very curious

[remsin76]

what herps do you all own??
how muhc do you spend on them each year (adding to collection and feeding medicine etc. ) ?
and what do you guys do for a living to make this muhc money?

i am asking this b/c i see some people with like 10+ herps and seems really expensive so i was wondering.

this is me wondering :confused:

[bob_thesnowman]

hey,i have 18 leopard geckos(lol,and 8 eight eggs in the incubator and more on the way!),2 beardies,a b/w argentine tegu,a savanna monitor,a monkey tail skink,2 desert iguana's,a mali uromastyx,4 spider geckos,2 fat tails,a giant day gecko...and i think that sums it up,well when you do have this many herps,you really got to consider thinking about getting crickets shipped to you in bulk,otherwise you're gonna be spending 25 dollars a day just to feed them all!!i really don't make all that much money,but i'm only 18 and i still live at home,lol,so the fact that i don't pay rent helps!

[Emily-Fisher]

I have:

2.1 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Redeye Treefrog
1.0 Green Treefrog
1.0 Peacock Treefrog
1.0 Grey Treefrog
0.1 Giant Day Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Mali Uromastyx
1.0 Cornsnake

For food, supplies, medication, etc... I probably spend around $450 on my herps a year, minimum. However, I am always buying new herps too and am currently saving up my money to buy a greek tortoise, a BCI, a white knee or a red knee tarantula, a giant black african millepede and a super hypo tangerine carrottail baldy leopard gecko. So all of the together costs around $1650 plus the enclosures and heating which is another $300. Herping is a very expensive hobby and you can see why ;)

[lilyskip]

I have 0.0.1 ball python, and that's it! Because I'm a college student, my income is irregular and mostly depends upon when I can get an appointment for a medical experiment, so one snake will be more than enough until I have the time to get a steady job. With one bp, the initial costs were over $200, and I estimate an average of 2-4 dollars a week on food for it's first year. Vet visits are $44 for healthy visits, and $16 for a fecal, so at least that's not over-the-top.

The bottom line, really is just to be realistic about the amount of herps you can afford. A lot of people *can* afford 18 herps, but for those of us that aren't at that stage in our life yet, the hardest thing is to restrain ourselves from getting that cute little leo that is on sale for "only" $19. :D

[LISA127]

I had to cut back my collection. Not so much because of money, but because of obligations. I have two daughters who are getting older. They always have something going on that I need to be involved in, particularly during the school year. I also have two cats and a dog. The dog is turning 2 years old this week, but when she was a puppy and was a lot of work was when I cut down on my collection.
As far as money goes, decorating enclosures for me is always done as cheaply as possible. I do not use the naturalistic method. Substrate for everyone is usually paper towels or newspaper, because it's cheap! My leo's water dishes and calcium dishes are peanut butter jar lids, not fancy bowls from the pet store. You get the idea. My favorite herp, my blue tongued skink, is the cheapest herp to feed. He eats right out of my fridge or cupboard. I find the insectivores to be the most expensive to feed. You gotta order insects on line. They are too expensive at the pet stores. Yes, keeping herps is an expensive hobby. But there are ways to cut the costs. Turtles, tortoises, and terrestrial lizards can be kept in large rubbermaid tubs, as opposed to expensive tanks or expensive enclosures. Just clip the lighting to the side.

[damzookeeper]

I also cut back on my collection, jus because I started getting away from normal leos, but right now I have about 41 leos, 5 fat tails, 14 bearded dragons, 1 newt, 1 tree frog, and a blue tongue skink. I also have a cocatiel and a ferret for non herps.
I can't even imagine and don't really want to know what I spend on my herps a year. lol, It would be too depressing.
But just the insect food alone, monthly, cost me about $300( that cost is much higher when I have baby beardies to feed) and that doesn't inclued vitamins, calcium, parazap, salads for the dragons and skink, baby foods, bottled water because I wont use town water, treats like the occasional wax worms or pinkies, dog food for my skink, fecals, vet visits, or any meds they may have to have if something is found at the vet, and god knows I am probably misssing something else in there. lol.
That is the best I can do for an estimate. I wouldn't want to sit down and calculate it out or I might run the other way. lol
I use terra cotta dishes and finger bowls for calcium water and mealies for the geckos and large terra cottas for salads or mealies or supers for the other herps. I use paper towel or news paper for substrate and get most of my furnishings from dollar store and make my own hides and branches. I also use coaconut hides for the geckos because they are cheap and cute.
I use rubber maid containers for most of the geckos as well, easy to clean, cheap and effecient.
I have also been building new cages for them and moving them to the basement working on spending at least a grand there. :( But they are all worth it!! And I can't wait till it is done so I can stop spending on enclosures and spend more on them. ;)
or me. lol, eventually I want a pair of albino fatties. :D

