Collection ADD

smy_749 · 06-08-14, 02:56 PM

So this has plagued me for probably a year or two. You might have caught on if you keep up with my posts. Basically, now that I make decent money and am not in school, I have been buying animals that I never used to be able to afford. The problem is that only a few short months goes by and I see an opportunity to trade them for another dream animal and it just never ends. Problem number two is that I have OCD with my collection, it has to all be the same genus, or all snakes, all whatever, they have to fit into a category. Sounds stupid but it pisses me off if its any other way.

Its been mostly odatria (all the dwarf monitor complex), and australian geckos (mostly knobtails) that I've been jumping back and forth between.

I'm at about 6 grand spent this year on animals, maybe 1 or 2 on everything else, and no real direction to show for it haha.

My question is, does anyone else have this issue, and did you solve it? If so...how? (I know most people hear have already found their 'calling', morelia, retics, bloods, crested geckos, whatever it may be, but I want them All :P )

MCB · 06-08-14, 03:21 PM

Lol! I hear you, it's as addictive as any other passion. I'm always trolling the reptile ads and find myself with another addition. For me though I did set out on a dwarf retic breeding project so I guess I already knew my path, but I have wandered a little by adding burms and GTP's.
Just enjoy what you're doing, you will find your way

jpsteele80 · 06-08-14, 03:33 PM

I used to want and tried to acquire just about everything I could get my hands on like you lol, then I found myself just acquiring just the giants and really just wanting to own burms and retics, I sold off just about all my stuff and had about 6 retics and 8 burms, talk about a food bill, I agree with MCB, keep on doing what your doing and just enjoy it

smy_749 · 06-08-14, 03:35 PM

How long did it take you guys to find out that you wanted to do big snakes?

MCB · 06-08-14, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smy_749

How long did it take you guys to find out that you wanted to do big snakes?

For me it was from the off as I always wanted to breed and the time seems right for dwarf and super dwarf retics, they have always been my love so luckily I'm in a position to carry out my dream.

jpsteele80 · 06-08-14, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smy_749

How long did it take you guys to find out that you wanted to do big snakes?

I've always been interested in big snakes from the very begining, it wasn't till I was 16 I got my first burmese, he was about 4 feet out of the pet shop, only grew to about 8 I think the growth was stunted, it wasn't till about 20 I started getting everything I could get my hands on and about 23 when I started going to the true giants.

Mikoh4792 · 06-08-14, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smy_749

So this has plagued me for probably a year or two. You might have caught on if you keep up with my posts. Basically, now that I make decent money and am not in school, I have been buying animals that I never used to be able to afford. The problem is that only a few short months goes by and I see an opportunity to trade them for another dream animal and it just never ends. Problem number two is that I have OCD with my collection, it has to all be the same genus, or all snakes, all whatever, they have to fit into a category. Sounds stupid but it pisses me off if its any other way.

Its been mostly odatria (all the dwarf monitor complex), and australian geckos (mostly knobtails) that I've been jumping back and forth between.

I'm at about 6 grand spent this year on animals, maybe 1 or 2 on everything else, and no real direction to show for it haha.

My question is, does anyone else have this issue, and did you solve it? If so...how? (I know most people hear have already found their 'calling', morelia, retics, bloods, crested geckos, whatever it may be, but I want them All :P )

Same thing here. I used to have a variety of animals but now I'm down to nothing but carpet pythons and one pair of a locality bci. But then I miss the diversity and am starting to think about adding a colubrid to my collection.

I've always had a limit though. No more than 11 snakes. That's all I can house and afford to maintain.

smy_749 · 06-08-14, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikoh4792

Same thing here. I used to have a variety of animals but now I'm down to nothing but carpet pythons and one pair of a locality bci. But then I miss the diversity and am starting to think about adding a colubrid to my collection.

I've always had a limit though. No more than 11 snakes. That's all I can house and afford to maintain.

I have no limits, other than cash which is not super tight. Spending 60 dollars on crickets a few times a month and some rodents is sort of annoying though. Most of the animals I got rid of, if I had kept them a bit longer, they would have paid for whatever I wanted to get next anyways. I just have an issue with patience lmao

Batessi · 06-08-14, 05:52 PM

After 10 years I have decided to focus on GTPS, ETBs, Carpets, Bloods, and Balls, some more than others, but not by much. I am kind of like you, now that I have a little more freedom and better pay I am getting into designer animals. That said, a patience problem is something that does not fit in this hobby. If you need to put out animals next season, then you need to buy adults if available, if not then you have to suck it up or find another project. For example, I could not wait to produce GTPs so I bought a proven female to hopefully breed this year, while my other girl is growing. Good luck.

aaron_cg · 06-08-14, 05:54 PM

I here you there man. I had a few snakes when I was living with my Dad, but, now that I am on my own, I have a whole room dedicated to them. For me, it's just about working with the snakes that I have always wanted to, and taking advantage of opportunities as they come up. For example, I just picked up about 2 weeks ago a burn and retic from a friend of a friend. Had no plans to, but I can house them, and will be able to care for them properly. Plus they are 2 species I have always wanted. I say let your heart lead you. No matter where it goes. As long as you can house and care for the animals properly, as well as be financially stable and secure, keep going.

jpsteele80 · 06-08-14, 06:09 PM

OK I guess I should rephrase that, I'm into very heavy bodied snakes but strangely have no desire to have African rock pythons or anacondas ( although I might get a pair of condos some day) always been fascinated with burms and retics and lately blood pythons which i think will be my next pair of snakes

SSSSnakes · 06-08-14, 06:58 PM

I like a diversified collection. As I do educational and exhibitional shows with my snakes, I keep anywhere from 80 to 150 snakes at any given time. I love working with all snakes and I trade off many snakes each year to keep my shows interesting and different each year. There are many snakes that I keep and will never get rid of, because they are my favorite snakes. The only snakes I kept in numbers were ATB's and I alsao bred them, but I like the diversity.