Times Have Changed

[Paul Bisacca]

Just wanted to mention this is an awesome site. My last T was a Red Leg, 40 years ago. Had it for 10 years before having to give it up due to a move. It was raised in an old 10gal with a screen mesh hood I fabricated. Aquarium gravel as substrate, water dish and a piece of PVC for a hide. I handled it often, it got so big i would feed it toads and anoles. It would climb all over the tank, upside down on the screen, and several times chewed a hole in the screen. Guess he/she got lucky living in a tank like that for so long. I did supply fresh water once a week if I was home.

 

[bulbophyllum]

I had the same set up back in the 80's for a B. hamorii except I used a few inches of peat moss as substrate and sometimes fed live mice. I kept it for 15 years climbing in the screen lid and all.

 

[basin79]

Some humans smoke 40 cigarettes a day and don't get cancer.

 

[bulbophyllum]

I am not suggesting that it was an optimal set up. But, I do have to say that I think some of the risks are a bit over blown. They do exist and are best kept to a minimum

 

[Paul Bisacca]

I think it was a Red Knee, don't have the sheds anymore, wish I did to ID it - used to scare my sisters with them. Anyhow. absolutely no husbandry info back then, you just did what the pet shop told you. Glad info is available at your fingertips now, I will say, lots of different opinions, but that is ok, guess it is the old 80/20 rule

 

[cold blood]

I am not suggesting that it was an optimal set up. But, I do have to say that I think some of the risks are a bit over blown. They do exist and are best kept to a minimum

Not optimal? Those conditions sound terrible.

I disagree with your assessment...safety should be paramount.....there are tens of thousands of things we do in life to make things safer, even if we are protecting against things that dont happen often....it doesnt make those things any less important or any less of a potential danger....wearing seatbelts is an example.

 

[Paul Bisacca]

He was being 'kind" - it was 40 years ago, there was no internet, could not find a single book in the library on T care, my teachers in school new nothing, even my biology teacher who was a rock star.

 

[viper69]

I am not suggesting that it was an optimal set up. But, I do have to say that I think some of the risks are a bit over blown. They do exist and are best kept to a minimum

What risks are over blown?

 

[darkness975]

@Paul Bisacca Even today in the age of the internet misinformation is rampant. I see the same thing with all my hobbies. I am a member of this forum, a fishkeeping forum, a car forum (the one I own), an electronics forum, and a couple of others. The same theme prevails everywhere; that the general pages that most people search up are questionable at best and the actual experienced information comes from the forums and what not by those who actually have the experience with the subject matter.

 

[bulbophyllum]

What risks are over blown?

There seems to be a very strict adhesion on this forum to certain "rules" like enclosure size, handling, overall height of enclosures, never feed wild caught prey. I am not suggesting that these things are not with out risk. They are all good ideas. But, I kinda tend to look at them as suggestions.

 

[basin79]

There seems to be a very strict adhesion on this forum to certain "rules" like enclosure size, handling, overall height of enclosures, never feed wild caught prey. I am not suggesting that these things are not with out risk. They are all good ideas. But, I kinda tend to look at them as suggestions.

That's handy seeing as by seeing them as suggestions that don't actually pose a danger to you. I mean "don't add bleach to soup" is kinda of a suggestion until it's someone else preparing your dinner.

 

[Paul Bisacca]

Yeh, Internet is hit and miss, but I trust folks who have been in a hobby for many years. I have, had Reef tanks for 4 decades, things have changed but basics are still there. I can't believe the stuff I read on forums about Coral, some stuff is very wrong.

 

[viper69]

I mean "don't add bleach to soup" is kinda of a suggestion until it's someone else preparing your dinner.

I spit my water out, you are killing me!!!

There seems to be a very strict adhesion on this forum to certain "rules" like enclosure size, handling, overall height of enclosures, never feed wild caught prey. I am not suggesting that these things are not with out risk. They are all good ideas. But, I kinda tend to look at them as suggestions.

