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:S Bad snake owner...?

Charlotte

Charlotte

Derp snake says hi.
I brought Loki to school yesterday for an English project and someone told me I was a bad herp owner because I've never taken him to the vet in the 7 months I've owned him.

The only reason I've never done it is because he's just never needed to... he's never regurged, never had a bad shed, never gotten any injuries besides the occasional minor scale injuries. He's never had any RI symptoms or anything, eats and poops and drinks normally, so I've just never seen a reason to.

A normal vet checkup where they tell me 'he's fine' would run me $60.00 and there's lots of other things I could use that $60 for.


I hope this doesn't sound like an attention-whoring question, but I really do want to know - should he regularly be seeing a vet when nothing is wrong?
 
I would bet the person who told you that is not a reptile owner. Very few of my herps have ever seen a vet. The important thing is being able to tell WHEN one needs to see a vet.
 
Yeah, you're right, she's not. I just worried about it because I care so much for Loki and think that he needs to see the vet for the littlest things :laugh: I just want to be the best herp owner I can be. Thank you!
 
I only take my herps to the vet when they need it. For most of them, just the stress from a yearly exam would be so detrimental (the frilled especially) that it's not worth it. As Chip said, learning to recognize when your reptile needs a vet is the most important thing.
 
I also agree. My 24 year old has never seen a vet in his life. They're not like cats or dogs and they don't need regular vaccinations or worming treatment. Even when I had a cat, she only routinely went once a year for her booster jab. Apart from that she never saw a vet unless I suspected there was something wrong.

Whilst my vet is keen on reptiles, he's very much against seeing them "just because" or "just in case" because of the potential stress for some of them. Whilst many Corns wouldn't be at all bothered, I know for sure that my 24 year old has never liked any kind of change in his environment. If I ever took him to the vet for an unnecessary checkup, it would probably take me a couple of months to get him eating again.
 
I agree with the everyone above. If anything you can always just take in their poo to get tested for parasites. At least that is what I have done on new snakes. They charge me like 10 bucks.
 
agree with all stated above. In my opinion it seems that people take their experiences from having to take their cat/dog to the vet and transfer to all other animals. A.K.A I have to take my cat/dog to the vet at least once a year so a snake should to. That is not necessarily true. There is no need to stress a snake unless something is wrong.
 
Yep, if you are a bad owner I'd be willing to bet at least 90% of us on here are too! So far in all my time of owning snakes I've not needed to go to the vet (fingers crossed it stays that way) and would never take them in for a checkup!
 
I've had snakes for 10 years now an have never taken any of my 12 snakes to a vet. Of course if they needed to go I'd take them but why spend money on a visit just to hear "all's well" when I can tell that myself. :)
 
Thanks, guys. I know to not listen to a non-herper but I just get so OCD about every aspect of his care, I get a little caught up sometimes. :dunce:
 
All of the above, a fecal is a good idea once in a while, otherwise, don't sweat it. Besides, you are actively looking for ways to keep your pet healthy and happy. This kind of thing is a peeve of mine, whenever dealing with any kind of animal there's always going to be some Know it all blowhard out there trying their best to take a big piddle in your cheerios.
 
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