Thoughts on Snakes Getting Passed Around - Page 3

KORBIN5895 · 02-20-12, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exwizard

Im not judging anyone. I just remember what Ive seen in some of these snakes that get passed around and this is what Im relating to you guys which illustrates my reasoning for keeping all of my snakes.

I think I am making it worse. :/

exwizard · 02-20-12, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strutter769

I may have missed the boat on that one. Cici was bought as a pet, definitey, but it was very shortly after that when the discussions of taking that next step began, as did the research. Husbandry, best breeders, cost, space requirement, etc. etc..

Now, the thought of keeping them in a tub, in a rack, where I'll never see them (not that I do now, but...) I know for certain I want at least one of them on display, and I've only got an enclosure for one adult. So, two of them will be making the transition from pet to "stock." Or should I say "I" will be making the transition?

Pets and breeders dont have to be mutually exclusive. Just because all my snakes are pets does not mean I dont plan on breeding some of the. I do. That having been said, when people are in the snake breeding business, theyre not selling the breeders> Theyre selling the babies. Thats all part of that business. If these snakes were originally pets, they can continue to be pets and yes a display viv is aweome to have. Myself, I dont have the room or the money for a viv and thats why most of our snakes are in racks but I do pull them out regularly and interact with them as the pets that they are.

exwizard · 02-20-12, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

I think I am making it worse. :/

In what way? I find this whole discussion quite facinating.

exwizard · 02-20-12, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KKgal

All of my adult snakes are my pets, they will be staying with me for my entire life. I just cannot imagine having or wanting to sell them, they just mean so much to me. I've actually turned down offers from qualified buyers on my adult Female Paradox Albino Sand Boa, no amount of money means that much to me.

The babies from her breedings, on the other hand, i sell,minus a few holdback males and females.

Yes, thats where Im coming from as well.

Skumbo · 02-20-12, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infernalis

I should rephrase - I sell babies, but ONLY to qualified buyers.

I like to read posts about most of my sold babies for years after the sale.

This is partly why I'm tentative about my aspirations to breed on a small scale at some point..

I purely want to breed one, maybe two snakes per year or every other year just out of the interest/love for snakes, my only "monetary" goal would be to "break even" so to speak, if possible. The only thing is I'd be so picky with who buys the snakes, I'm not sure I wouldn't end up with 20 new pets

exwizard · 02-20-12, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skumbo

This is partly why I'm tentative about my aspirations to breed on a small scale at some point..

I purely want to breed one, maybe two snakes per year or every other year just out of the interest/love for snakes, my only "monetary" goal would be to "break even" so to speak, if possible. The only thing is I'd be so picky with who buys the snakes, I'm not sure I wouldn't end up with 20 new pets

Breeding snakes definitely helps to pay for the hobby and theres nothing wrong with that. I plan on breeding some of my pet snakes in the near future as well.

The guy who sold me Vanessa and Merlin has already told me that when the other pair of Macks get old enough for me to switch them off, allowing me to put Lancelot in with Vanessa, then he wants a baby from that clutch. He was impressed with how much theyve grown since I got them.

Caylan · 02-20-12, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skumbo

This is partly why I'm tentative about my aspirations to breed on a small scale at some point..

I purely want to breed one, maybe two snakes per year or every other year just out of the interest/love for snakes, my only "monetary" goal would be to "break even" so to speak, if possible. The only thing is I'd be so picky with who buys the snakes, I'm not sure I wouldn't end up with 20 new pets

My thoughts exactly... how many clutches per year can you do that will have proper homes available for the babies... How many breeders end up whole saling their left over stock at the end of the year to make room for the next season? I work for a breeder and I don't always like where the snakes go, but I just have to suck it up. If they didn't go, there would be no hobby... everyone would quit breeding and the only animals available would be WC imports again. BHB has like 60,000 corn snake babies every year, and I'm sure not even half of them can be accounted for a year after their sale...
How about the number of reticulated pythons produced due to large clutch size and number of genetic variations... I doubt there are that many people in the world that can care for a retic properly...
I have traded a snake now, to my boss, as it ate better at his place. Still eats over there for some reason lol. Went up 2 food sizes in 2 months, was stuck on hoppers here for a year.... I also took home runt carpet pythons when my boss offered to allow me to take a few home, and I only ever planned on keeping 2 of them... just wanted to get all 4 going before they were sold. Now I can't choose one to sell..... Luckily they are all doing awesome now depsite being the size of hatchlings almost... but these animals will be rehomed, not craiglisted to first buyer...
The mass production of snakes makes me really wonder how many are surviving, or going the way of the turtle back when they could be bought in a box. Corn snakes at $9 bucks a pop... thats a feeder price in my opinion, maybe we should stop breeding them soon lol.

jaleely · 02-20-12, 07:38 PM

My snakes are my pets, and my family. IF i do decide to breed my dumeril's, and my hognoses one day, they will only be sold and advertised to people whom i think will keep them and care for them as i would.
I do not want to breed my other snakes. I don't really see a reason to, since they are pretty normal, and there are tons of normals of all species out there on the market.
There are not too many hognose....and i really adore them and would love to have babies at least once...but if i did i would probably keep them *shrug*

The dumerils were the only snakes i bought with breeding in mind. I'd like to keep captive ones available to people so imports will not be as needed or as encouraged.

