How on earth do you slow yourself down?

[MegF.]

It won't help....I should know...I got a real house and I'm filling it up with snakes

 

[susang]

A while back there was a similar thread, what stuck out in my mind was when someone said the cut off line is when your hobby becomes a job, when it takes up your life, spare time, and more money than you can spare.

 

[MegF.]

That would be time for me too Susan. I agree with you 100% on that. So far I still enjoy my snakes quite a bit.

 

[susang]

Meg, I got my 6th snake last year from JenP, a freek lid accident killed while I was away. Jen offered my another snake. Inside I knew that at that time last summer, 6 was too many. Now I have eggs hatching and can hardly wait. I think if we are true our feeling we will all know when enough is enough. Just my HO, susan

 

[MegF.]

You're probably right and I'm not even close to that right now. I'll be adding in the future, but probably fewer corns and more of other types. I enjoy the corns a lot but they are a lot more care than the Green tree pythons in some ways. Feeding the pythons takes alot less time and that's the most time consuming portion of the care.

 

[Mrs InsaneOne]

Hmmm... sometimes when cleaning cages, changing water dishes, and feeding it feels more like a job and seems tedious - but then with each new discovered fresh shed, with each looping coil they wrap around your arm, wrist, or hair, and with every lunging strike... the magic is there again and I find myself loving the snakes even more. I can say no to another fish, cat, dog, or any other animal - but the snakes are simply too adorable to resist.

Working within our limits is trying, but we manage somehow. I mean, we've really outgrown the 'OMG it's so cute I have to have it stage!' and give careful thought to what we will consider buying, but we still drool over all of the snakes we see at shows and sometimes in the pet stores. There's still not enough time or room for all of the morphs that we'd like to have, but one day...

And Meg, that's why you have to start with a bigger house! lol... When we finally move, we'll be looking for two things - lots of rooms, a big basement, and a large backyard (in case we need to build a snake house and rodent shack when we expand! lol) A barn in the yard wouldn't be a bad start either. I could convert half into the snake rooms and set up a horse or two on the other side! *weg*


Jenn

 

[toyah]

Hmmm... sometimes when cleaning cages, changing water dishes, and feeding it feels more like a job and seems tedious - but then with each new discovered fresh shed, with each looping coil they wrap around your arm, wrist, or hair, and with every lunging strike... the magic is there again and I find myself loving the snakes even more.

I completely agree about that magic feeling when one of your snakes *does* something. I have snakes who are not great feeders, and I feel oddly proud of them when they do decide to eat something - that'll be me in a good mood for the next two days. I think when that feeling of happiness goes, it's time to reevaluate what you own and why.

I don't mind the cleaning and changing water dishes, I must admit. I'd prefer to be cleaning the snakes out then cleaning the rodents out!

 

[Plissken]

Then you just buy a bigger house... :crazy02:

I'm working on it! Since I'm running low on funds for new animals at the moment though, I suspect a new house might just have to wait

 

[Mrs InsaneOne]

I completely agree about that magic feeling when one of your snakes *does* something. I have snakes who are not great feeders, and I feel oddly proud of them when they do decide to eat something - that'll be me in a good mood for the next two days. I think when that feeling of happiness goes, it's time to reevaluate what you own and why.

I don't mind the cleaning and changing water dishes, I must admit. I'd prefer to be cleaning the snakes out then cleaning the rodents out!

When people ask me why I like snakes so much I say it's because I don't like mice. lol... So I am with you there... Much rather take care of the snake then the mice or rats. Plus, the snakes don't hurt as much when they bite.


Jenn

 

[Eriathiel]

Well... I've just come to the conclusion that I can't slow down! I decided tonight that one just isn't enough... and since a friend of mine is going to a reptile expo tomm I'm going to tag along and see what I can find!
I'm screwed. Its like fighting a losing battle! But I'm not so sure I mind losing this one!

 

[Emanon]

I would have to agree... space, $$$ and time... those three are the factors...
after that... nothing!!!

 

[Nanci]

Well... I've just come to the conclusion that I can't slow down! I decided tonight that one just isn't enough... and since a friend of mine is going to a reptile expo tomm I'm going to tag along and see what I can find!
I'm screwed. Its like fighting a losing battle! But I'm not so sure I mind losing this one!