[Wuntu Menny]

Well, let's see. Right now we have:

1.2 Veiled chameleons
1.1.2 Crested geckos
6.5.13 Vorax geckos
1.1.3 Leopards
1.0 Henkel's leaf tail
1.1 Fire skinks
1.0.2 Spider geckos
1? Blue tongued skink
several hundred misc inverts

We are trying to cut down the population these days as well. It has been higher than this in the past. While we do save all herp related receipts, I haven't bothered to tally them up. We do this for personal enjoyment and self education. What little we make from the sale of offspring goes back into maintenance. Neither of us makes a lot of $$, so it can be a challenge at times.

One thing that helps us sustain a project this size is our dedication to finding cost effective alternatives. We end up paying around 1/4 to 1/3 of retail to keep our animals. We have found other sources for virtually everything our herps require. The only item we have to buy from a pet store is supplements.

WM

[LTownsend]

3.5 Green Tree Pythons(1.1 Sorongs / 2.3 Biaks / 0.1 Manokwari)
1.3 Guyanan Red Tail Boas(ready to breed this fall)
0.1 Emerald Tree Boa(gorgeous large female...looking for a male)
1.1 Tanimbar Scrub Pythons(picking up another 1.2 next week)
5.12 Ball Pythons (various normals & hets)
1.2 Black Milk Snakes(one of the favorites in my collection)
1.1 Peublan Milk Snakes
1.1 Greybanded King Snakes(Alterna Phase)
2.3 Amelanistic Corn Snakes

Costs for me are minimal actually... I breed all my own rats and mice and sell quite a few of them as well to finance the colony. I'm a carpenter, so caging is fairly cost effective as I build all my own enclosures. The only real cost each year, besides hydro (couple hundred a month) is the addition of new animals periodically, which is usually a few thousand each year, adding new bloodlines or different species I want to work with. So far this year, it's around $6000 to $7000 on new animals, with about $35-$40 k invested overall in the last three years.

[SCReptiles]

2.3 Timber Rattlesnakes
1.1 Eastern diamond back rattlesnakes
2.1 Cotton mouths
1.0 Pigmy Rattlesnakes
1.0 Copperhead
2.2 Burmese Pythons
1.1 Black Racers
1.3 Rats snakes
0.1 Water snake
0.1 Scarlet king snake
1.1 Spec king snake
This is my personal collection and the beginnings of my breeding stock, we have many more herps at our building that either belong to Joe or Barry or we have for sell. These numbers will change as I add more breeders and trade some out. We also breed rats to sell, so we have the food covered. We have a vet who works close with us due to a personal interest in venomous herpiculture, so she takes very good care of us on that. So, in reality we are not spending very much on our herps. About what I so, well on the side I breed rats and buy, sell, trade reptiles and I am a professional wrestler. As for my main source of income, I am a fleet manager with Covenant Transport.

[Samba]

I have:

1.0 Burmese python (Bandula)
0.1.1 Leopard geckos (Girl and 'Baby')
1.0 African Plated Lizard (Dahli)
0.1.2 Red-Eared Sliders (Bo, Bubbles and Scooter)
1.0 Iguana (Iggy)
1.0 Water Dragon (Agua)
0.1 Bullsnake (unnamed)

Since I run a rescue many animals come and go, but these are my pets. I just got the bullsnake the day before yesturday and she's adorable! I will probably find her a home though!

The way I break down my costs may be a little different; I get animals at last minute's notice, adoption fees recover some of my own money that I've spent making animals well, and vet bills are through the roof!

