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Is my snake okay??
- Thread starter Tessla
- Start date
Susan
Go Ahead, Make My Day!
I wouldn't waste any more time with this one. Tessla thinks this is a chat room, has only been posting in threads were he/she thinks someone is currently in, doesn't return to threads he/she feels has ended and really has no clue how a forum actually works. I'm going to see if our moderator abilities can get through his/her no e-mail request, just as a last ditch effort. Otherwise, I feel that poor cornsnake is not going to survive.
Bingo! I have e-mail address. I just hope I'm not stepping beyond my moderator bounds.
Bingo! I have e-mail address. I just hope I'm not stepping beyond my moderator bounds.
nitetygress
New member
as someone who spent a long time researching for all of her pets, this post makes me sort of sad.
diamondlil
Mice! They taste so nice!
Susan, thanks for the update, hope you succeed
Roy Munson
New member
I don't think she's coming back. I'll admit that this thread made me mad in the first place. Then I saw her hijacking threads and starting duplicate threads all over the place, and it didn't do much to improve my view of her. She was asked by others to stop, but she kept doing it. My initial PM warning to her could have been more friendly, but she didn't seem to be listening to ANYONE, so I decided to take the direct approach.
Here's our PM exchange. Note her last PM. After all the work members put in to answering her many, many questions, her final evaluation is that this site is unhelpful. :shrugs:
Here's our PM exchange. Note her last PM. After all the work members put in to answering her many, many questions, her final evaluation is that this site is unhelpful. :shrugs:
Roy Munson PM said:
Tessla PM said:
Roy Munson PM said:
Tessla PM said:
diamondlil
Mice! They taste so nice!
In that case I hope the corn gets rehomed and the ball doesn't get bought
Yes, I hope that corn does all right.
What she said really bothers me. She kept reposting as if we hadn't answered everything she had asked 3 times over!! And her saying this site is unhelpful is somehow insulting to me. This site is of so much help to me and everyone else, and it bothers me that she couldn't seem to understand what she , or we for that matter, were saying and doing.
Well, I really hope she does something for that snake. If it matters, she PMed after I sent her one giving her some info and she said she had soaked her snake, so she did do something. :shrugs:
What she said really bothers me. She kept reposting as if we hadn't answered everything she had asked 3 times over!! And her saying this site is unhelpful is somehow insulting to me. This site is of so much help to me and everyone else, and it bothers me that she couldn't seem to understand what she , or we for that matter, were saying and doing.
Well, I really hope she does something for that snake. If it matters, she PMed after I sent her one giving her some info and she said she had soaked her snake, so she did do something. :shrugs:
DeadMouse
Hungry, hungry Hognose!
First off, I would like to kindly thank all of you that sent me very nice messages/reps for trying to help this girl. I have to admit that I only got frustrated with her once she started asking about keeping BP's, that's when I decided to do something more productive and wash dishes because I knew at that point, it was a lost cause. 
Now to explain how I got to be this patient....I used to work in an exotic pet store which our main livestock was largely exotic fresh and saltwater fish (but we also had some reptiles, birds and rodents as well). And I'm not talking about about mollies and neons or even african cichlids, I'm talking things like $100+ plecos, some weird saber toothed asian fish I barely found references to in the TFH Atlas books amongst other crazy stuff my boss used to get in China Town Los Angeles. Did I mention our huge store was in a strip mall between a pizza place and a video game store? Imagine trying to deal with families and tons of kids that think it would be a great idea to get that cute little Red-Tailed Catfish (that will grow to 5-6 feet long and devour everything) and put it in their 5 gallon goldfish tank.