Well, that's true- one isn't enough! If you only have one- what do you do on the days he's digesting? And worse, when he's blue? You need at least three to guarantee having a snake available at all times.

Plus- you need one king or milk! Who else is going to clean up after the picky corns that don't want to eat for whatever reason? You don't want to be wasting mice, do you?

Nanci

 

[ghosthousecorns]

Plus- you need one king or milk! Who else is going to clean up after the picky corns that don't want to eat for whatever reason? You don't want to be wasting mice, do you?

Nanci

Lol, you need 1.1 king or milk! At least I did. I am getting more into king snakes though corns will always be the biggest part of my collection.
Seriously though, I think I have reached some kind of plateau where I know I can keep about 20 snakes (adult) before it kind of turns into too much. I guess this number is different for everyone. I feel keeping a smaller collection and raising a smaller amount of hatchlings means I will be able to give the ones I do hatch out better care, and since it's a hobby and not a business to me I prefer to keep it small. Space is also a pretty big factor for me since I don't have a 'snake room' anymore.
Over the years I have sold some of the corns I started out with, they were healthy proven breeders but of the more common morphs and I have been upgrading gradually trying to get the morphs that interest me.

 

[MegF.]

One green tree python is a hoover here.

 

[Tula_Montage]

As some of you may have noticed, I aquired a vast amount of snakes in my first 6/7 months of keeping... I think I hit 27 at one point. I sold most of them off recently. Now I have a handful of the morphs/species I REALLY enjoy keeping. The ones where I take out and just stare at for 20 mins telling them over and over again that they are beautiful. And its a pleasure to clean poop for them... poop barley has time to hit the ground before I'm cleaning it up.

I just like having my snakes in the cleanest, practical space according to their needs as possible...

I do plan on many more snakes in the future.... from the current breeders I have LOL. I see no point in buying morphs I can create myself.... I enjoy buying visually appealing (IMO) snakes to create other visually appealing morphs ie why buy a normal het hypo lavender bloodred when I can purchase a lavender bloodred het hypo or a bloodred het hypo lavender which is more visually appealing to me. It cuts corners indeed... yet my bank balance suffers LOL.

Space isn't an issue for me, nor is time. I would have 30 more snakes tomorrow if my bank balance permitted LOL. Maybe I should just settle for multi het normals

The only thing that irritates me is I want too much. I can't settle on one species or morph, I always see something much more appealing. It irritates myself and my OH no end as we can hardly ever agree on whats next. Luckily our next pair of snakes are EXACTLY what we wanted.

 

[Mrs InsaneOne]

The only thing that irritates me is I want too much. I can't settle on one species or morph, I always see something much more appealing. It irritates myself and my OH no end as we can hardly ever agree on whats next. Luckily our next pair of snakes are EXACTLY what we wanted.

We have that same problem - we have the ones we are looking, the ones we've been planning on for ages, and then there are the ones that just leap out and grab you and you have to take it home! That's how I got both my squishies and several of our corns and both of the Cali kings!

The problem is that there are just so many beautiful snakes out there - even when limiting oneself to just colubrids (sp?)

Jenn

 

[Tula_Montage]

Limiting yourself to colubrids is an oxymoron LOL... Theres NO limit to colubrids More choice than anything else in the world. I do adore colubrids, epecially weird Asian and Russian species, but you already know my heart is set on big chunky boids... And thats what Im focusing on at the moment.

The other problem with me is that I like things that are either way out of my price range or just not availble unless WC or paying ridiculous amounts of money. My ideal snake is a boelens python... Id kill for one. But I refuse to pay a few grand for shabby WC/CF specimens. Ill wait till clean, healthy CB specimens are avilable before I spend big bucks.

 

[SnakeAround]

My limit is money and space, the latter merely since I live with my sister who does refuse to live in between snake houses

 

[Corny Noob]

The only thing that irritates me is I want too much. I can't settle on one species or morph, I always see something much more appealing. It irritates myself and my OH no end as we can hardly ever agree on whats next. Luckily our next pair of snakes are EXACTLY what we wanted.

As do I, they're all just so beautiful, and so damned inticing >_<

Is it bad that I forgot I even made this topic? :sidestep: