literatureshortfalls

There is little doubt that books, as well as many other publications, have long served as widely and perhaps the most easily accessible sources of information on all aspects of reptiles and amphibians, from their taxonomy, natural history, and evolution, to field identification, to captive care, husbandry, and propagation to and for all members of the public interested in these animals. The same can easily be said of just about every other subject and genre we humans enjoy studying, reading, and learning about to pique our curiosities.

There are undoubetedly many great books available that I enjoy and highly recommend reading, and my purpose here is certainly not to dismiss all books. However, there are also some that are equally as disappointing in the information they contain (and likewise do not contain) that I suggest avoiding or using only for select information. And then there are some that are as bad as Rodda and Reed's USGS Giant Constrictor Report, which, surprinsgly and disturbingly, was a source actualy cited by at least one of the books I am about to mention!!!!!!!!

I encourage everyone to judge the books they read in both author and content in determining how reliable and credible of a source they may be. What are the author(s) credentials, experience, and/or background? How long ago was the book published? Do they convey any of their first hand knowledge and experiences in working with a species, or do they seem to rely on secondhand information?

This leads into me wanting to bring to light a few flaws and shortfalls I have noticed with many (but certainly not all) herp husbandry books I have seen and read, particularly those books written by authors, who although may be well meaning, are of "generalized" and "condensed" subjects that still portray inaccurate and outdated information, and contain, how do I say it, an overall "lack of objectivity" displayed by the authors of said books. Two such books that I wish to bring up as examples for the purposes of this posting are "Pythons: Barrons Complete Pet Owner's Manual" by Patricia Barlett" and even worse, "Reptiles, Amphibians, and Invertebrates: An Identification and Care Guide-2nd Edition" by R.D. Bartlett (does this name ring a bell?) et all.

I have two criticisms of these, and other similar such books that I feel have been poorly addressed by the herpetological community they are supposedly written for and by.

Although the authors' condensation, or generalization of the given subject matter may be well meaning in an effort to provide the readers and the public with convenient, easily accessible, and easier to read publications, they often fall short (sometimes painfully) in the quantity and/or quality of information provided, particularly regarding specific or particular species. In several such books, specific information on each species may only contain as little as two to four paragraphs in total, if they are not mere bullet points. Now, I do not wish or intend to completely tarnish the merits and usefulness of these books, as I still believe they are good sources for "general* information. But, they should not be heavily, or even moderately relied upon for species specific information.

This brings us to my next criticism of such books, and one in which I find to be the more deserving of the two. Given that these are all non fiction publications that I am sure most will agree are supposed to be objective sources of information, I find it quite disappointing just how much there seems to be a lack thereof in such books. For example, in the "Reptile, Amphibian, and Invertebrate care and identification guide", there are short, one page profiles of a wide variety of herp and invertebrate species the authors purport to be commonly seen and available in the industry that may serve useful in quick identification of the commonly kept species. However, with the second edition of this book, came the author's puzzling exclusion of several of the large constrictor species (such as Reticulated, African rock, and amesthyne pythons but with the exception of Burmese pythons), with their stated "justifications" (being paraphrased here to the best of my memory) being that these species simply "attain too large of sizes, and reach too much of aggressive and dangerous tendencies to be kept or managed safely by a sizable enough portion of the herp industry to warrant inclusion in the book." I, and perhaps many others would strongly disagree, and here is why.

When an author of such books uses subjective statements and criteria describing the different specific species, such as "the best", "the worst", "the meanest", "too unpredictable", or "too dangerous" and bases their inclusion or exclusion in the book largely on either what is outdated information and/or these statements, which may simply be the author's own opinions (of which they are entitled to), they are simply displaying a complete bias and lack of objectivity in which I alluded to earlier. The simple fact of the matter is that species such as Burmese, African rocks, and Reticulated pythons are all species that have already long been kept and propagated in great numbers in our industry. By these authors deliberately excluding these species due to their own biases, they are not only failing to live up to the titles of their own books, such as "Complete Pet Owner's Manuels" for at the very least the sake of completion (if anything else), they are also performing a disservice to the hobby by hindering the furthering of available knowledge and information that, in actuality would serve to deepen the pool of available information and resources for the "pet owners" and "hobbyists" they claim to write for. Information simply cannot and does not benefit the animals, keepers, nor the hobby as a whole when it is withheld and excluded due simply to author preference and opinion.

In conclusion, I encourage anyone and everyone who may be interested in keeping or acquiring any herp species to independently research the species they truly like and may be interested in by finding books and other publications in which are as species/taxa specific as possible. Attend local and regional reptile expos, and talk with experienced and reputable keepers and breeders of the species as a means of gaining knowledge and insight as to what the species is like to keep in captivity. Ultimatly, I encourage everyone to think and decide for oneself as to whether an animal is truly a suitable species to maintain, and to forgoe the biased opinions and predetermined conclusions of some authors who apparently believe some species should not be maintained by hobbyists at all.