Quote Originally Posted by tyflier View Post
Well, Heterodon could be kept following the "standard" guidelines with little issue, IF it is eating pinkies. As a matter of fact, so could most Thamnophis IF they accept pinkies and mice.
And provided that it's not one of the Heterodon species that shouldn't be fed mice (according to the care sheets that I remember reading).

Haven't you ever heard the phrase, "There's an exception to every rule"?
There isn't, though. That's kinda what makes it a rule.

You have 3 genera of snakes that combined make up less than 3% of the total colubrid species available widely distributed in the pet trade. Than you have 3 or 4 genera that make up about 93%. And you still don't agree it's "standard" or "general"?

The reality is, Pantherophis, Lampropeltis, and Pituophis make up an insurmountable majority of the colubrid snakes available in the pet trade. We're not talking about 51% here...we're talking about 90% or better. Certainly there are other colubrid species available. Those species are not nearly as wide spread in captivity as the "Big Three". And usually, people keeping those species have more than an elementary experience.
Let's recap. We started with a statement that referred to an entire family of snakes. The most diverse family. Then it was suggested that the term that covers an entire family would mean just species that are reasonably often available. And now we're at a point where the term that covers the largest and most diverse family of snakes is supposed to be used to describe the species with the largest market share. Why not just take that one extra step and assert that colubrid = corn snake? It's not like the either of the remaining two in the "Big Three" even comes close.

Damn straight I don't agree it's standard or general, if we have to make up rules to exclude nearly all the species referred to by the terms we are using.