I am really surprised, and sorry, to see how many people are burned out...
on the herp community. I have read this thread with great interest, and have to put in my 2 cents (more like 200 cents - long as always - sorry!).
I am not surprised that many have been burned out, at one time or another, by having too many animals (whether reptiles, tropical fish, horses, or any other animal(s) requiring a lot of time and effort). It seems to be human nature to find something interesting, and figure that if a little is interesting, then A LOT will be pure heaven! Most of us who keep animals for a long time will sooner or later get in over our heads, especially if we have full time jobs, kids to raise, or a lot of other responsibilities. Few have the self knowledge and self discipline to ALWAYS refrain from just adding "one more". So I always admire those who finally say "enough"! And then they cut back to whatever they can handle and still ENJOY. I was feeling burned out myself the last few years, and have cut back considerably now. And now I am enjoying the animals much more than the past few years.
So I feel it is somewhat normal to go through these phases of self discovery about what is too much compared to what is enjoyable. The part that bothers me more is that so many are burned out on the herp community. I have always enjoyed the people aspect just as much as the actual animals. I kept reptiles back before there was a very established herp community, and certainly before the Internet. Back then, we isolated herpers got super excited every time we discovered somebody with like interests!
I may have more tolerance than some because of the huge changes I have seen since I got my first garter snake as a kid, back in the mid '60s. I belonged to the herp society in Milwaukee, Wi, back in the late '60s and early '70s - that was the first experience I had with the herp community, such as it was back then.
In the '70s I had a traveling reptile exhibit that set up in shopping malls all over the US. We tried to do our part to educate the pet shops in those malls - they were the nexus of herp keeper meeting places back then. If you think the quality of care is low now, it is a good thing you weren't around back then! And if you joined the community since the Internet, you can't possibly have the life experience feel for how far herp keeping has come since the "old days" (even if you read about it), and how exciting it was to discover that you were NOT alone in your "weirdness", lol! Even those who seemed to have a different type of weirdness than I did (like croc or venomous keepers, maybe?) were valued because there were so few of us. And back then, nobody that I met EVER heard of the idea that a snake might eat a frozen, thawed rodent instead of a live one. Many people kept multiple animals together as a matter of course. There may still be too many wild caught animals imported today, but back then, ALL reptile pets were wild caught. And nobody bred anything on purpose - babies were generally a lucky accident.
Many newer keepers / breeders see what is considered "normal" now, and don't realize how far we have come. Without the background of what was, it is very easy to condemn those who are stuck in a "time warp" and haven't advanced to what is considered best management practice these days. I guess I look through different colored glasses than some of the newer arrivals to the scene. I tend to notice that HUGE numbers of people these days keep healthy, breeding reptiles that were only dreamed about back in the '70s and '80s, when we mainly hoped to be able to keep our wild caught captives healthy enough to enjoy them for a few years before they died. Breeding them on a regular basis was a fantasy that we all worked to turn into a reality, and now it has happened to a huge degree. I am very grateful to the herp community for that. There is still MUCH room for improvement - but that will always be the case, no matter how much we improve from today onwards.
If I now see somebody who still keeps a pile of wild caught animals in much the same way as we did in the old days, I feel sorry for them, but feel gratitude that they are no longer the norm, but an aberration. And when I see a relative newcomer condemning somebody for something that would have been perfectly normal procedure just a few years (or a couple of decades) ago, then I feel sorry for THAT person for not appreciating all the advancements we have enjoyed in a relatively short time. AND I feel gratitude that they are an aberration, not the majority.
I do become annoyed with people on occasion. But I try to temper it with the knowledge that we are all at different levels on our life journey, whether it involves herps or any other aspect of our lives. I feel I am very confident and advanced in some areas of my life, while remaining very childish and not at all competent in other areas of my life. And I assume that it is the same for everyone else. I find that this perspective allows me to enjoy those who seem to be on what I feel is the right wavelength (whether beginner or advanced) to enjoy their company on my journey, or to have some pity and tolerance for those who seem to be stuck at a more juvenile level in some aspect of their lives - hoping in turn for the same treatment from others in my own areas of incompetence. It is a little difficult to explain this philosophy without making it sound kind of "pollyannish". But it ties in with my feeling of a sort of cosmic karma, and it allows me to enjoy a greater diversity of people than I might otherwise enjoy. AND it allows me to participate in the herp community without getting burned out, lol! I feel that comparing where the herp community WAS a few decades ago to now, and realizing that it was a very small and very dedicated group then, compared to a huge, more mainstream group that includes many who only wish to keep a couple of pets now, allows a perspective to be grateful for all that has transpired, and tolerant of those who have yet to change with the times.
Although I guess I should sadly mention that the one thing that is starting to burn me out is the constant barrage of attacks from the animal rights groups and government. The people with authority to ban what I love may ultimately succeed in my burnout, after thousands of herpers, good and bad, could not do it. "1984" may be late in coming, but it may be the death of my enthusiasm yet - we shall see what happens.
But then, Miami's are one of my favorites. It wouldn't matter to me if no one wanted Miami Tessera's, I love them & creating them is one of the things that gives me the satisfaction & the joy of breeding. Of course I love to see others enjoy them as much as I do, & I think that's partly why I really enjoyed that my first breeding season was a co-breeding, with Tara, because I know she's just as excited about the babies as I am. It will be fun to continue to work with her, & others, in planning out future breeding projects.