We would get all sorts of questions that would just boggle our minds why someone would want to spend literally thousands of dollars on equipment and animals and then not want to take the time to do the simple chores in order to take care of their pets. Some of the stranger rich people figured it was just cheaper to keep buying new fish when they let their other ones die simply because they didn't want to do water changes or adjust the water chemistry for that particular species. All in all, after my initial 3 months of pulling my hair out, I just learned what my one friend who had been working at pet stores for over 15 years, I simply desensitized myself from the customers. I had to, especially when I would get so frustrated with people asking me, as if I were God, if they skimped on this or that if that would somehow magically alter the animals basic needs. Hell, we've had people that would ask us if they could somehow adapt saltwater fish to freshwater because they didn't want to bother buying salt mix and mixing their own or spending the money to purchase pre-mixed saltwater. The very same people that didn't flinch at a $200 price tag for whatever fish caught their fancy.
Anywho, when I got into reptiles, I thought this was going to be a much different hobby with a lot less, for lack of a better term, idiots. And 17 years ago when I got into it, it was. Keeping reptiles was still an infant market place with the exception of the more common place reptiles you could find at any normal pet store like iguanas, boas and turtles. Back then, reptile only stores were pretty uncommon and most of these exotics and color morphs you now see were either non-existant in the trade or simply too expensive for most places to even keep let alone sell one. But a lot has changed in the last 10 years, especially due to the internet and online selling/trading. And with this comes all the same types of people we also got when exotic fish were the huge hobby.
Don't get me wrong, I'm always there to help people, especially if it helps me feel that there might even be the slight chance that I can help save an animals life somehow, but I remember all the frustrations I had working at a pet store all too well. But I think that's what separates a true hobbyist from someone that buys a pet only because it "looks cool". We're in it because we are fascinated with all manners of life on this planet and we want to learn from these animals and try our best to keep them in the best possible surroundings with the best possible care you can afford them in captivity. It's who we are, it's our passion, it's what we do during the good times or bad. You always know the fly-by night people, the ones that were heavy into fish one year and then ditch all their stuff only to get reptiles the next year only to be disenchanted with that and then get into something else that catches their eye, not their mind. The sad thing is, it's the animals that usually suffer and die. Most people look at these animals as objects, not living, breathing, feeling creatures that can feel stress, hunger and pain. At best, they are a $50 toy that merely "breaks" and isn't fun to play with anymore.
Ugh, I'm sorry for the rant, but I guess after seeing Tessla proclaiming that this site, let alone those of us that spent our time trying to help her, was unhelpful just brings back a lot of those old emotions in me that I had once learned to suppress about the general public and their little flings with the poor animals that they purchase.
I guess it's like that old saying goes, if I can reach even one person out of a hundred and enlighten them, then I've done a damn good job!
Here's to all of you here that take the time and have the patience to share your knowledge with those that sincerely want to learn. You have my deepest respect!!!
:cheers:
Now to explain how I got to be this patient....I used to work in an exotic pet store which our main livestock was largely exotic fresh and saltwater fish (but we also had some reptiles, birds and rodents as well). And I'm not talking about about mollies and neons or even african cichlids, I'm talking things like $100+ plecos, some weird saber toothed asian fish I barely found references to in the TFH Atlas books amongst other crazy stuff my boss used to get in China Town Los Angeles. Did I mention our huge store was in a strip mall between a pizza place and a video game store? Imagine trying to deal with families and tons of kids that think it would be a great idea to get that cute little Red-Tailed Catfish (that will grow to 5-6 feet long and devour everything) and put it in their 5 gallon goldfish tank.
We would get all sorts of questions that would just boggle our minds why someone would want to spend literally thousands of dollars on equipment and animals and then not want to take the time to do the simple chores in order to take care of their pets. Some of the stranger rich people figured it was just cheaper to keep buying new fish when they let their other ones die simply because they didn't want to do water changes or adjust the water chemistry for that particular species. All in all, after my initial 3 months of pulling my hair out, I just learned what my one friend who had been working at pet stores for over 15 years, I simply desensitized myself from the customers. I had to, especially when I would get so frustrated with people asking me, as if I were God, if they skimped on this or that if that would somehow magically alter the animals basic needs. Hell, we've had people that would ask us if they could somehow adapt saltwater fish to freshwater because they didn't want to bother buying salt mix and mixing their own or spending the money to purchase pre-mixed saltwater. The very same people that didn't flinch at a $200 price tag for whatever fish caught their fancy.
