View Full Version : How many is too many?
Snakemanswife
05-19-17, 08:08 AM
Hi All!
My name is Michelle, and I am addicted to snakes....lol
We currently have 5 normal balls, 1 pastel ball and a licorice rat snake. I am interested in a corn and my husband is interested in a milk. I am new to the forums, so I will have to figure out how to post pics.
EL Ziggy
05-19-17, 08:19 AM
Hi Michelle. Welcome aboard! Looking forward to hearing more about and seeing pics of your collection. As far as how many is too many? As long as you can care for them all properly in terms of husbandry, housing, and feeding I say the more the merrier. I've found my happy place with 8 snakes but I'm tempted to squeeze in 2 more. :)
Snakemanswife
05-19-17, 08:24 AM
:confused:Trying to figure out how to upload pics. Just took pics the other day.
EL Ziggy
05-19-17, 08:27 AM
You have to have 5 posts before you can post pics.
Snakemanswife
05-19-17, 08:30 AM
Guess I need to be posting then..... Let me work on that. Hopefully will have pics for everyone soon.
Scubadiver59
05-19-17, 09:39 AM
Hi Michelle. Welcome aboard! Looking forward to hearing more about and seeing pics of your collection. As far as how many is too many? As long as you can care for them all properly in terms of husbandry, housing, and feeding I say the more the merrier. I've found my happy place with 8 snakes but I'm tempted to squeeze in 2 more. :)
If the Hogg Island Boa seller says he's ready this weekend, and he hasn't sold it out from under me, I'll have 10. All that's left on my list is either a Dwarf or Super Dwarf Retic and a D'Alberts Python. Anything else will be a rescue of some sort.
Snakemanswife
05-19-17, 10:15 AM
If the Hogg Island Boa seller says he's ready this weekend, and he hasn't sold it out from under me, I'll have 10. All that's left on my list is either a Dwarf or Super Dwarf Retic and a D'Alberts Python. Anything else will be a rescue of some sort.
Orion, normal male ball, was a rescue from my ex-husband. He was triangular in shape when we got him. Anubis, my stepson's female normal ball, was bought from a rescue in Key West, FL. Apollo, normal male ball, was bought for $30 as a rescue from a mutual friend. Perseus and Zeus, both normal males, were rescues from someone who knew someone......
Perseus and Zeus were going to be put out in the wild here in South Carolina. They were both very bitey when we got them. Since they are getting regular feeding now, they are better. They are young, maybe a year or so old. Both of them were so underfed that you could see spine and ribs. We have had them for around a year and they are healthy looking, both have shed several times and are able to be handled more.
Phantom, male licorice rat snake, was bought from a pet store, where he was returned for supposedly biting the guy who bought him. I have my own opinion on that one. I have pics of my 12 yo daughter holding him and he is over 6 ft.
Onyx, male pastel ball, was bought from Repticon because I wanted a snake. My hubby and stepson already had Anubis and Orion.
I thought I wanted a corn snake until I saw the recent pics posted of the Rainbow Boa. My husband says I want them all. He is probably right. lol
Snakemanswife
05-19-17, 11:47 AM
Perseus is lighter. Zeus is darker.http://Perseus and Zeus https://imgur.com/gallery/rBW6v
dannybgoode
05-19-17, 12:06 PM
How many is too many? Either when you cannot afford proper care for them all, don't have the space to house them all in adequate enclosures or when you're threatened with divorce.
Personally no 3 is my limitation and I'll have 10 or so ultimately.
purplephilia
05-19-17, 12:40 PM
I agree that "too many" happens when you don't have the space or time to house and care for them properly. So it's all relative!
For me personally, I want to have significant "bonds" (I know some people don't like that word with reptiles -_-) with each and every one of my animals, and I want to provide them with spacious and lush housing, so that limits my "will have in the future" list. My "wishlist" is definitely much longer. ^_^ And at the moment I don't feel that I have the space for anyone else, so any and all future coldblooded little buddies are on hold until I move, which won't be for at least 2 years.
As for cats? I already have too many lol.
Magdalen
05-19-17, 01:04 PM
For me it's a space issue and to some degree a money issue. I have space for two tanks (20 gallon longs) and I have two reptiles at the moment, a gecko and a cape house snake. I also have two cats and a rabbit in my one bedroom apartment soooo I'm pushing it a little on space issue haha.
If I didn't have a space issue, I do have a somewhat money issue. As in, I feed my pay checks to my horse hahah. I wish I was joking, sort of. But that has been a life long dream of mine, way before reptiles.
I have broken my 1 snake a month I did from about July to Nov except 2 partial impulse buys and am not buying any more until fall (then I have 3-4 babies reserved) lol I said we will wait for this year's baby crested geckos to start showing up cheap but with shipping being a minimum $40 anyway I grabbed this dark red base pinstripe with black when fired up (they can fire dark or fade based on various moods and conditions) I saw yesterday. I'm working on getting my husband to let me knock out that wall between 2 small bedrooms to make 1 reptile room for the 5-6' bull and pine snake enclosures and still fit the geckos. It's a work in progress ;)
Scubadiver59
05-19-17, 04:50 PM
Hmm...I got my Dumerils on Thursday, picked up the Southern Pine and Western Hognose today, I will be picking up my Hogg Island tomorrow, and I will probably be picking up a Taiwanese Beauty Snake on Sunday (the one I thought was sold out from under me).
