Snakes wearing hats

[andynic07]

I think this thread is getting out of hand from both sides of the argument. I think that we can all agree that it is for some and not others and probably leave it at that as there is no real need to prove ourselves over a fairly trivial thing.

 

[Snowman]

Lawra, Rule 6 aside, I believe that some things are probably better done by PM. By being openly judgmental of others in the public arena of the forum, it creates an adversarial situation where acceptance of defeat and loss of face are required to achieve change. If your motivation was other than achieving change then perhaps you chose appropriately.

A negative of tackling a perceived issue in the public arena is that you leave yourself open to scrutiny with respect to what you have said. For example, I had a quick look through the last dozen threads you have started. There are a number where use of existing information in APS would have answered all the questions you had and more. There is one that “amused you so you had to share”, another that was “so cool you just had to share”. One of those got the grand total of one response.

What was most telling was a thread titled “What the???” with a photo of one man walking two dogs on leashes greeting another “walking” two really huge pythons or boas also on leashes. Idealistically I find it much more difficult to accept this mimicry of everyday life as having some humour to it than I do with the obvious dressing up for the camera of placing hats on snakes. This is my considered opinion but I do acknowledge that this an only an opinion.




Blue

Perhaps also better suited to PM Mike. You are clearly being judge mental yourself ?!
The girl gave some good advice and advice she learnt the hard way on this forum through experience.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

The Hats. There is a biological phenomena known as Sensory Adaptation in which there is a change in the excitability of the sense organs as a result of continuous stimulation such that a more intense stimulus is required. For example, if you have an object in contact with your skin, initially the touch receptors fire off but after a short while they stop. It requires greater pressure in the same spot to make them fire or movement of the object to an area not previously in contact. I was thankful of sensory adaptation as a kid when I had clean out the chook/duck pen. For most hat styles used it wuld not have taken long for the snake to adapt to the hat and not be influenced by it.

Blue

Mike, your intellectualising of the issue simply misses my point, which is a philosophical one, just my point of view, and it pertains to the values of the people who find that making animals look stupid is funny. It is just my point of view, and doesn't need paragraphs of waffle to justify your own stance.

As far a Classabear's comments go, she's also entirely missed the point I was making. But that doesn't surprise me...

Jamie

 

[Classabear]

I love that with your days/weeks of experience you are able to state this with the utmost certainty. At the end of the day snakes don't like being touched on the head - period - for the reasons stated previously by others.

This forum is not just to help newbies. Forums allow people with a common interest to connect in one place dedicated to the topic and in this case it's Australian reptiles. We're not your personal encyclopaedias and this is still the internet - it's a jungle out there!

Posting several threads a day about fluff is one way to ensure anything you spout gets jumped on - but of course that's just my opinion

PS See what your quick forum search found? Previous threads on the exact same topic! For future reference: do a search first and either

1) learn from what was posted and not post yourself
2) bump the thread with your input/question
3) if thread is closed, request it to be opened
4) ask specific members via PM about their posts in the thread, quoting source so they aren't confused

VERY LAST OPTION

5) start a new thread about it and reference previous threads and give as much info as possible so you don't look like a fool

First off, I didn't search the forum, it came up in related search.

And I think most my info was just common sense. My snakes are used to being touched on my head from their previous owner and they don't mind it. And I know that statement may be invalid because 'your only a newbie, you wouldn't possibly know how to understand a snakes feelings'

Perhaps one of the reasons I post such seemingly uninteresting threads is because I have literally nobody else in my circle to educate me about any kind of reptile at all. I'm absolutely on my own, an these seemingly pointless questions actually help me out. Other pointless threads such as this one were meant to lighten the mood between me and the group of people on here that chose to ruin every thread I post regardless whether it is a pointless question or not, but it's apparent it's done the absolute opposite. Thanks. You have made me not want to be part of the reptile community at all, and I bet you are quite pleased with yourself.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rob]

I think this thread is getting out of hand from both sides of the argument. I think that we can all agree that it is for some and not others and probably leave it at that as there is no real need to prove ourselves over a fairly trivial thing.

Yep. I think that's enough. Thread will remain open for now, but if you have nothing nice/positive to add, please don't post it.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

For Classabear

Classabear, I understand fully your difficulty in finding a network of peers who share your interest in snakes. Many of us have spent years in a similar situation, especially before the internet offered opportunities such as this to connect with fellow keepers. A good thing about the internet is that it can bring to you information which can be helpful, and connect you to others who share your interest. You will have seen that there quite a few members here who spend a great deal (too much!) time offering advice to new keepers. I probably put in at least two hours a day here seeing where I might be able to help. Sometimes I can be blunt, as I have been with you. I apologise for that.

One of the difficulties here however, is that there is such a mix of backgrounds between members, and the reptile-keeping business has been a very recent & rapidly growing phenomenon, that there can be a clash of ideologies. Like a few of the "grumpy old buggers" here, my interest in reptiles began way back when captive breeding was not routine, breeders and pet-shops selling reptiles didn't exist, and the only information on snakes was in Pommy books about Grass Snakes and Adders. If we wanted to keep snakes we had to go out into the bush and catch our own. This activity naturally lead to a great deal of learning as we honed our skills and learnt more about our quarry. So... many of the old-timers like me find it difficult to separate snakes from the natural world, and our perceptions/beliefs/understanding of these creatures differs hugely from those of the younger keepers who have easy access to all sorts of snakes now and who in all probability, have never seen a snake in its natural context. We see them through different eyes.

This is what causes some of us to be judgemental when the objects of our interest appear to be treated with frivolity or disrespect by people, especially new keepers, who don't understand them the way we do... maybe that's our problem as much as yours - perhaps we need to move with the times (but in saying that, I'd NEVER find putting hats on snakes worthy of a laugh - that's a bridge too far for me...).

All I'm saying really is that there is a lot to learn here on APS, if you approach it in a different manner, you'll probably find that you'll gain a great deal of insight into reptiles. It may not seem like it, but I actually put a great deal of thought into what I'm going to post, if it's necessary, and how it will look before I press the submit button - if I have a strong opinion about something I make sure I have my defences or justification ready. If I'm demonstrably wrong about something, I'll apologise.

I think it would be a mistake to throw the baby out with the bathwater...

Jamie

 

[Rob]

OP has requested their account be suspended, so thread is now closed.

Members wishing to continue their discussion may do so via PM.