Anywho, when I got into reptiles, I thought this was going to be a much different hobby with a lot less, for lack of a better term, idiots. And 17 years ago when I got into it, it was. Keeping reptiles was still an infant market place with the exception of the more common place reptiles you could find at any normal pet store like iguanas, boas and turtles. Back then, reptile only stores were pretty uncommon and most of these exotics and color morphs you now see were either non-existant in the trade or simply too expensive for most places to even keep let alone sell one. But a lot has changed in the last 10 years, especially due to the internet and online selling/trading. And with this comes all the same types of people we also got when exotic fish were the huge hobby.
Don't get me wrong, I'm always there to help people, especially if it helps me feel that there might even be the slight chance that I can help save an animals life somehow, but I remember all the frustrations I had working at a pet store all too well. But I think that's what separates a true hobbyist from someone that buys a pet only because it "looks cool". We're in it because we are fascinated with all manners of life on this planet and we want to learn from these animals and try our best to keep them in the best possible surroundings with the best possible care you can afford them in captivity. It's who we are, it's our passion, it's what we do during the good times or bad. You always know the fly-by night people, the ones that were heavy into fish one year and then ditch all their stuff only to get reptiles the next year only to be disenchanted with that and then get into something else that catches their eye, not their mind. The sad thing is, it's the animals that usually suffer and die. Most people look at these animals as objects, not living, breathing, feeling creatures that can feel stress, hunger and pain. At best, they are a $50 toy that merely "breaks" and isn't fun to play with anymore.
Ugh, I'm sorry for the rant, but I guess after seeing Tessla proclaiming that this site, let alone those of us that spent our time trying to help her, was unhelpful just brings back a lot of those old emotions in me that I had once learned to suppress about the general public and their little flings with the poor animals that they purchase.
I guess it's like that old saying goes, if I can reach even one person out of a hundred and enlighten them, then I've done a damn good job!
Here's to all of you here that take the time and have the patience to share your knowledge with those that sincerely want to learn. You have my deepest respect!!!
:cheers:
Plissken
Crazy Snail Lady
Thanks for the update, Dean. It's such a shame that some people just cannot help themselves or their animals. We can advise people like Tessla until we're all blue in the face, but in the end it's down to her to take proper responsibility for this snake.
To be honest Tessla's posts make me more sad than angry. It upsets me that someone can buy an animal with such naive disregard, and then make little effort to learn about it even afterwards.
To be honest Tessla's posts make me more sad than angry. It upsets me that someone can buy an animal with such naive disregard, and then make little effort to learn about it even afterwards.
Matthew
-M.P. Stafford
Wow, I didn't think there was an 18 year old female in the United States that DIDN'T know how to use a computer or forum. Practically unheard of in this day and age, hehe.
Without overstepping my bounds, I think she was a little off her rocker when she said that this site wasn't very helpful. This site is one of the most helpful I've ever come across.
Silly females, anyway... :sidestep:
Without overstepping my bounds, I think she was a little off her rocker when she said that this site wasn't very helpful. This site is one of the most helpful I've ever come across.
Silly females, anyway... :sidestep:
plasticknives
the bee's knees: all six
Matthew said:
Hey! This has nothing to do with FEMALES. Or being 18, for that matter.
It's not a very difficult concept.
It makes me sad that there's no way to contact her. I guess I shouldn't but I almost feel like It's our responsibility to help that snake.....
Pet stores that sell animals to owners who just walk in the store without any knowledge and walk out with a live animal, make me REALLY upset.
I think there should be some sort of quiz that you have to fill out or something before you're allowed to buy, and if you don't pass with 100%, you can go home and d some research, and then come back.
It would eliminate so many problems....
suecornish
New member
You all have to look at it this way - she's 18 and said she was married; she also stated she was given the corn as a gift and from what she posted it sounded as if she thought "pop" corn and tried to toast the poor creature with those lights. :eek1:
For my two cents worth, this site and 99% of everyone on it has been helpful to me. I go to this site every day, some days to post, some days to read, and everytime I have learned something. You take out what you want to use. She sounded like someone who wanted someone else to do for her. I am just afraid the poor corn is no longer among the living.