No, I haven't added too many to my collection too fast...have I? :eek:
I have broken my 1 snake a month I did from about July to Nov except 2 partial impulse buys and am not buying any more until fall (then I have 3-4 babies reserved) lol I said we will wait for this year's baby crested geckos to start showing up cheap but with shipping being a minimum $40 anyway I grabbed this dark red base pinstripe with black when fired up (they can fire dark or fade based on various moods and conditions) I saw yesterday. I'm working on getting my husband to let me knock out that wall between 2 small bedrooms to make 1 reptile room for the 5-6' bull and pine snake enclosures and still fit the geckos. It's a work in progress ;)
Snakemanswife
05-19-17, 06:11 PM
Is adding too many too fast a possibility? We are fixing to get another ball. Family member (teen) has it and says she is having trouble feeding it......
I am determined to get a corn at Repticon in July, but my husband doesn't know it yet. lol
ThirteenRavens
05-19-17, 06:22 PM
I currently have 8...I acquired them all in short order...at least every Repticon that came through Boise for a couple years (one in spring and another in fall) and ended up with 4...got a cornsnake from Don Soderberg and a rubber boa from a place in Vegas. The most current 2 I have I got while in the state I'm currently residing in now. I had my Sunset boa shipped to me from a wonderful lady over on iHerp, and I just adopted a new baby ball python for my birthday last weekend :D Definitely have more planned at some point in the future :)
I have 5... I would have about 10 if my wife wasn't standing on the snake brake with both feet... :unibrow:
toddnbecka
05-20-17, 12:30 AM
I pretty much doubled my number of snakes when 2 of my Dominican females dropped their litters, really don't have any more on the radar now. I spend more time (and much more money) feeding and maintaining the rats and mice than the snakes.
Snakes are so easy to care for regardless of how you keep them compared to mammals with so much less going in and coming out to clean up that I don't think people realize how many snakes are easy to have. It looks like a lot if you don't know reptiles but most nights it's a few minutes of mist (mostly the geckos but some bioactive tanks need a damp spot kept), check lights haven't burnt out, confirm temp and humidity, fill the humidifier in the room that still likes to stay dry, glance at a water dish that probably runs out weekly if that, and done. Many people have it fully automated except food and maybe periodic cleaning (there's still bioactive though) but I'm used to farms and spending hours putting up, feeding, and checking all the animals morning and night so even after I moved I kept my routine of walking through all the small animals for visual check of food, water, and conditions including their behavior to know them and when they are "off" before any real symptoms show. Every 1-3weeks I have to spend a few minutes to throw or wiggle a rodent in each cage. Frustrations are mostly not time or effort but wasted rodents and waiting on sheds to complete correctly.
Snakemanswife
05-20-17, 12:10 PM
My newest acquisition. He knows I wanted a corn. Found this handsome guy for $20 when we went to get feeders.
http://i.imgur.com/zL0Q68c.jpg
riddick07
05-20-17, 12:25 PM
The real worry about adding a lot at a time is quarantine especially if you don't know anything about the seller or previous situation. I work with a parrot rescue that occasionally takes in reptiles. They asked me if I would take any snakes they were asked about and the answer is no unless they do a full quarantine and vet visit before it comes near my collection.
As long as you can take care of them all properly I don't think there is a too many option. For me I haven't reached that number for snakes yet but I've just about reached it for parrots. I might be able to add one more parrot before I start feeling stressed out. They are just way too much work compared to snakes.
ThirteenRavens
05-20-17, 04:34 PM
Had to reign myself in today when I saw the cutest little king snake (black and white, had the highway stripe markings) when I went to get some rats.............I might be moving in the near future so don't need to overdue it since I just got a new ball python...-.- Also...holding out for a MBK :D
David VB
05-20-17, 05:08 PM
Welcome and i agree with what has been said already : when you don't have space to house them properly nor money to care for them, then you have too many (or you can work on those 2 obstacles and get even more :p )
Snakemanswife
05-20-17, 05:24 PM
The real worry about adding a lot at a time is quarantine especially if you don't know anything about the seller or previous situation. I work with a parrot rescue that occasionally takes in reptiles. They asked me if I would take any snakes they were asked about and the answer is no unless they do a full quarantine and vet visit before it comes near my collection.
As long as you can take care of them all properly I don't think there is a too many option. For me I haven't reached that number for snakes yet but I've just about reached it for parrots. I might be able to add one more parrot before I start feeling stressed out. They are just way too much work compared to snakes.
I haven't thought about working with rescues. I have enough people that know I have snakes that call me when someone needs to re-home one. We have reached the "way too many" situation with canines. As we live on a dirt road in the dead center of "Nowhereville", everyone thinks its ok to drop dogs off.
SerpentineDream
05-21-17, 05:41 AM
When asked how many snakes I had yesterday, my response was, "Let me check my spreadsheet." So maybe I'm not the best person to judge....
But I agree that if you have the space, the money and the ability to take proper care of your animals there isn't a hard and fast number. Some people feel that one snake is all they can handle and others tap out at 100 or more.
BTW after looking at the spreadsheet the current number is 33, with several more joining the crew before we run out of space.
Then again, we could expand the snake room to include the main basement area.... :P
I've done the "how many animals do you have?" 4 dogs, 2 cats, ugh... let me count cages in my head for a second lol
Scubadiver59
05-21-17, 08:37 AM
12 will be my set limit...for now. I still need my Dwarf or Super Dwarf Retic and the D'Alberts Python to complete my mid-to-big snakes, but the Colubrids are another matter.
When asked how many snakes I had yesterday, my response was, "Let me check my spreadsheet." So maybe I'm not the best person to judge....
But I agree that if you have the space, the money and the ability to take proper care of your animals there isn't a hard and fast number. Some people feel that one snake is all they can handle and others tap out at 100 or more.
BTW after looking at the spreadsheet the current number is 33, with several more joining the crew before we run out of space.
Then again, we could expand the snake room to include the main basement area.... :P
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