Annually I would estimate my spendings to be around $9,000.00. In between caring for my own animals, rescues, food, heating, electricity bills, etc. Not that bad I guess, but it could be better! Like Lilyskip, I am a college student and I have a part time job, (18 hrs. a week @6.75 per hour... Ouch!) That barely covers my car insurance, gas and food for myself and my pets!

[remsin76]

wow chuck ur a wrestler? like the wwf stuff or like olympics stuff??

well im a college student and i only have one BP. I am really tempted to increase my collection but i know its better not to. Im afraid taht after i graduate i mgiht get moved off somewhere cause i plan to go where my work takes me.

so fra keeping my snake it cost me less than $100 since the snake was a gift. i admire u guys for being so dedicated to the hobbby. $9000 for herps good lord

[Mike177]

i have
1.0 Blood Python
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Albino Burmese Python
1.1.1 Corn snake
1.0 Red tail Boa (BCI)
1.0 Leopored Geckos
1.2 Tokay Geckos

I have not realy say down to canculate all my costs. i go to high school and kinda just do odd jobs to support my snakes. i got alot of money in the bank just in case something falls through. but right now the costs are low but they will go up. my parents give me a set amount of money per month (its never enouph) but i would say about 80% of my money goes in the bank or to my rodent supplyer!

[Zoe]

Heh Remsin I hear ya! And am very jealous of some of the members here.

Anyway to answer your questions:

I own:
1.2 adult Irian Jaya Carpet Pythons (paid a total of $575 for them)
1.0 baby Irian Jaya Carpet Python (value of about $225)
2.1 baby Irian Jaya Carpet Pythons (for sale) (value of about 700$)
0.1 Colombian Red-Tailed Boa ($125 as a baby, she is now sub adult)
1.0 Ambanja Blue Panther Chameleon ($175)
0.1 Sudan Plated Lizard ($30)
1.4 Hypo/Tang Leopard Geckos (value ranging from $100-$250 each)

I'm not sure how much I spend - but its a lot!

I work a crappy job at $10 an hour, but I don't have to pay rent or food or anything so I can spend everything (or almost) on my herps!

Zoe

[Colonel SB]

Right now I have:

2.5 Ball Pythons
2.5 Leopard Geckos (various colours morphs)
2.2 Corn Snakes
0.1 Blood/Borneo Cross

I will be getting a pair of Desert King from the Gillards soon whoohoo.

As for cost my father breeds mice so food is free and I usually creat my own cages too keep costs down. When your collection gets bigger you have to get very creative to keep from going bankrupt.

[SCReptiles]

wow chuck ur a wrestler? like the wwf stuff or like olympics stuff??
I have never done the Olympic style, I did do the free style mixed UFC style wrestling in the middle 1990’s. Now all I do is pro, like the WWF umm I mean WWE. Ha ha.
http://secw.bravepages.com/Chuck/dsw/champposeblood.jpg

[GekkoGeck0]

I have a small little collection.

0.1 Tokay gecko
1.2 African dwarf frogs
2.0 Firebellied toads
0.0.1 Web-footed gecko
1.0 Domestic fluffy cat

My costs fluctuate. Every month I spend $25 on crickets at the petstore (I'm looking for a supplier online that's cheaper). Every few months I have to buy more brine shrimp and bloodworms for the dwarf frogs, and of course, there's cat litter and food, which actually costs me less in the long run because I buy in bulk. *grin*

I want to get a snake in the future, hopefully some sort of colubrid, but I'm not sure how much I will have to spend on mice and it might start to get too expensive. I'm planning on getting a crested gecko, too, and that might be a little easier on the wallet.

My little webfooted gecko is the pride of my collection, it's so cute! I don't know many people who own these little guys and I wonder why, because they're not that hard to care for and are so interesting to watch at night.

[Bartman]

man that looks like it hurt.lol. i own uromastyx, a leopard gecko, tegu, and a turtle. How i afford to keep these is by working with my dad in the summer and i make a pretty sweet paycheck..400 bucks a week and than by the end of the summer i have around 2500 dollers which i slowly waist on herps and things i need. Than it usually finishes around summer and the chain starts again :) I end up spending like 20-40 bucks a month depending on what happens when..if i get a new reptile than that goes up a lot more for all the supplies i need..and so every year i spend around 400 bucks a year on just food. in total i would say around 600-700 bucks a year on my animals...man now that i put it into perspective i spend a lot :)

[Samba]

LOL, I wish I made $400.00 a week! I don't even make that a month!!!!

