally owned exotic pet store, and I figured the knowledge would run a little deeper than your average cats and dogs pet store. She sat with me for a good 35 minutes, helping me out with my "starter pack", that included substrate riddled with mites, a lamp with such a high wattage that *I* could have cooked under it, and absolutely no mention of a UTH or a second hide. The attempted reassuring "oh yes, I have a bunch of corns at home" is what scares me the most.

So, I guess what I'm saying is as much research as you think you've done, do more. Otherwise, things can get dangerous, and expensive, especially with a "no refunds" policy ;)
 
A couple things that bug me:

1. Heat lamps

2. People who go right out, buy a pair of adults, and go about breeding right away and THEN come in with a ton of questions after the eggs are laid. Questions are great, but some of these should be asked before deciding to breed, IMO (like how to incubate). I think more people would benefit from raising at least one corn to adulthood before breeding (researching all the while).
 
EddieA;1141862 2. People who go right out said:
This is great advice! I have decided (after a lot of thought) that I would like to breed at some point in the future. I now have 2 pairs, a butter mot het lav, a normal stripe het lav, a caramel, and a hypo stripe. While I have only had snakes for a short time, I know I am not ready to start breeding right now, which is why I bought all my snakes as babies :D. That way I have about 2-3 years of doing research, getting to know hets, and morphs, and learning all the ins and outs (as much as possible that is not hands on anyway) before I start bringing little ones into the world. So this is something that I completely agree with. Or at least in my case it is a good thing.
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