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How do you decide to get a new snake?

albertagirl

albertagirl

Sharan
I have recently added a new corn snake and an African house snake (neither of which have arrived yet) to my growing number of snakes, and I've been going back and forth on a tricolor hognose all week. I finally decided not to get the hognose (yet), simply because it's a little out of my budget, especially after JUST getting two other new snakes. So this decision was made purely based on money. But now I'm not sure whether to feel sad that I didn't get this awesome little snake, or relieved that I didn't spend the money, and it got me thinking...

When you want a new snake, how do you make the decision on whether or not to get it? I understand breeders and strictly pet owners probably have very different parameters for making this decision, but I'm interested in anyone's opinion. Maybe it will give me some additional things to think about.

Thanks!
 
I only have one. It is based on space, money, and on my ability to give my snake the best care and attention possible. Different people have different capacities and abilities. I have the capacity and ability at this time for one. As much as I'm sometimes tempted by the pictures of all the pretty morphs I just know my limits.
 
I started out with one adult, waited for a year to make sure that I would want more. I'm up to 6 now with at least one more in the works. I have enough space after that one for 2 more then I will be done for quite a while.

Space is my biggest thing, I have my adult in a 4x2 AP cage, and the others are in tubs. My rack will let me keep them safe and secure while they grow. Once they get bigger then they will be moved to stackable cages and the tubs/rack will be used for feeding/cleaning/ back up housing for them.
 
I only have one and can't get more due to space. Otherwise I would have gotten 2 or 3 more (I will!).
The vivarium in which Naga is now takes up the only space I have in the room. I do have more space in the living room, but my family likes to hear movies cinema-mode, and the vibrations and noises would disturb snakes too much, so it's not an option.
 
Thanks for your replies! Keep 'em coming...

Another thing I've found that really helps me right now is knowing how little experience I have. So getting anything that has difficult husbandry needs, or anything that is much larger than a corn, or anything that is likely to be difficult to handle without getting bitten... I know that those are bad ideas. Not sure if I'll ever want those things, but for now I know it's not even an option.
 
Research research research to determine if the species would make a good fit for me. Space is key also...I REALLY want a BCI but I don't have room to properly house one as an adult *now* so I haven't gotten one *yet*...I could easily house one as a youngster but they don't stay small long. Also can you afford to feed X amount of snakes (not to mention how much the power bill goes up with X number of heating pads/etc)? Small numbers are easily doable with frozen thawed but some people feed live which adds up.
 
Zombiegirl said:
Research research research to determine if the species would make a good fit for me.
Click to expand...

So true. It's been a few times now that I've added a species to my wishlist, then removed it after doing more research. It's hard though, because there's so much conflicting information on the internet!

And there are a LOT of species that haven't made it to Canada yet, it seems.
 
For me it comes down to space, money, and time. I think at my most I had 12 snakes (well, a bit more if you count hatchlings), but that was when I had more space and time for them. I now have a lot more money for them, but less space and time available, so I am actually whittling my amount down. I have 5 snakes right now, but I think 1 or 2 would be the perfect amount for me. It's really individual, but I think those three parameters go a long way in deciding whether or not to add a new snake or any animal really.
 
Money and space are probably the 2 biggest questions to answer right now on deciding to buy another reptile or not.
Other considerations are ability to take care of it, it's not going to overwhelm me, husbandry needs are doable, that kind of thing. Since we are getting close to the upper limit of what we can care for, any new ones also have to be weighed against any others I might want more, if I buy that one I might have to forgo this one, kind of thing.
Although we have both pet only reptiles and ones for breeding, deciding if an animal is a good breeding addition is also a consideration. Spending money on one that you can hope to recover by breeding it is easier to justify getting but that said, there are a number on my want list that I'd get in a heartbeat but have no desire or intent to breed.
 
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