It might be a slightly macabre topic but it's something that I'm almost obsessive about. I recently lost my special needs kitty so that meant revamping our will to account for that as it was set up to have essentially a trust fund to handle his care. With the small zoo that I have, I feel it's important that should something happen to me (as I'm the only real caretaker), that the animals are provided for. When it comes to the reptiles in my life, this is doubly important. Cats and dogs can be handled by just about anyone realistically but just to give people some food for thought, who would take care of your snakes, torts, lizards, or even other exotic pets? In our case, my hubby and I have agreed that my sister, who is also great with animals, will get custody of ALL animals except my husband's cat (who will remind him to feed her). The reason we agreed on this years ago is because of the exotics I enjoy. When I asked him years ago what he'd do with the snakes should something happen, he replied he'd just give my corns away. When asked the other night about the balls, here is how the conversation went:

Me: If Sar wasn't able to take the balls, what would you do with them?
Him: Well, I'm sure I could put them on ebay.
Me: You can't sell them on ebay...
Him: Craigslist?
Me: Ok... Do you know what you'd ask for them?
Him: Like $50 for the brown ones and maybe $100 for the yellow one. She's prettier so she's worth more, right?
Me with eyebrows raised: My breeding size pastave girl Ceti for $50? Really?
Him: Well, she's ugly... and brown...

Now, after shaking my head and giving up on trying to explain a few things, I realized that I'm really glad my sister has the common sense to find good homes for my exotics should something happen. Not that I'd mind finding snakes like mine on Craigslist for my hubby's idea of prices, but still... My sister and I have also discussed it at length so she understands what to do should something happen. She has agreed to keep and take care of my dragon permanently along with my corn boy, Flurry. The others, she knows to come here and ask about as I'd rather they go to good homes with people who know how to care for them than just anyone. She also understands that they are worth more than $50 despite being various shakes of brown. My tort will go to someone experienced with Russians or she's debated keeping her. Either way, it makes me more comfortable knowing that they would be safe and cared for.

Our will is currently several pages long and includes a couple pages for the detailed directions on the pets alone. We've made sure that should something happen to both of us, the pets get enough monetarily that they wouldn't be a burden to my sister until she can re-home them. I'm curious as to how other people deal with this or what others might feel is important to include.