How/why did you get into the reptile hobby?

[Andybill]

So I get asked this question a lot: Why do you wanna do such a thing like breeding snakes? Mostly by people who dont understand reptiles or snakes and think they are gross or creepy.

So here it is: For me reptiles (snakes in particular) have always been fascinating and I have always been a field herper while I was growing up and my mom would never let me get a reptile for a pet. It wasnt until I was 22 that I got my first a veiled chameleon. After that my hog island boa. I wanted more but my wife said no especially since I saw some that were wicked cool and the prices were outrageous. So I had an epiphany: what if I breed the snakes I buy so they can atleast pay for themselves? After a few weeks of discussion she gave in.

So essentially I got started collecting/soon to be breeding because there were things I wanted but couldnt afford so I thought I would make them myself. Now the more I get into it the more I want. Whether this turns into a business is all in the stars.

So now I wanna know why or how you got into the reptile hobby whether its breeding or collecting or what have you I wanna know.

[KTyne]

I started the same way you did, in a way. My dad, brothers, and I grew up field herping at the local wetlands and I've just always loved Reptiles. I got my first Reptile, my Leopard Gecko, just this year (at 22 years old at the time) and she has just made my love for Herps grow!!

[sflanick]

i got into herps in a wierd way to be honest. i was actually in a local pet store (not petco/smart) picking up a mouse for my ex wifes ball python (we were married at the time lol) and i was actually afraid of snakes, i hated her python but i was doing her a favor. i saw a really pretty pastel redtail boa when i walked in and the guy asked if i wanted to hold her. i of course said no that i was afraid of the damn things. well after about 5 mins of talking to me he talked me into holding her. as soon as i held her i was sold. i bought her right there on the spot lol. now i have an albino male, pastel female, jungle male, laddertail male, and a hypo het for albino waiting for me in aug at daytona and im hopefully picking up a jungle female and 5 boaphile cages tomorrow and i have to admit i am glad that i did hold her that day because i love this hobby and everything about it! but to be honest i am still not a fan of ball pythons, i tihnk they are pet rocks lol well thats how i get into this hobby

[Andybill]

Yeah I really love boas they are awesome and I hope to add a few in the coming years!

[Mike41793]

I was always fascinated with snakes. So like the week after my 14th birthday i came home from the petstore with a ball python. I really wanted a pet that was different and that was cool. Also growing up every weekend i was at my dads house and every weekday i was at my moms house so it was hard to have a pet that required alot of care. Also after having gerbils and hamsters i wanted a pet that didnt smell. So yea, nothing really all that exciting. (Except for my moms reaction when i brought a snake home, that was rather exciting lol). After the 2nd,3rd, 4th, 5th, and soon to be 6th addition she doesnt really care anymore. My whole extended family kinda just accepts the fact that im different. I dont mind being different, living in my own world most of the time lol. Its pretty nice here, we have buffalo wings and free wifi.

[Andybill]

I was always fascinated with snakes. So like the week after my 14th birthday i came home from the petstore with a ball python. I really wanted a pet that was different and that was cool. Also growing up every weekend i was at my dads house and every weekday i was at my moms house so it was hard to have a pet that required alot of care. Also after having gerbils and hamsters i wanted a pet that didnt smell. So yea, nothing really all that exciting. (Except for my moms reaction when i brought a snake home, that was rather exciting lol). After the 2nd,3rd, 4th, 5th, and soon to be 6th addition she doesnt really care anymore. My whole extended family kinda just accepts the fact that im different. I dont mind being different, living in my own world most of the time lol. Its pretty nice here, we have buffalo wings and free wifi.

HAHAHA! yeah I like being different and having such a cool animal that is easy maintainence is a plus!

[Mft62485]

I've always liked snakes, never went looking for wild ones though. Anyhow, my father hated them, just like his mother. Both are terrified of snakes, so I could never have one. After I moved out, me and my girlfriend (wife now) were looking for a fish tank for our apartment, and walked past some corn snakes, started talking about snakes that we couldn't have and ended up with two.

[BallsUnlimited]

started catching garter an corn snakes upstate ny at my summer place which resulted in me getting a gater as my first offical snake an then my father bought me my first bp in 98. Been hooked on reptiles ever since. especially the bps

[Andybill]

I've always liked snakes, never went looking for wild ones though. Anyhow, my father hated them, just like his mother. Both are terrified of snakes, so I could never have one. After I moved out, me and my girlfriend (wife now) were looking for a fish tank for our apartment, and walked past some corn snakes, started talking about snakes that we couldn't have and ended up with two.

My dad cant even look at pictures without freaking out. I am like that with spiders but I like to believe that I love snakes because of his fear of them...

[rlditmars]

I have always loved snakes for as long as I can remember. I remember my neighbor (uncle hank) calling me over to catch a garter snake out of a patch of mint they were growing by their house. You called all adult friends of the family uncle or aunt out of respect back in those days. It was the summer between 1st and 2nd grade then so I must have been about 6 or 7. I remember my Dad caught a baby Massasuaga rattler in early fall of the same year and brought it home in a galvanized bucket. I begged him to let me take it to school for show and tell. Needless to say he didn't.

From then on, I was a full blown addict for which there was no 12 step program. I read everything I could get my hands on that pertained to reptiles. I especially liked the books "the Living World of Reptiles" by Karl P. Shmidt and Robert F. Inger as well as "Reptiles of North America" by Raymond L. Ditmars. Some of the older reptile enthusiasts here may have surmised that is where I came up with my blog name. For those of you who don't know the name, he was really the father of american herpetology.

I caught every snake that existed in Michigan, ( and had been bitten by the same) other than the Massasuaga. I never found one of my own. I loved the Fox snake as it was about the largest snake you could find there. I remember I once caught a female that gave birth to about twenty offspring. That was a surprise. I caught my fair share of snapping and painted turtles, frogs, and salamanders too.

I had a ball python, corn snake, california king snake, eastern coachwhip, reticulate python, and a ball python, all before 1980. That may seem like nothing today, but trust me when I say in 1979, I was an outlier.

Then in 1988 I got married. That was the end, and I feared there would be no return of "The Salad Days". The wife and I had 3 female critters. But not to lose all hope, as all of them are very comfortable with reptiles.

Fast forward about 15+ years and my 8 yr old daughter seems to be really interested in snakes. Three years of convincing the wife later, and she finally gets her first BP. Now she is expecting her first clutch of eggs early July and we finished making the incubator together a couple weeks ago. So the story continues.