Stupid mistakes with animals

[codykrr]

johnedove, are you talking anout horney toads by chance? because if you are i know in oklahoma there very protected...i was told that if you were to get caught with one its a serious fine or 6 month in jail, though im not sure if your talking about the same species, or if colorado has strick laws on them if they are id just be carefull, my wifes aunt got caught with a "horny toad" in Ok ad got a 100 dollar fine....she then got a permit to breed them to re release them into Ok....because i guess there becoming more rare there...like i said im not sureif were talking of the same sp. but its worth the reaserch. i dont want to see anyone going to jail for having or helping an animal they love......like here in missouri....if you even step foot on a "cooter turtle" reserve down in the boothill thats automatically 5000 dollar fine and up to a year in jail...very protected species....so rare only 4have been tagged in the last 10 years. also here another very protected sp. is the "massugua rattle snake".

 

[JohnEDove]

Yes they are also called by the name Horned Toads or Horney Toads, but they are Horned Lizards, and to my knowledge they are not protected here. They are almost as common here as Lesser Earless Lizards and Six Lined Race Runners.

As for Massasauga, I must move about 50 a year off one road I take on my way back home from my favorite herping area.

 

[UrbanJungles]

The next day I went to take out our trash, and when I lifted the lid from the garbage can, there was that possum just grinning and hissing at me, naked as a jaybird! Needless to say, I felt horrible, and that time I was sure to put him out of his misery.

This is easily the saddest and one of the most disturbing things I've read on this forum. I'm not judging you, I don't know you...but jeez...I hope you don't believe in Karma even if you didn't mean to do it at the time. At least you recognize the wrong in this unlike so many others who don't really give the animal a second thought.

 

[IrishPolishman]

I will agree with that about the opossum. However I had a squirrel incident that I still feel horrible to this day about. Sometimes weird things just happen even when our intentions aren't bad.

 

[El Viejo]

This is easily the saddest and one of the most disturbing things I've read on this forum. I'm not judging you, I don't know you...but jeez...I hope you don't believe in Karma even if you didn't mean to do it at the time. At least you recognize the wrong in this unlike so many others who don't really give the animal a second thought.

Believe me - it was both sad AND disturbing for me as well! . . . and no, I don't believe in karma. Good and bad happen to everyone. Both are inevitable.

 

[codykrr]

hey john were do you find so many massugua rattlers at? becAuse in northern missouri there really rare...

 

[JohnEDove]

hey john were do you find so many massugua rattlers at? becAuse in northern missouri there really rare...

I am in South Eastern Colorado. I suppose the reason we have more herps of all types is our lack of population density. Our county has a total area of 1,541 square miles with a popilation of only about 5,000 most of which lives in the northern 1/4th of the county. The majority of Southeast Colorado is sparcely populated at best. BTW, Massasauga are a protected species in Colorado even though in some areas they are thriving.

El Viejo,
I know that folks who have never butchered their own livestock for food would not understand but the first time I took over butchering rabbits I made a very similar mistake to your Opposum mistake. My father had always knocked the rabbits in the head then butchered. My problem was I was not as powerful as my father so I had one wake up during the skinning. After that I always made sure I slit the throat when they were out then started the skinning.
Now days when I butcher I can't even stand for the other animals to watch.

Yes folks our mistakes can make us more sensitive.

 

[jenniferinny]

My biggest mistakes have always involved entrusting other people to use common sense while looking after my pets..
I hate to be too demanding when someone is doing me a favor, like taking my aquarium setup for a couple months until we closed on our house which my inlaws offered to do. I was quite grateful that they were taking them, but, kept the details to a minimum as I was over there once a week and figured it couldn't get that screwed up if they used the premeasured food I left and I did water changes as usual when I visited. Well, it turns out despite their knowledge of the existence of the ammonia test kit which was left right next to the food container, there was no thought given to the ammonia content in Windex before using it to clean the glass and hood AND wiping the inside of the tank above the water line with Windex. They called me in a panic when fish started acting weird and I drove over to see what the problem could possibly be, but, the mystery was solved promptly as the Windex was still resting on the aquarium hood..
The ammonia level was about off the test chart and all the fish died including my pair of Moonlight Gouramis who had been building a bubble nest the week before.. Aargh!
Most other issues have involved my Mom's incredible absentmindedness when she does things like let the dogs out to run when the chickens are free roaming or putting pets back into the wrong enclosures after handling them. She holds them because she thinks one looks lonely and that she's doing it a favor, but, then totally undoes any good by not paying attention to what enclosure she puts it back in. Yeah. You don't want to go back to your room two hours later to find out your two male hamsters who happen to be mortal enemies, have spent the afternoon together. Missing eyes, missing ears, infections a couple days later- basically a huge mess because someone didn't double check what they're doing..
Before the internet, I made a lot of husbandry mistakes. In my defense, I did research in books at the local library, but, that in no way compares to the more up to the minute nature of the internet. Unfortunately a lot of the advice I read had a detrimental affect in its application. I had an Iguana book published by a well known publisher and the care advice within it definitely caused the death of my iguana. That was something in the neighborhood of 15 years ago and I shudder to think anyone thought that book was good advice..
My worst mistake in recent history was a couple years ago. I had an escape artist cat that I was trying to keep strictly indoors except when he was on harness or out in the screened room. One day he darted out between my legs as I was bringing the dogs back in from their walk and I was so annoyed with him I said "Fine, see if I care, I'll catch you later." (Probably his tenth escape that week) BUT, he was dead ten minutes later about 50 feet down the road. I should've just taken the time to catch that rascally bugger like I had done all the other times. Granted, he was difficult to keep in and it was probably inevitable, but, I could've prevented it that day..

