# "Mistakes" you have made.



## cagey (Dec 23, 2014)

Given we see the admonishment of newbies on here for ignorance, I am throwing it open to admit a mistake you have made re your reptiles over the years.

I will start the ball rolling by admitting my mistake in understanding the size of a mouse or rat a python can eat. Even after weighing the snake and the food option I kept going "there is no way it can eat that, it will choke" and time and time again I am proved wrong. They can eat the food item and they did not choke. Always amazes me and I love sitting there, not moving, watching them consume a food item that looks like it should not fit.


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## PythonLegs (Dec 23, 2014)

I'll just move the water bowl before I put this rat on..Bam. Still do it every now n then.


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## Pythoninfinite (Dec 24, 2014)

Been keeping for well over 50 years... far too many mistakes and misunderstandings, some of them proving fatal for the animals over the years, to mention here...

Jamie


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## onelife (Dec 24, 2014)

i have been very lucky with my mistakes tho i hope i dont do it often - it's not fully closing the doors and i have found once the python asleep under my bed and the other was woken up by the other one knocking things over in my room, they have to go past 3 rooms and a hall way but always seem to head there even when they are let out for exercise.


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## getarealdog (Dec 24, 2014)

Trying to breed-with 2 males lol!


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## Umbral (Dec 24, 2014)

They were talking about reptiles not what you do in your spare time


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## Wally (Dec 24, 2014)

Having an opinion on an open forum.


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## longqi (Dec 24, 2014)

I woke up one day


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## arevenant (Dec 24, 2014)

Saying I'd only get one...


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## MesseNoire (Dec 24, 2014)

arevenant said:


> Saying I'd only get one...



Saying I'd stop after 5.....


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## morants (Dec 24, 2014)

taking advice from idiots


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## getarealdog (Dec 24, 2014)

Umbral said:


> They were talking about reptiles not what you do in your spare time



lol! you left your socks here.


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## Rainbow-Serpent (Dec 24, 2014)

Pythoninfinite said:


> Been keeping for well over 50 years... far too many mistakes and misunderstandings, some of them proving fatal for the animals over the years, to mention here...
> 
> Jamie



I second that. 

The reason I really like helping new reptile keepers is probably because I've made so many mistakes myself, some, like Jamie, proving fatal to the animals. I was maybe 10 (possibly 11) when I got my first snake and I didn't have any help in keeping it, so I made a lot of silly mistakes, for example; I was too impatient to wait for a rat to defrost in warm water, so I had a stroke of "genius" and decided to microwave it. It exploded, naturally. 

Most of them weren't harmful to the snakes, except for one particular mistake I made when I was about 13. I left my thermostat on the bench next to the enclosure, instead of taping it up on the wall or leaving it on top of the enclosure and out of the reach of small children. When I was away for a weekend during a heatwave, someone brought their preschool-aged kid over to the house, and completely failed to be a responsible parent and supervise their child. The child then proceeded to turn on the heat lamps (like I said, it was an awful heatwave, so I had all my snakes heating turned off), and play with the funny looking thing I had labelled "thermostat: do not touch". To put it simply, because nobody checked on the snakes but me, we didn't find out what had happened until I got home to find my two beloved snakes dead. 

These days I'm very pedantic about keeping everything child proof and up out of the way. I'm also quite critical of lazy, irresponsible parents who aren't willing to keep an eye on their young children when visiting somebody's house. :evil:

On a lighter note, the other day after cleaning the enclosures, I made the silly mistake of forgetting to weigh down my male BHP's water bowl properly with substrate, and he then turned half of his enclosure into a lagoon :lol:


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## Yogi (Dec 24, 2014)

I know alot wont admit it but when I first started out I did, the offer the rat to the snake using large thongs drop the rat from the thongs oh ****, oh well ill just pick it up a wack you ve been bitten.


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## Umbral (Dec 24, 2014)

getarealdog said:


> lol! you left your socks here.


That's ok, I used the money you paid me to buy more.


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## eipper (Dec 25, 2014)

The only bad mistakes are the ones you repeat when you don't learn from your failure.

Personally, I tend to not listen as much as I should- I prefer to find out for myself and test the variables rather than listen carte Blanche.

cheers


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## getarealdog (Dec 26, 2014)

Umbral said:


> That's ok, I used the money you paid me to buy more.



Best dollar I ever spent!