Well, I'm at work and have to go. Later tonight maybe. :crazy02:
For my two cents worth, this site and 99% of everyone on it has been helpful to me. I go to this site every day, some days to post, some days to read, and everytime I have learned something. You take out what you want to use. She sounded like someone who wanted someone else to do for her. I am just afraid the poor corn is no longer among the living.
Well, I'm at work and have to go. Later tonight maybe. :crazy02:
tyflier
[Insert Witty Commentary]
That would be nice, but...unfortunately, petshops are not in the business of babysitting pet owners. They are in the business of selling pets.plasticknives said:
Because of this, I have worked it out with my favorite shop for when they purchase animals from me. I provide the shop with care sheets and records of all of the snakes they buy from me, and they pass this information along to the purchasers. At the very least, I can feel comfortable in the fact that the new owner will be provided with at least a minimum of basic husbandry knowledge and MY phone number, if they have any problems...It's the most I can do, considering this shop is my only selling outlet currently. I also trust the shop. There is another shop in town that won't be getting any snakes from me, simply because I don't like the way they treat their animals, and I can't trust them to follow MY instructions for their care, nor pass that information along to the new owners. I draw the lines where I am able to...
I also have provided my number to both pet shops and they direct anyone with cornsnake care questions to call me. That is the LEAST I can do to help the animals. I have met a couple people in this manner that have had good results with their pets after we talked. I get a couple of crazy phone calls because of this, but, for the most part, it has been pleasant, hearing the relief in people's voices when I am able to help them fix whatever is wrong. And there is nothing to say that you can't do the same thing at your local shops, if you wanted to. Just go in and start talking about the snakes with the workers, let them know you are knowledgable, and offer your help...
tyflier said:
Wow, that's great! I already have talked to 1 petstore so i can sell them some of my hatchlings that I can't keep this year, and I have been really worried about how they're going to care for the snakes. I've only been in there two or three times, and I can't see anything horribly wrong with there care, although I'm sure it could be better, but I think I'll have to do something like that with them. Thanks for the ideas.
Of course, my mom has to go along with me when I go on these little trips to talk to the pet store owners. I have no idea how they would react without my mom saying she's part of it and all that!
I've been in contact with her via the private messaging portion, and she has responded with some questions.. Hopefully my junior league answers aren't too far off the mark. :grin01:
She has also asked what she did that was so wrong and I explained that chasing people around the boards and demanding answers isn't very polite..
Hopefully now that she understands how this forum operates, (I think we should cut her a LITTLE slack, she clearly thought this was a chat- lol) we will see patient questions from her- if for no other reason for the sake of her snake..
She has also asked what she did that was so wrong and I explained that chasing people around the boards and demanding answers isn't very polite..
Hopefully now that she understands how this forum operates, (I think we should cut her a LITTLE slack, she clearly thought this was a chat- lol) we will see patient questions from her- if for no other reason for the sake of her snake..
Plissken
Crazy Snail Lady
plasticknives said:
But could the pet store be trusted to know the answers to the questions themselves?
The trouble is that some people just seem to think having an animal is easy and it's okay if you don't get it right. After all, "how hard can it be?" It would help of course if pet stores could be more about good homes for the animals and less about making lots of money, but in reality I doubt there is much that can be done to stop unsuitable people buying animals. The basic facts of cornsnake care can be picked up on the internet; even if there were 'tests' of some kind, it wouldn't take much to learn enough to pass, even if you had no intention of actually putting these facts into practice. It's impossible to know how someone intends to treat an animal once they get it home and knowing how it should be looked after doesn't mean that person intends to comply with that.
