read this

[langy]

gday i have not made a comment on this site in a very long time, i have been keeping reptiles for 14 years now and by no means consider myself a know it all or expert, the good old days seem to be long gone, back when you had to breed your own rats and mice because it was unheard of to sell frozen rodents in pet shops because hardly anyone kept snakes. but now every one seems to be a proffesional reptile keeper, even if they have only been into herps for a year or two. it really seems to be the in trend at the moment to say i have a snake in my lounge room.. i read about people who own snakes and lizards but are too scared to pick them up because of fear of getting bitten, or even worse wear gloves to handle them, all i can say is you have chosen a very wrong pet or hobby as they are not fluffy pets they are predators and will bite if hungry or annoyed, and dont like you pulling them out of there enclosure to show everyong who comes through your door to make yourself feel cool that you have a snake.keeping reptiles to me is way more than a hobby it's a lifestyle. i know i will get a lot of crap for writing this but i think it had to be said.

 

[steelvan]

you may get a lot of crap for that but you will also get people agreeing with you, im one of them, ive only had a snake for just over a month now so i know far less than you do but you have to start some time dont you

 

[euphorion]

agreed. everone is an over-night google expert here. and the real experts are too fed up with all the pretenders to bother contributing anymore <-- in general at least.

 

[sevrum]

agreed. everone is an over-night google expert here. and the real experts are too fed up with all the pretenders to bother contributing anymore <-- in general at least.

well said

 

[maculosis_mandy]

Ive been keeping reptiles for over 20 years and understand what you are saying, I was 24 years old and had 35 snakes, I dont keep as many now but its been my lifestyle for so long. Ive met so many people that are scared or the novelty wears of after a bite. Best you can do is indulge in your passion and dont worry about what the others are doing. You wont change it.

 

[Niall]

I agree with you all!
To many people give false advise or just keep them for the money i.e breeding.

When the sleaze bags read this i hope they keep their mouths shut and grow up!

 

[Mr.James]

Let it out mate! Lol. Not giving you any crap, I think you hit the nail on the head, especially about it being a new cool trend. But people can do what they want though and this site is designed to provide for everyone from beginners to pro's.

Vent if you obviously need to no doubt you may get flamed or you may swing members to jump on your cool bangwagon wether you want it or not.

No further comments..

 

[Lonewolf]

we've had reptiles for 2 1/2 years and still learning and even tho people might not like what you said it had to be said

 

[cracksinthepitch]

Interesting. Another angle i have considered esp in Vic is that every single petshop here now sells reptiles. These people have worked out there is a buck to be made .Years ago the people selling the reptiles had intricate knowledge of every aspect of their goods, these days the petshops have very limited knowledge of what they are selling and yes are selling them as a BUZZ animal. They are far more availiable today as with everything due to the internet etc. i hope that the Experts still provide input on sites like this as its a real shame if they didnt and certainly our loss.

 

[Mr.James]

Things will never be the same as the old days...I'm 24 and ***** has changed alot in my time looking at the younger generation..but you cant live in the past man, and from what I gather very little real reptile keepers actually use the internet, as you probably know most of its all word of mouth. It has its own community and alot of people pretend they are in it but really they are just sitting on the fence.

 

[missllama]

my partner has been keeping reps for over 15 years and he still learns things all the time
im only new to reps (3years) and neither of us are "experts"
i think there are alot of really experienced people on here, BUT doesnt mean they have the right answers for everything

 

[Mr.James]

$$$$$ = Evil :evil:

 

[Lewy]

i think there are alot of really experienced people on here, BUT doesnt mean they have the right answers for everything

Couldn't agree more!!!!!

 

[hardcorey007]

Although I agree with most of what you've said, one thing that I want to point out is unlike in days of old there is alot more information available now (some correct, some not so much). So people are able to become educated in the ways of reptiles a lot quicker Unlike 14 years ago when the only way to learn about reptiles was speak directly to an experienced herper (and there were relatively few of those), and/or learn through experience.

I do agree that a lot of new herps think they know it all with little to no experience and experience is an integral part of being an expert. Ours is not the only hobby that has gone this way. Thanks to the information age we have 'armchair experts' in all fields/hobbies.

I for one am thankful because I have learnt a lot through the net that I would otherwise have never found out. It doesn't matter how much education you have on a particular subject or how much experience you have, everyone can still learn something new.

 

[langy]

my partner has been keeping reps for over 15 years and he still learns things all the time
im only new to reps (3years) and neither of us are "experts"
i think there are alot of really experienced people on here, BUT doesnt mean they have the right answers for everything

very well said coudnt agree with you more, just glad there's still people like you out there that know you never stop learning, if you did it would be a very boring life.

and thanks to the rest of you who commented, it's nice to know there are people out there who actually like reptiles for what they are, and not just a facebook profile

 

[liberty]

the biggest thing i agree with u is people who have them yet wont touch them or touch them with gloves for fear of getting bitten.

christ a dog can bite and kill yet u let your kids pat dogs lol

well said any way

 

[jdonly1]

Im here to learn

 

[No-two]

I knew it all years ago when I became a teenager....

 

[cracksinthepitch]

I knew it all years ago when I became a teenager....

12 year old know alls My daughter is 5 and she knows it all

 

[Banjo]

I agree with what you are saying Langy and it is a shame that there is a lot people out there who own reptiles because they want to impress. I'm very new to keeping reptiles myself but I have always had a very keen interest in reptiles for many years before I owned one. And a lot of what I read on internet sites I take with caution and look at many other views and talk to as many learned people before making a decision, hence joining a local Herp club. And I hope that people who like yourself have a lot of experience to offer, would continue to give advice, because there people out there who genuinly appreciate it.
But it is all about learning and the day that anyone thinks that they know it all should just give up as there would be no point in life. I supose this is how we get experts, (ex being past tense and a spurt being a drip under pressure)
I wished I had started owning retpiles 20 years ago, because the pleasure that I have recieved over the past few months studying learning about snakes has been very enjoyable, and it is something that the whole family is enjoying as well. And I hope that whoever starts any hobby / lifestyle would learn and gather as much information before starting, so that it can be a more rewarding experience.
By the way it is much easier to buy frozen rodents, espesially when you are starting out as I am because my young boy would be upset feeding what he would consider a pet to another pet.:shock: Then maybe not.