I have kept 1 or 2 snakes on and off over the years, but this past summer was when my hobby really took off.
I was that type of child who was always catching snakes in the yard and pleading with my extremely snake-phobic mother to let me keep them. Her standard response was always "When you move out of the house." So, when I left for college I for my first snake - a rough green snake. Very cute, but not too interested in being held. I started working at an aquarium/reptile shop in northern California (where I was going to college) and learned a lot there from the owner, all the hobbyists who came in, and the fellow employees who where reptile-lovers. Lizards, geckos, snakes, you name it, they had it.
Over time I took on more responsibilities as I learned more and more. Our boss was pretty cool in that we could take home any of the books he had for sale to read and bring them back the next day. He really loved what he did and encouraged all of us to learn as much as possible. This was back in the mid 90's, btw. Eventually, it became my responsibility to feed all the snakes every weekend. We had boas, pythons, milksnakes, sand boas, kingsnakes, corns, rats, etc. I ended up getting to know them all, and ended up falling in love with 2 snakes (for their personalities) - the red tail boas and the cornsnakes. Not wanting a snake I might end up having to feed guinea pigs and rabbits to
I opted to get my first cornsnake. One of the employees bred them and let me go over and pick out 2 babies - an anery and an amel. The amel was a complete "biznatch" and bit all the time. I ended up giving her back to Tom. But the anery was a complete love. He was super sweet and mellow, and as an adult I would take him everywhere with me, curled up around my neck, under my shirt. Ymir and I had many adventures, including him getting lost as I was moving back up to Oregon and him being found a month later by my landlady and having to be shipped up to Oregon during an ice storm!
When Ymir was 6-7 he died unexpectedly (started having seizures
) I was heartbroken (I actually had him cremated and still have his ashes in a little box). It took me a number of years before I was ready to get another snake. 4 years ago my bf and I saw a clutch of baby amels and normals in a local pet store and I decided I was ready for another snake. We picked out a normal with a funny head pattern, named her Selwyn (who we thought was a boy at the time) and she became our pet.
Well, last winter I decided to properly sex her and find her a mate. I was interested in trying to breed them, just once, to see what it was like. Being a biology teacher in high school, I was interested in the process and being able to share it with my students. I found a local breeder and picked out a snow corn, Hywel. At this point, I was not looking to breed seriously, more as a one time thing and has looking for a pretty snake with a good temperament that my students could handle. I started poking around on the internet and found the cornsnake forum. From there, things totally changed. I met lots of people who loved snakes just as much (or even more so!) than I did, and I also started seeing pictures of absolutely stunning cornsnakes that I didn't even know existed. Then, Adie (Silvergrin) posted an anery motley for sale that looked so much like my beloved Ymir that I had to get him (that would be Maelog). Once I received my first snake in the mail and realized that I could order awesome snakes from all over the US that had been bred by all these amazing people of the forum, I was so hooked! Over the summer I went from 2 snakes to 20, with plans for more. I read and learn through all the posts on the forum and continue to read various snake books. I have also started planning long-term projects with various morphs that I love (like lavender, sunkissed, and dilute).
My bf of 8 years likes the snakes but is not obsessed like I am. He likes to take out Selwyn, since she was our pet for several years before all the others came, but he tends to leave all things snakey to me. I also started breeding mice and rats in the garage to support my snake feeding. My bf likes the rats more than the snakes - he now has 3 pets in the living room
However, he is very supportive of my obsession, to the point he let me turn the office into a dedicated snake room! I definitely could not be with someone who did not support my animal addiction (besides the snakes, we have 3 dogs, 3 cats, a red-eared slider, and a 2 ft lungfish).
I did manage to bring my mom over to the darkside (or is that into the light?) That's right, the snakephobic mom who refused to let me have a snake when I was growing up now has . . . I think 7 of her own? She lurks on the forum and reads all the posts, learning as much as possible. I think it is pretty funny how she has changed! I took my little brother to a reptile show in Oct. and she let him get a baby cornsnake from Jen (ghosthouse corns) and ended up liking him so much she got her own! And then another, and then another . . . .
Anyway, that is my story. Always loved snakes, but didn't really get into it seriously until last summer. Though, I guess I am not as "serious" as the people who have 100+ ~LOL~ But I still have time, oh yes I do! And it is a very addictive hobby, if I do say so myself.