1. I've never seen any strict mention on tank size. Could you elaborate?
2. Handling - yes most of us don't advise it, and some out strongly against it at times. Handling does put the animal at risk. I really don't care about the health of the human animal owner, only the wild animal they own. We've seen threads where someone's T died, got lost and then died etc.
3. Height- for terrestrials you bet there's concern there, esp for the heavy bodied species. Do you think fall injury/death shouldn't be a concern? For example, would you let a toddler near a staircase? If not, then why risk a T's life? I don't see these animals as disposal-- not saying you do, but many others do.
4. WC Prey- it's a risk to do so-- tell me WHY it's worth jeopardizing an animal's life on this, when one doesn't have to? I'm always interested to see what someone thinks on this.

I don't see the reason to put an animal's life at risk - particularly when it has no choice in the matter, do you?

Yeh, Internet is hit and miss, but I trust folks who have been in a hobby for many years. I have, had Reef tanks for 4 decades, things have changed but basics are still there. I can't believe the stuff I read on forums about Coral, some stuff is very wrong.

Reef tanks are GORGEOUS!!!

 

[Pyroxian]

I don't see the reason to put an animal's life at risk - particularly when it has no choice in the matter, do you?

More than just that - the animal has no choice, but the keeper DOES. Doing these things isn't accidental, people don't "accidentally" catch wild feeders and "accidentally" give them to their captive T. They don't "accidentally" buy an enclosure, they pick one out (often without proper prior research) and pay for it, by choice. With the possible exception of handling, which sometimes can accidentally happen (bolting), these things are all deliberate choices which jeopardize the animal's life. Sometimes I'm legitimately shocked by people DEFENDING these choices.

 

[viper69]

More than just that - the animal has no choice, but the keeper DOES. Doing these things isn't accidental, people don't "accidentally" catch wild feeders and "accidentally" give them to their captive T. They don't "accidentally" buy an enclosure, they pick one out (often without proper prior research) and pay for it, by choice. With the possible exception of handling, which sometimes can accidentally happen (bolting), these things are all deliberate choices which jeopardize the animal's life. Sometimes I'm legitimately shocked by people DEFENDING these choices.

I couldn't agree more, Owners CHOICE...grante some peeps are ill advised. It's the defensive idiots I hate.

 

[RezonantVoid]

For WC prey ive accidentally given some of my reptiles hookworms which took the better part of 8 months to fully erradicate. Never doing that for any of my pets again

 

[Royalty]

For WC prey ive accidentally given some of my reptiles hookworms which took the better part of 8 months to fully erradicate. Never doing that for any of my pets again

Learned the hard way but at least you learned. I hope everyone was okay after

 

[RezonantVoid]

Learned the hard way but at least you learned. I hope everyone was okay after

Yea everyone came off fine but it was painful to see everything looking so thin and chewing their feet. For the geckos, they lost their sense of coordination and couldnt catch food without being hand fed

 

[Tfisher]

I have worked as an exterminator for 7 years now in upstate NY. It’s a small business that services a little over a thousand people. Other big companies like Orkin rake in millions of customers. The amount of chemical used is outrageous... our company has taken a huge step to be more environmentally conscious... but still..

The true question comes to...

Why take the risk??

Also I agree this website rocks..

 

[SonsofArachne]

Having kept a A. seemanni before the internet was available (to the public, anyway) I can tell you what info there was on keeping T's was mostly worthless. I kept mine on about 3 inches of wood chips in 10 gallon tank with a screen top and a cardboard tube for a hide. To make matters worse the tank was divided in half with a P. imperator on the other side. Was this an "optimal set up"? Obviously not, but at the time there was no such thing as a optimal set up. If fact I was ahead of my time as I would add water to the substrate weekly - this was my own idea and not mentioned in any care literature I read. Just to show how bad it was, the emperor scorpion care guide I bought at the time offered this helpful advise - "If your scorpion molts it will most likely die" - that's it, no other advise. So you really can't blame people now for how they kept T's and scorps then.