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## ben_smith2000 (Dec 26, 2014)

Buying things like heat fittings without measuring to see if they fit in the enclosure where I need them to, then having to go out and spend more money on something that I could have bought in the first place if I took the time. haha


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## Pythoninfinite (Dec 26, 2014)

Yogi said:


> I know alot wont admit it but when I first started out I did, the offer the rat to the snake using large thongs drop the rat from the thongs oh ****, oh well ill just pick it up a wack you ve been bitten.



Hmm... I've used tongs, but never thongs... do you mean the flip-flop variety, or the other sort - I guess you could use them as a sort of slingshot !

Seriously, in the early days before the internet, so little info was available, that even things like mites, RI, canker (infectious stomatitis) could be fatal conditions. Breeding was unheard of (unless a gravid female was collected) until thermal cycling was understood, so I've been through all that, often with mixed success. These days you can find just about whatever you need to know on the internet, but of course, the internet is not censored, so a new keeper still needs to be very cautious about the information they absorb and act on, so there is still nothing better than good & experienced mentor. The scourge of the 5 minute expert is alive and well on the net...

Jamie

Jamie


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## DeanoCFE (Dec 30, 2014)

Buying with excitement and not looking at the snake properly! Brought a snake that was very dehydrated and with mites!
Very bad mistake and then even after getting rid of the mites and attempting to rehydrate him unfortunately he past away! lesson learnt!


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## apprenticegnome (Dec 30, 2014)

Tried uncoiling my female Black headed pythons tail from around the thermostat lead she was pulling off the back of the enclosure whilst looking the opposite direction and talking to someone. She latched onto the finger and coiled my hand (should have known better, she always bites). Moved my male Black headed python from a tub to his first enclosure with only a heat pad, found out he wouldn't eat and was overly agitated/aggressive as he needed higher ambient temperature rather than warm spot on floor (cured the day I put heat lamp in). Putting eggs in a bird egg incubator (massive fan dehydrated eggs).


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## sarah_m (Dec 31, 2014)

With my second snake(diamond Python), I ignored the advice I was given about what sort of click clack I should use for a hatchie because i didn't like the look of a boring plastic tub. 
Instead, I got one of those plastic fish tanks with the coloured lids that people often get for hermit crabs. 
Predictably, she escaped because the plastic lid was flexible. Luckily, she was found by me and not the cat. From them on, all hatchies go into click clacks that lock on all sides!!


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## hunterschamps (Dec 31, 2014)

Leaving my MD enclosure open new years eve, getting a rude wakeup from my girlfriend when the snake came thru a back window and dropped onto the bed next to her! 

She wasn't very happy about that one in the morning, specially with a hangover!


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## SS9880 (Jan 3, 2015)

I put my very first hatchling in a 4 foot enclosure 
wondered why wouldn't feed and keep attacking me lol leant the hard way


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## Pythoninfinite (Jan 3, 2015)

One of my biggest mistakes ever was linking up with a dodgy "entrepreneur," who promised the world a new herp magazine, despite constant warnings from many of my friends and associates that it would end in tears... eventually cost me my much enjoyed job editing Scales & Tails, then the new magazine went bust after just two editions... Egg on face and a lesson sorely learned!

Jamie


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## mje772003 (Feb 7, 2015)

one mistake was putting frozen rats into snaplock bags for thaw out and forgot to wash hands then going to change water bowl will never forget again


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## kingofnobbys (Feb 7, 2015)

Mistakes I've made .... OMG where do I start, I've made heaps of mistakes, fortunately I tend to learn from my mistakes and try not to repeat them.

Worse herp related mistake was trusting a local vet with one of my lizards, result = dead lizard about 3 hours after being treated for "impaction"


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## Ekans (Feb 7, 2015)

Not watching the very obvious signs my woma was giving me about not wanting to be picked up. I got bitten. Served me right.


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## sevrum (Feb 7, 2015)

buying jags ,thinking they would be ok,all showed signs of neuro at some stage (some young,some not until adults)nothing like holding a full grown coastal jag and feeling it move all wrong........never again.........live and learn...


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## Leasdraco (Feb 7, 2015)

I had a python escape from an enclosure that wasn't as secure as it could've been. At least she can't actually get out of the room it was in.


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## Umbral (Feb 8, 2015)

SS9880 said:


> I put my very first hatchling in a 4 foot enclosure
> wondered why wouldn't feed and keep attacking me lol leant the hard way


Nothing wrong with a 4ft enclosure provided you give them enough hides to feel secure.


