Snake sitting

[Wrath]

I'm gonna be out of town for a month and not only do I not trust my loved ones to take care of my snakies, nor do I want to put them through that.

There is a guy that I talk to all the time where I buy my feeders, and I'm sure that he would not mind snake sitting for me. I mentioned it to him a while back and it sounded prosperous.

I'm concerned though because I can't afford to pay him much, and I wonder how much one would expect to be paid for this. I have a BP and a Rosy. The rosy eats like a pig, but the BP hasnt eaten in months, so she mostly just needs water monitoring. I had planned on just putting them in temporary rubbermaids and giving them to him.

Anyone have any experience in snake sitting procedures? Basically - how much $? and is the rubbermaid setup gonna be ok?

[Linds]

Rubbermaids are fine. I keep my balls and rosies in them full-time, not just as temporary housing. I don't know how much private sitters are going for, but if I recall correctly, at work we charge around $4 (CDN) per day per animal for boarding.

[Wrath]

Thanks Linds. Yeah, I guess I'll offer him the equivalent of that for the Rosy, and maybe I can just have someone come to my house to check on the BP (hopefully she'll eat before I leave). I'm just poor so I had to find out how much to offer. :o

[Bighead]

Don't forget you will need heat pads or heat tape too if you don't already have it. That would be the expensive part. I am sitting a beardie at the moment (8 days). The woman gave me $50 but I would have done it for $10. Good thing she didn't ask what my rates were!

[Sean_.E.]

It all depends. There are some people that charge alot and some that will do it for next to nothing. Personally, I wouldn't charge much for snakes if the person brought their own supplies. They are very low maintanance animals and the main expenses are food and electricity (which costs very little for two snakes).

Good luck,
Sean

[beth wallbank]

I am sitting a group of boas right now, and I charge nothing but the cost of the food that the owner's snakes eat. I think it all depends on if this person is friend or not, and whether the animals will be taking up space that you need elsewhere. I think $4 a day is reasonable, if that is including food, cleaning and hydro.

[Jeff Hathaway]

And, of course, if you're only gone for a month, the rosy could easily go that long without food without any ill effects!

Jeff Hathaway
Sciensational Sssnakes!!

[Wrath]

Hmm, you have a point. Maybe I'll just try to power feed then before I leave and have a friend stop by halfway through to check up on them for water and temperature. Weeyow, thanks all!

[monitor boy]

yeah i just babysat a beardie for a week and i got paid 100 bucks