"katherine said:" And I think that's the key: RESULTS. If you're keeping your animal a certain way, even if it is not within the conventional "textbook/careguide" way, and that animal is thriving and remaining healthy...who is anyone to tell you what you're doing is wrong?!
Eugene Bessette, a well-known pioneer in the reptile industry who mainly works with snakes, often makes the statement, "Be a student of the serpent." Of course, we can paraphrase that to whatever animal we keep, but the point is we need to let the animals teach us what is working and what is not working. Too many keepers are so caught up in trying to go "by the book" so to speak, but really, the book isn't based on anything substantial (like with sulcatas, for instance!).
Agree : ) and I had never previously heard "be a student of the serpent" but what a brilliant statement! There are many different ways to do right by your animals and the only way to know you are on the correct path is to see positive feedback from the animals you care for as a direct result of your own husbandry. It is awesome to have the experience of others (via journals, literature and other mediums) as a guide but ultimately all of these guides were written by other keepers observing their own animals.
[/quote]
These are great points Katherine. Without knowing it, I have been following Eugene's axiom.
Your last paragraph makes a great point. One of my downfalls is a lack of ability to find and show "scientific evidence" to support my assertions. I have always said that because I can't find a study doesn't mean it isn't true. Well your last sentence is very true. All of these studies were written by human beings who observed things. Because someone doesn't have a bunch of letters after their name or a fancy institution behind them does not mean they have not observed something.
Jacqui said:I was wondering, because your following him and setting him up on a pedestal reminds me not so many years back, when keepers did the same thing with Andy Highfield and his teachings.
Your words do not fall upon deaf ears.
I do not see it as me putting him on a pedestal where he can do or say no wrong. He's just been telling me what he has seen and I have been relaying it here. The man is not trying to preach or teach me anything. I have been the one questioning him and he simply answers my questions. I don't see this as serving any purpose for him and furthering any agenda. He's just relaying info about wild sulcatas that so few people have or could even get. And unlike Andy who has occasionally spent a week or two in the habitat of his chosen species, this man grew up there.
I don't see him as on a pedestal. I see him as very down to earth and willing to share what he has seen.