I realize the rest of my hoard is going to live out their lives with me. Another reason i had to calm down on getting so many.

exwizard · 02-20-12, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaleely

My snakes are my pets, and my family. IF i do decide to breed my dumeril's, and my hognoses one day, they will only be sold and advertised to people whom i think will keep them and care for them as i would.
I do not want to breed my other snakes. I don't really see a reason to, since they are pretty normal, and there are tons of normals of all species out there on the market.
There are not too many hognose....and i really adore them and would love to have babies at least once...but if i did i would probably keep them *shrug*

The dumerils were the only snakes i bought with breeding in mind. I'd like to keep captive ones available to people so imports will not be as needed or as encouraged.

I realize the rest of my hoard is going to live out their lives with me. Another reason i had to calm down on getting so many.

Yeah as I said, all mine are pets as well. As far as breeding Dums are concerned, one reason they are hard to come by is that there are very few breeders willing to put up with such a long gestation period. Their exportation out of Madagascar is also highly restricted and illegal. I do have breeding plans for a few of my Dums as well but that does not take away from their "pet" status to me. Theyve always been pets. If I produce babies, either Dums, Macklots, BRBs, Carpets or Corns, they will be sold because thats the nature of breeding but I will also be very careful where they go. The snakes I currently have however are here to stay and are not nor will they ever be available for sale.

Skumbo · 02-21-12, 11:26 PM

I would love to breed my black milk-snake at some point, the only issue there is finding a female i'd breed him with, and to me that snake would be more of a "breeder" than a pet, though obviously shed be a pet.

More realistically for me though, would be to breed BRB's, i'd love to have a second BRB at some point (i dont even have my first yet.. go figure!) because I got a high orange, so I could go and get one that looks a bit different and breed them. Who knows!

**Aaron_S** · 02-21-12, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caylan

...Corn snakes at $9 bucks a pop... thats a feeder price in my opinion, maybe we should stop breeding them soon lol.

Dude, feeder corns are like $3 bucks a pop. NINE?! That's crazy.

Just for the record, people do actually buy corn feeders. A lot of venomous snake babies, king cobras, for example, will only start feeding on other snakes so they buy corns. It's all apart of the hobby.

Rogue628 · 02-21-12, 11:55 PM

I got all of mine as pets and that's what they are. All are female except for one that I don't know the sex of yet and will probably never find out since I have no interest in breeding. If I adopt, rescue, or rehome a male, that's fine.

The only male I will get will be a retic, and only because I don't want a retic that will get as big as females get. I've always wanted a 'tic since I first saw them about 15 years ago. Hopefully I'll have one by summer

**millertime89** · 02-22-12, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caylan

How about the number of reticulated pythons produced due to large clutch size and number of genetic variations... I doubt there are that many people in the world that can care for a retic properly...

There's a reason a lot of the big name breeders are producing only morphs now, or moving away from normals. Normals just don't sell very well and most people want something that looks crazy. Sure some normals sell, but not in the volume that normal albinos, tigers, and sunfires do. And if you want a normal looking retic, hets and poss. hets are produced all the time. Sure there are some exceptions, but they're getting rarer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Dude, feeder corns are like $3 bucks a pop. NINE?! That's crazy.

Just for the record, people do actually buy corn feeders. A lot of venomous snake babies, king cobras, for example, will only start feeding on other snakes so they buy corns. It's all apart of the hobby.

normal retics are another popular one because, as was pointed out above, they can have monstrous clutch sizes and lets face it, normals just aren't very popular.

**millertime89** · 02-22-12, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rogue628

The only male I will get will be a retic, and only because I don't want a retic that will get as big as females get. I've always wanted a 'tic since I first saw them about 15 years ago. Hopefully I'll have one by summer

dwarfs are your answer

DragonsEye · 02-22-12, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

DJust for the record, people do actually buy corn feeders. A lot of venomous snake babies, king cobras, for example, will only start feeding on other snakes so they buy corns. It's all apart of the hobby.

Coral snakes are a good example of obligate snake eaters. The folks I've chatted with who worked with them commented that it is pretty much impossible to get them to eat anything else.