20 Years or More - Page 2

CDN_Blood · 07-26-12, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LISA127

I wouldn't think of not sticking with it. I love reptiles too much!

and yes, I'm talking consecutive years when I've had at least one herp the whole time. There was a few years there when my kids were little that I was down to only two reptiles, but never less than that.

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout, right there

As for being a long-time member here, for your years of dedicated service to the group, you get this:

I make them myself ya know, and I don't go around handing those out to just anyone - you gotta *earn* one of those babies

LISA127 · 07-26-12, 01:17 PM

Thanks!...LOL

CK SandBoas · 07-26-12, 01:21 PM

For those keepers with 15 + years, did any of you ever think that you would stay with this wonderful hobby for so long? Or did any of you get remarks from either friends or family saying "Oh, this is just a phase, it will pass".

I hope you don't mind me asking this in your thread Todd, i'm genuinely interested in the answers.

MDT · 07-26-12, 01:29 PM

CND Blood and Lisa127....let's start an "over 40 herp crowd"

(that makes me depressed!)
Anyway....yep, at least 20 years continuously. Sometimes it may have been one animal, other times multiple. My mother STILL asks me when I'm going to give up this "hobby"....

LISA127 · 07-26-12, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MDT

CND Blood and Lisa127....let's start an "over 40 herp crowd"

(that makes me depressed!)
Anyway....yep, at least 20 years continuously. Sometimes it may have been one animal, other times multiple. My mother STILL asks me when I'm going to give up this "hobby"....

lol.....yes, sometimes being on the forums can make you feel a bit old. It's funny too.....if someone would meet me on the street they would never guess my love for all things herp. I'm going on 44 years old, I have two basically grown children. I'm quite conservative in looks and dress and I have salt and pepper hair. I'm a "rule follower" type person by nature. No piercings, no tattoos. I work at an elementary school.

No one in my family asks me when I'm going to give up this "hobby". I come from a family of huge animals lovers. Though they are not into reptiles themselves, they just see it as part of my love of animals.

StudentoReptile · 07-26-12, 01:38 PM

I think after the first decade, they resigned themselves to the reality that it wasn't going to pass. Reptiles will always be a part of my life.

MDT · 07-26-12, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LISA127

It's funny too.....if someone would meet me on the street they would never guess my love for all things herp. I'm going on 44 years old, I have two basically grown children. I'm quite conservative in looks and dress and I have salt and pepper hair. I'm a "rule follower" type person by nature. No piercings, no tattoos. I work at an elementary school.

Yeah....as a physician, I def get "the look" from my colleagues. Its kinda fun

CDN_Blood · 07-26-12, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KKgal

...I hope you don't mind me asking this in your thread Todd, i'm genuinely interested in the answers.

Not a problem, I'd like to hear the answers too

CDN_Blood · 07-26-12, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MDT

CND Blood and Lisa127....let's start an "over 40 herp crowd"

(that makes me depressed!)
Anyway....yep, at least 20 years continuously. Sometimes it may have been one animal, other times multiple. My mother STILL asks me when I'm going to give up this "hobby"....

Haha! I'm not so sure I need to be reminded of my age at any given time anymore, but I'll give it some thought, lol.

As for Ma and her 'hobby' idea, put her on the phone - I'll straighten this out for ya

LISA127 · 07-26-12, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KKgal

For those keepers with 15 + years, did any of you ever think that you would stay with this wonderful hobby for so long? Or did any of you get remarks from either friends or family saying "Oh, this is just a phase, it will pass".

I hope you don't mind me asking this in your thread Todd, i'm genuinely interested in the answers.

As I stated above, my family does not question it because they do not view it as a hobby. My entire family are huge animal lovers. And though they do not enjoy reptiles themselves, they just see this as part of my love of animals. And to be honest, when I first started keeping herps that's how I saw it as well. I've lived with animals my entire life and our pets become part of the family. So I didn't wonder how long I would be in this hobby because I didn't view it that way.

Jlassiter · 07-26-12, 02:11 PM

I started keeping herps in the 80s. I grew up on 20 acres with 6 ponds. The herps I kept were the ones I found field herping (we did not know that it was called field herping back then...lol).....In 1993 I found a clutch of eggs in the wild, took them home and successfully incubated & hatched them.
I was hooked after watching 13 meahllmorum hatch. Back before they was even meahllmorum.
When I first got a home computer I learned others were out there like me and I soon built a breeding stock by frequenting all of the Texas Reptile Expos. I produced my own California, Nuevo Leon and Gray Banded kings in 1997. It has been a time consuming passion ever since then......I've kept well over 100 colubrids (mainly kings) since 1995 and I would consider myself to have nearly 30 years experience just finding and keeping reptiles with the last 15 of those years being a successfull breeder. I currently have about 200 colubrids in my collection even though I cut back some....LOL

marvelfreak · 07-26-12, 03:53 PM

I got my first snake in 1992 with in six months i had 5. I had my first 5 for over three years. In that time i had added 6 more. Then i had my first death the sweetest baby Blood i ever had got sick and ended up passing because of carelessness on my part giving her shot. That was the one of the saddest days of my life.

A year goes by and i added a new boa to my collection which i found out later had it IBD. With in a couple months all my snake were dead. After that I became super anal about quarantining new snakes. Since i have only had two other snakes pass in my care and both were Bloods. It wasn't until late 1999 when my collection was stolen that i gave up on keeping snakes.

2001 I got with my wife Tami. She knew i had always love reptile and so that year she got me a big 7 month old Jungle carpet for Christmas. I have had Electra every since. Then 4 years ago i had a Ball python given to me. That when the addiction truly began again.

Out of the last 20 years i have keep snake 18.5 years of that time. Though i had some death along the way i haven't had one in over 14 years.

MM1 · 07-26-12, 04:24 PM

Well, I have a lot of time in but not much breadth. I've have Rudy, my 30-31 yr old Haitian Boa (got him as a 19-20 inch baby in 1982). I inadvertently got a pregnant ribbon snake as a kid and "weaned" them a bit before releasing then Bronx Park in a wetland area near the Bronx River with a lot of frogs and bugs. I also briefly had a newt and an anole, originally juvenile snake food but not eaten whom I kept for their short lives ( they were already adults of unknown age). If I ever manage to get a tegu and/or super dwarf retic, maybe they could I could be fortunate enough to get old with them.

Trent · 07-26-12, 04:45 PM

Well Todd....I have 20+ years,but you already knew that

Follow link below for details!

bigsnakegirl785 · 07-26-12, 04:53 PM

As I'm not even 20 yet, there's no way I can have that kind of track record. But, I've had my ball python for 6 years, and got my second snake, a boa constrictor last year. I've been catching and studying various reptiles most of my life. Not extensively on all, just ones I plan to keep, for most of my life. I have never been bitten by a wild snake out of the 7+ years I've been catching them, although I've been bitten by my fair share of skinks in Minnesota. lol I can be fairly sure I'm in this for the long run, though, and hope to still be herping in the next undefinable amount of years to come.