[Bryce Masuk]

I basicly am draining the 17 grand I saved to feed my herps since I quit my job but I will hopefully soon be back to work so I can start rebuilding my saving I dont even want to know how much $$ I have spent in herp's but aleast it wont be as scarey as some of my other hobbies

[SCReptiles]

man that looks like it hurt.lol.
It hurts like hell, but that is why we get paid the big bucks. Ha ha

[LadyHawke]

in reptiles i currently own:
1.8 leopard geckos
1.0 ball python
1.1 boa constrictors
0.1 mali uromastyx
1.1 bearded dragons
Caledonian crested gecko
1.0 green iguana
2 red ear sliders
0.1 smooth fronted caiman
savannah monitor
1.1 california king snakes
1.3 corn snakes
rose hair tarantula
0.2 Chinese water dragons
3 hermit crabs
albino pacman frog
2 giant African land snails


I also have a variety of exotic mammals which include rare cats, a prairie dog, mynah bird, cockatiel, Egyptian spiny mice, African pygmy mouse and a mountain coatimundi

on average i spend about $70 - 85 a week on feeding all my animals including some dogs (not the horse), feeder rodents are in this pricing as i raise my own, this does not include vet bills which do pop up occassionaly.

LOL i spend less on people food a week!!

[hudson]

For those of you that don't pay rent or bills, god I envy you!

You can see in my signiture what I own and I work at Casino Niagara so I do bring in a decent paycheck, but I use to work at a pet store and still recieve my discount so my costs aren't as high as some other people's. I get everything from tanks, crickets, lights, dog and cat food at cost so that helps out quite a bit. I also breed my own mice, meal worms, super worms, and silk worms.

If I didn't still get a discount and breed some things myself I don't think I would be able to own as many as I do just for the fact that my hydro bills are insane.

[liltattyprinces]

scared to think what i spend on them ...lol, but the kids and i collecton is rather small,I'm a single mom and happily have a friend who's kids breed mice for me. we currently have a male caramel corn (frodo) (freddy) snoroan gopher snake, my 2 rescue corns we think one is a male sunglow and the other is possibly a caramel not quit sure though ohh not to forget the emperor scorpion (rescue) charlotte who's a rosey T and the pink toe spiderlings who are quickly growing we are currently looking to add a few more but that will be it for awhile

[Lisa]

Boas
1.1 BCC
1.2 BCI
1.1 Viper boas

Colubrids
4.2 Corn snakes
1.0 Hognose
1.1 Mex mex kings
1.0 Prairie king
0.1 Speckled king

Pythons
1.0 Blood Python
1.1 Burmese Pythons
1.2 Royal Pythons

Other reptiles
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.1 Sand skink
0.0.1 toad

We breed our own rats for food and because we are good customers at one store (and we travel a fare bit to buy from them) they give us a decent discount.

Even with the rats we breed we still have to buy more though hopefully we're catching up on production.

[Linds]

I currently (July 27, '03) have in my collection:

1.2 Guyanese BCC
1.1 Jamaican Boas
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
1.2 Ball Pythons
1.1 Borneo STP
1.1 Rosy Boas
0.1 Hog Isle Boa
0.1 Colombian BCI
0.1 Secret snake
0.1 Green Iguana
1.0 Horned Frog
0.3 Leos
0.0.1 Redfoot Tortoise

I also keep some other animals, warmblooded and invert. I used to work at Kris' Reptiles and Travelling Exotics Roadshow uip until the past couple months. They are closing down to open a zoo, hence I got laid off :( Hopefully will be working soon though 'cause funds are really tight! :eek:

[RaVeNo888o]

hey, what do all the 1.0 and 0.1, and 0.0.1 things mean? my guess is the sex? and number? (1.0, or 0.1 being male or female, and 0.0.1 being unknown???) am i right...always see people use this but never had a clue what it meant thanks lol.\

[justinO]

yup. you are correct. 1.0 is male, 0.1 is female, and 0.0.1 is unknown sex.

