#learning from mistakes

[krumpkin]

A great quote by Eric Hoffer and very true, I've definitely seen this a few times 🙄

[julochka365]

3/5.2026 - We learn best from our mistakes, but sometimes inexperience means that one doesn't know WHAT to learn from them. Luckily, I have an expert I can call on and she helps me so much. She showed me what was going wrong and helped me fix a mistake I hadn't even spotted yet, teaching me another new thing. I am so fortunate to have her!

[mallowmeltmiasma]

(clears throat)

The “pick a box” scene in The Creeping Shadow.

That is all.

[transgwender616]

Something I wish younger me understood that you shouldn't let your friends do bad things and look the other way just because they're your friends. You should hold your friends to the same standards you hold everyone else.

[obedient-good-girl]

Some days ago I made a stupid mistake - yesterday I had to learn that that has consequences. By using me for his pleasure and ignoring my own, Sir @the-good-girl-trainer reminded me where my place and what my task is. Thankfully, I was able to appease his ire and find a way back into his good graces.

[allcreaturessmall]

I am a little hesitant to make this post, because people online will absolutely tear someone to shreds over a mistake or bad decision, especially where animal husbandry is involved. I am posting it anyway for two reasons: one, I believe in transparency and accountability in rescue, and two, because I have a platform to let other people learn from my mistakes. So let's talk a little bit about husbandry fuck-ups.

Last Friday, my worst nightmare nearly became a reality: I arrived home from a doctor's appointment, opened my front door, and smelled smoke. I tore down the hall towards our reptile room, checking there first knowing it was the most intuitive place for a fire to start with the various heat fixtures in use. I opened the door, was met with a smokey room, and immediately saw its source: one of the iguana enclosures. The fixture mounting the mercury vapor lamp had been ripped from the ceiling, and the lamp was face down on the basking shelf, where it had burned a smoldering pit in the wood. Had I been out much longer, it likely would have progressed to a full-blown fire, and we could have lost countless animals, as well as the house itself.

On one hand, this was a freak accident. The enclosure, which is a walk-in closet modified into a habitat, has been as it was since 2018 without incident. On the other hand, it was a preventable accident; several shortfalls in the design of the habitat - and thus, my husbandry - were to blame: 1. The fixture holding the lamp was a simple heavy duty ceiling hook and while it could easily support the weight of the lamp, the weight of the lamp + a large iguana was too much. Having only one anchor point securing it was unwise. 2. The lamp was (apparently) reachable by said iguana. When we built this habitat, the animal was much smaller, and the lamp was out of his reach. Iguanas grow, and the security of the lamp should have grown with it. I suspect he may have jumped from one of the higher branches or even the basking platform itself and grabbed on to the fixture, motive known only to his little lizard brain. 3. The lamp did not have a cage, which would have kept the hot bulb a greater distance from the surface it fell on and reduced the chance of fire. This in particular was HUGE oversight on my part not just because of the risk of fire, but risk to the animal. A "naked" heat lamp within an enclosure is a safety hazard; if the animal can touch the hot bulb, it can be badly burned. Again, when we built the enclosure, the iguana reaching it was not a concern, but the cage should have been there regardless as best practice. I made these errors despite being an experienced keeper/rescuer who really ought to know better. I am EXTREMELY fortunate that we not only did not have a fire, but that the animals in the room - especially the one in the enclosure - were unharmed. I am lucky that not only were the animals in the room not lingeringly impacted by smoke inhalation, but that the fumes did not reach the bird room; it is on the opposite end of the house with glass doors, and I was thankfully able to shut down the central cooling and vent the smoke quickly through through ceiling fans and open windows.

Since this has happened, we made several immediate changes to correct the problems with the enclosure, and we've been given a sobering reminder to be more diligent in how we design our habitats, to adapt enclosures as an animal grows, and to always use best practice where safety is concerned. I would urge anyone reading this to please take this as a reminder to double check the safety of your own habitats, and to correct anything you find lacking.

I hope everyone reading understands that I am offering this story with the good faith intention of raising awareness about potential safety issues. I am owning these mistakes and sharing that experience in case someone, anyone, might benefit from a reminder. While I would be glad to see people commenting/reblogging with additional safety tips or sharing similar stories of husbandry misses to raise more awareness, I will not be acknowledging or responding to personal attacks.

[snowwtrapped34]

HAPPY I FORGOT LUIGI DAY

Don’t forget to not forget Luigi 🥳🎉

[aprilfoolfrog]

2018

I'm not sure what made me think of this.

Maybe tire troubles.

I worked at a higher end retail

store at my local mall

almost ten years ago.

I hated that job.

I don't think my manager

really liked me either.

I had an accident a few months

into working there.

I fell down my basement stairs,

which rendered me unable to work

for a few weeks.

After working there for a while,

she started giving me more closing shifts-

specifically on the weekends.

It was a bummer.

I couldn't really hang out with friends as often

and by the time I got off of my shift,

it was usually too late for me to drive the hour

to see my boyfriend at the time.v

We didn't date for much longer after that.

Not because of the job,

it was just a weird time in my life.

I tried to trade shifts with my coworkers.

I hung out with them,

took their shifts for them-

I thought we were friends.

No one would switch shifts with me.

They'd still ask me to take theirs.

I stopped.

There was one evening

where I did get out at six.

Although upon walking to my car

in the parking garage,

I found that I had a flat tire.

I unfortunately had to stay later.

I did what anyone would do.

I walked the mall while I waited

for help to arrive.

I was wearing black pants and a burgundy

turtle neck sweater that I got from my

place of work.

I still had my name tag on.

After walking for a bit and getting a smoothie,

I walked back to the store.

As I was in the entryway,

I was stopped by a man with a young boy.

He told me I was gorgeous

and asked for my number.

I ate that up.

He was weird.

I didn't see it.

I had low self esteem

and ate up any interaction.

I didn't know how much of a baddie

I actually was yet.

When we texted,

he went on and on

about how gorgeous I was.

He asked how old I was.

I think I was twenty one.

I was twenty one when my accident happened.

He refused to tell me how old he was.

I asked more times than I should have.

When he finally told me he was

in his forties, I blocked him.

I think it's fun to look back on.

I am a completely different person,

but I had to learn from somewhere.

I am grateful for my former selves.

I am grateful for all that they went through

in order for me to learn from them.

Thank you all.

I love you.

Written by AprilFool 🐸

3/10/2026