 

[arachnocat]

I had two hamsters a neighbor gave me when I was 7. Both were females and I was warned not to ever put them together...
Well one day I decided to take them both out at the same time and play with them on my bed. They immediately attacked eachother and ripped eachother apart. It was horrible and pretty scary!! I had no idea hamsters could be that vicious. We took them to the vet and the people there were so nice they fixed up up for free. They had little stitches and one lost an eye but they lived for several years after that. And I made sure not to ever let them "play" together again

 

[cjm1991]

Well, when I was probably 6 or 7 years old, I found a possum on the way home from school.. I learned somewhere that possums played dead, so I took put him in the front yard to wait for him to quit playing dead. Two days passed before I realized there was not to be a second coming for this particular critter, for of course he was dead in the permanent sense when I found him.

ROFL. I laughed for a good 5 minutes, thank you for sharing

 

[cjm1991]

Most of my mistakes have simply been me trying to keep an animal as a pet that I knew nothing about. The results were generally a dead animal, and me getting somewhat wiser. I do remember putting a bunch of butterflies into a cage of an old man's beautiful white doves, thinking that the doves would enjoy these tasty snacks. I didn't get a sore backside (that time), but I did catch an earful.

I have another story to relate, that I am not proud of, but it did actually take place. It's not a pet keeping story, but this is what happened. As a young teenage boy I remember some papaya plants growing right outside my bedroom window. One night I heard the dogs making a racket, and when I went to investigate, I saw a large possum up there eating my dad's papayas. As any South Texas kid would do, I killed the papaya thieving varmint. Upon closer examination, I noticed that this particular possum was quite healthy and had a particularly attractive coat. I decided to remove his pelt and salt it down so I could make something beautiful for my mother. I then took the dead possum and dumped him in a garbage can. The next day I went to take out our trash, and when I lifted the lid from the garbage can, there was that possum just grinning and hissing at me, naked as a jaybird! Needless to say, I felt horrible, and that time I was sure to put him out of his misery.

I agree with Urban, this is one of the most disturbing things that I regret somewhat for reading.

 

[El Viejo]

I agree with Urban, this is one of the most disturbing things that I regret somewhat for reading.

You think it's disturbing to read? You should have been there!

 

[Arachnobrian]

Interesting thread.

Hmmm, caught a grass snake once as a kid, while bringing it home on my bicycle, it got caught up in the front wheel spokes. The snake never made it home.


The "Death tank", I purchased a large hex tank years ago when they first came out.

I tried several different species of fish in this tank many times with the worst luck. Every time a problem occured I spent a fortune for fish medicine, but the result was always the same. Dead fish.

Then I tried to keep a gecko and a skink (I think that's what it was) in this tank. Result dead skink in days.

 

[Aurelia]

This isn't so much a stupid mistake as it is a miracle. I once kept a big tan locust/grasshopper as a pet for a year until I guess it died of old age. I kept it on gravel, hand-fed it coleus leaves by holding the wings, and it never jumped away. I cried when it died.

 

[Marcel_h]

When i was 5 or 6 years old i had a guinea pig and i decided he needed a bath
He was happy swimming in the tub after a few minutes he started to dive(atleast i thought so). My mother came in just in time to save it from drowning.

We had a parakeet wich i let out of its cage to fly in the room he got stuck in one of the sticky fly catching things when my dad freed him he was almost bald.

 

[Veneficus]

When I was young, in the early '70's, they used to have these mail orders in the back of magazines for pregnant seahorses. Of course my mother and I didn't know any better, so she ordered one for me. We got 1 pregnant father, and a small plastic aquarium kit with a plastic tree for the seahorse to hold onto. All the babies were born and I thought it was neat. Then they started to die...of course we had no idea why. Looking back on it, I now realize we knew nothing about keeping saltwater fish since we only had fresh water when I was growing up. Not to mention seahorses are difficult to keep because they need to feed constantly...so sad some company used to do this...

 

[Rochelle]

As horrible as some of the innocent mistakes we all made were - that's what they were. Innocent mistakes.

Guilt makes a wonderful teacher. The lessons are never forgotten.
This is the best thread I've ever had the pleasure of reading on this entire site. :clap:

 

[bhoeschcod]

My mistakes keeping inverts i just plain old suck at keeping them i might as well give up one year i found a little beetle and stuffed it in my jacket and forgot about it and it got out and bit me:8o or the time when i cought 5 wolly bear caterpillers and i got a huge rash and it itched for a day i itched at scholl and we were outside and my friend said lets run around like idiots so i did and i fell and a whole wack of ants attacked my i swear that was the worst year ever i was 11 but yet i still keep ants

 

[bhoeschcod]

As horrible as some of the innocent mistakes we all made were - that's what they were. Innocent mistakes.

Guilt makes a wonderful teacher. The lessons are never forgotten.
This is the best thread I've ever had the pleasure of reading on this entire site. :clap:

you can say that again:8o

 

[Galapoheros]

When I was young, in the early '70's, they used to have these mail orders in the back of magazines for pregnant seahorses. Of course my mother and I didn't know any better, so she ordered one for me. We got 1 pregnant father, and a small plastic aquarium kit with a plastic tree for the seahorse to hold onto. All the babies were born and I thought it was neat. Then they started to die...of course we had no idea why. Looking back on it, I now realize we knew nothing about keeping saltwater fish since we only had fresh water when I was growing up. Not to mention seahorses are difficult to keep because they need to feed constantly...so sad some company used to do this...

My mom bought one of those kits for me too! I think it was around the late 60's or early 70's. I was prob 6 or 7. I still have some of the Seahorses! My mom got creative and glued 3 of them on a background of the ocean when they died almost 40 years ago. I've got the pic somewhere, I've looked for it, I'll try to find it, no luck yet. We did get babies but it didn't go anywhere from there.