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## Gizmo101 (Feb 9, 2015)

I didn't close the magnetic latches on my younger bredli's enclosure one afternoon and about 4am in the morning he let himself out and got into bed with my partner and I.
Woke up in the dark to hearing my boyfriend yelling "I hope that's one of ours!" Then turnings on the light to see Louis in his hand.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## gilesm89 (Feb 12, 2015)

I am pretty clumbsy.. I have shut my stimmies tail in the click clack and also sat on him once. Luckily he is tough as nails!


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## baker (Feb 12, 2015)

Handling the spotted black snake then using the same hook straight away after that on a juvenile eastern brown. It was an exciting couple of minutes trying to contain that little guy after he flew out of the tub at the smell of the other one.
Cheers Cameron


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## apprenticegnome (Feb 13, 2015)

Thinking I was into herpetology when apparently it's more than owning snakes and having an interest in such. There is criteria set that you must search for reptiles outside on a regular basis, must have been in the hobby for numerous years, must be able to recite the scientific names of each species, be accepted by the in crowd and be resistant to accepting others into the fold. There might even be a secret handshake in there somewhere but I haven't managed to infiltrate the secret society.


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## GBWhite (Feb 14, 2015)

apprenticegnome said:


> Thinking I was into herpetology when apparently it's more than owning snakes and having an interest in such. There is criteria set that you must search for reptiles outside on a regular basis, must have been in the hobby for numerous years, must be able to recite the scientific names of each species, be accepted by the in crowd and be resistant to accepting others into the fold. There might even be a secret handshake in there somewhere but I haven't managed to infiltrate the secret society.



Herpetology is having an active interest and involvement with field work and scientific research. Going out and catching a few critters to have a gander at and/or photograph and keeping a few as pets is herpetoculture. They are two different fields but the later often leads to the first.

George.


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## apprenticegnome (Feb 15, 2015)

GBWhite said:


> Herpetology is having an active interest and involvement with field work and scientific research. Going out and catching a few critters to have a gander at and/or photograph and keeping a few as pets is herpetoculture. They are two different fields but the later often leads to the first.
> 
> George.


Depends on who you speak to on here. The criteria shifts within the self proclaimed on here just as to exclude others from being viewed in the same class as them.


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## GBWhite (Feb 22, 2015)

apprenticegnome said:


> Depends on who you speak to on here. The criteria shifts within the self proclaimed on here just as to exclude others from being viewed in the same class as them.



Does it really matter that much what you perceive others may think? So long as one gets enjoyment out of what one does is the key point. I think you'll find that the vast majority of herpetologist, be they either professional or amateur started off as herpetoculturists just the same as everyone else and their interest developed to a level beyond just keeping a few herps.

As I stated previously they are two different fields and involvement in either or both are as honourable and respectable as each other. The object of having an interest in either field is to ask questions, listen, learn and self educate to become knowledgeable in a chosen field to the best of ones ability. There are plenty of herpetologists who don't have an interest (or a clue) in housing and breeding individual species of reptiles just as there are plenty of herpetoculturists who don't have an interest in exploring the scientific field of study.

It's up to the individual if they want to extend their own personal knowledge from beyond keeping them to an active involvement in the science of the subject.

Cheers.


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## Stuart (Mar 1, 2015)

Thinking I knew it all and refusing to listen to real advice and opinions all because I wanted to prove something. 

Only thing I proved was how to be an idiot


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## Starter (Mar 8, 2015)

My biggest mistake happened about one year ago, when I let one of my pythons escape. It was a heat wave here in South Australia with 10 days straight over 40 degrees every day, so I transferred our four snakes, each about 10 foot long, from he shed to he bathroom to keep them cool. Well, some family member or guest must have left the door open - my MD boy was gone.

I happen to be also a breeder of precious Russian Blue cats. There are very few good breeders of this breed in Australia and there is a huge demand. We had a mum with precious kittens at that time, each kitten already pre-sold at birth for $850 each. Three weeks after my MD boy disappeared my little daughter found him again in the kitten room - with a full belly, while one kitten was missing and the mother cat, warmly loved and worth at least a thousand dollars, was badly injured and could barely breathe; she died within the next ten minutes in my arms. The kitten was about the size of a large rat at that time. A very expensive meal.


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## ajwill (Mar 13, 2015)

Leaving my teenage son at home for the weekend with my spotted python and not taking the keys to the enclosure with me. One attempt at showing off handling by him ended with my snake missing in an apartment building full of older folks. She never came home.


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