[RaVeNo888o]

ok cool..thanks...now alot more makes sense lol..
i figured it out when someone said they had some mice breeding at 1.3. so figured one male with 3 females..thanks again..
guess that means i have 0.0.1 highwhite abberent cal king....i think it may be female but havent had it checked for sure (the tale tapers quickly)

[Jeff Hathaway]

Our collection is ~120 herps. Too much work to list it all but ~70 snakes (12 boids, balance are colubrids), 10 lizards, 18 turtles plus some frogs and one salamander. We buy all of our rodents, which works out to over $3000 annually. Other costs, who knows? Probably close to $10,000 a year in total for direct animal related costs, but I'm guessing. It's all a write off for us though, as reptile education is our business...

Jeff Hathaway
Sciensational Sssnakes!!

[spyderman]

DAMN!!! Most of you make my collection look like it's nothing at all. I'm nearly embarrassed to post this.

0.1 Bull Snake
0.0.1 Corn (Comming later this evening.) For the kids..Honestly..

[Classic]

2.1 pueblan milk
1.1 sinalone milk
2.2 honduran milk
1.1 mexican milk
1.1 albino nelsoni milk
1.1 corn
1.1 grey band
0.1 albino cal king
Some of these are currently on order and won't arrive until mid Aug.
Fortunately, I live in military housing and heat&hydro is included in my rent. My wife has a good job also which helps alot. I have a supplier for my rodents at a very reasonable price and I just started my first mouse colony which i intend to expand to self sufficiency. I recently moved to a rack system and moved away from aquariums and lights which will save a bundle. Another good way to save is to buy your animals in bulk numbers if you can wait long enough to save for them.

[lordkovacs]

I currently own 2 corns (reverse okeetee and an albino snow) and an IJCP. I have been in school up until this year so haven't been able to affor much more than that. However, as of this September I have a teaching job. I will teach grades one and two (they are so cute at that age!!!!) so money won't really be a problem then. I will expand over hte next month to include another IJ for future breeding, and a boid pair (not sure which...any suggesttions???)
that's it..
MIKE

[BWSmith]

1.0 Cornsnake
0.1 Yellow Ratsnake
1.0 Gray Ratsnake
1.0 Sinaloan Milksnake
1.0 Tangerine Honduran Milksnake
1 Rough Green Snake
0.1 Eastern Garter Snake
1.1 Scarlet Kingsnakes
1.0 Chain Kingsnake
1.0 Florida Kingsnake
1.0 Amazon Tree Boa
1.1 Guyana Red Tail Boa
2.1.2 Columbian Redtail Boa
2.1 Ball Pythons

5.5.2 Southern Copperheads
1.3 Broadband Copperheads
0.2 Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake
1.0 Western Mygmy Rattlesnake
3.1 Cottonmouths
1.2.2 Canebrake Rattlesnakes
1.1 Timber Rattlesnakes
1.1 Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes
1 Eastern Coral Snake

I think that is about it. Going from memory.

[Matt]

0.1 Secret snake

:medfroner

[lanalizard]

I run a rescue as well and i have 2 iguanas up for adoption...however the animals that i own are as followed:

2 green iguana (male)(marigold) (female)(drakie)
2 bearded dragons (males)(freddy and seth)
1 leopard gecko (male)(Lana)
1 occelated skink (sammy)
2 ball pythons (males)(cuddles and striker)
3 corn snakes (male, female, unknown)(jam, casper, unnamed)
1 BCI (female)(Big Red)
1 Kenyan Sand Boa (female)(kenya)

[jncoclub]

0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Colombian Red Tail
0.1 Hog Isle Boa
0.1 Burmese Python

We anticipate that we have spent roughly $1500 on the snakes and tank set ups. For a long time I got food and supplies free because I used to donate my time at the exotic rep shop that we bought everyone from. So when I was moving I got tons of supplies (lights, substrates, play sticks, water bowls, etc) at wholesale. Currently we spend about $15-20 a week on food. It definitely adds up, but it’s worth it.

[tHeGiNo]

Try out for WWF man lol.