Sorry - don't mind me - going off on a tangent :bang:
tyflier
[Insert Witty Commentary]
I'll be honest...my favorite shop was so relieved when I gave them my phone number and told them that anyone who had colubrid questions was welcome to call me. As good as they are, they, by the very nature of a pet shop, simply cannot know everything about every pet they sell. It takes a load off of them that I am willing to help, and it also helps them to sell their snakes more confidently, knowing that I am willing to help anyone who is willing to dial my phone number.tbtusk said:
It's a win, win, win...The shop gets to help people with their pets, the snakes get overall better care, and I get "publicity" because people learn who I am, and appreciate the help I can provide. Considering that I am n the process of starting a small breeding business locally...that can NEVER hurt...
tom e said:
OI was in contact with her to foir a little while but after asking me if she could ask more questions she never sent the questions, let alone another pm. strange.
As for the petstore stuff, Tyflier. Very cool. I don't know what I can do, but i will definitely do anything I can. It's a very good system you've started up.
The one really nice pet store in the area around me doesn't sell snakes, bucause they say they don't feel they can give out the proper care info, let alone care for the snakes properly themselves. they refurred me to a local destributer/breeder when i asked. That is one of the only pet stores that seems to take REALLY good care of there animals and think about what they're doing to the animals. They're our first stop when looking for pet stuff now.
ssmith_1187
In the land of Cheeeeeese
I think part of the problem when it comes to purchasing and owning a pet are the pet stores themselves.
How many of us have walked into a pet store and over to the reptile section? What do you typically (I know not always) but typically see, a piece of repti-carpet of some sort, a water bowl and 1 hide. How many potential customers look at that setup and think "Hey that looks pretty simple, I think I can handle that."
The people on cornsnakes.com, myself included, are passionate about the animals we keep. The amount of time, money and energy we invest in the well-being of our animals I would rank among the top in the pet industry. How many other pet owners do you know cut the skin on the backs of our feeder animals to help our snakes digest them better? I don't see my neighbor doing that for their Springer Spaniel
My point is, there are those (most of us) who absolutely love snakes and reptiles. We love to breeder them, keep them, raise them, study them and read about them. We even share pictures of them as if they were are children
Then there are those who think, yeah snakes are pretty cool and I think I would like to own one. They go out and buy one or receive one as a gift; without researching their basic needs, thinking about enclosures, feeding requirements, ambient air temperature, temperature gradients, hides, substrates or the fact that yes, some day your snake will indeed bite you.
We were all newbies at one point, and I still consider myself to be one in every sense of the word…but the one thing that keeps me coming back to cornsakes.com and the reason I enjoy it so much is the patience, understanding and knowledge of the people that post here. Some people view snakes as a pet...while others view them as a passion and it can be difficult to turn off that passion and talk about them as just pets.
Regards,
Steve
How many of us have walked into a pet store and over to the reptile section? What do you typically (I know not always) but typically see, a piece of repti-carpet of some sort, a water bowl and 1 hide. How many potential customers look at that setup and think "Hey that looks pretty simple, I think I can handle that."
The people on cornsnakes.com, myself included, are passionate about the animals we keep. The amount of time, money and energy we invest in the well-being of our animals I would rank among the top in the pet industry. How many other pet owners do you know cut the skin on the backs of our feeder animals to help our snakes digest them better? I don't see my neighbor doing that for their Springer Spaniel
My point is, there are those (most of us) who absolutely love snakes and reptiles. We love to breeder them, keep them, raise them, study them and read about them. We even share pictures of them as if they were are children
Then there are those who think, yeah snakes are pretty cool and I think I would like to own one. They go out and buy one or receive one as a gift; without researching their basic needs, thinking about enclosures, feeding requirements, ambient air temperature, temperature gradients, hides, substrates or the fact that yes, some day your snake will indeed bite you.
We were all newbies at one point, and I still consider myself to be one in every sense of the word…but the one thing that keeps me coming back to cornsakes.com and the reason I enjoy it so much is the patience, understanding and knowledge of the people that post here. Some people view snakes as a pet...while others view them as a passion and it can be difficult to turn off that passion and talk about them as just pets.
Regards,
Steve