Maybe an uncomfortable question, but....

What happens to all these snakes?

I've watched many YouTube videos of people with extensive collections of ball pythons living in rack systems and talking about how they want to breed them. In the wild most of the hatchlings would never see adulthood, but in captivity, chances are most survive. These animals live for up to 30 years, sometimes more. So it begs the question, where are all these snakes going? Can there really be so many people that want to maintain such huge numbers of these reptiles?

I've even seen examples of people breeding retics and burmese, which seems like utter madness. I'm not saying that people shouldn't keep such animals. There are people on this forum whose opinions I respect that keep them and I deeply admire that skill and dedication. But those are very rare qualities. Which kind goes back to my point.

I sincerely hope that as a novice I'm missing something.

The pet industry and the reptile industry in particular keeps growing there is a larger and larger demand each year and animal are sold, the demand is so large for BP that CH are still imported each year to fulfill the demand.

This isn't something that seems to be discussed very often so I'm glad you brought it up. I'm really interested to see others opinions on this topic. Especially the part about retics. Burms, at least in the US, should be getting produced in lower numbers since there is a ban on transport between states.

I've seen the same question asked about aquarium fish, and parrots too. Macaws, cockatoos, greys - they have human life spans! Just how many of these high maintenance birds can the bird fancying public realistically absorb and care for? 'Toos are beautiful, but it is the rare person who proves they can put up with one long term. Like the giant snakes, they are generally very hard animals to live with.

I've also wondered the same about tortoises. Again, something like a hundred year lifespan. They fascinate me, but even a small Hermman's needs a big (as in 8X4 foot tortoise table, with heat, and UVB. Not a cheap pet! At least the snakes can be stashed in a rack.

I know of only one other person (a local science teacher) who also keeps snakes. In my social circles, they are generally seen an an ...uhmm, unusual pet choice. In general, I think snakes are less likely to be impulse buys than the pretty birds, and the more striking fish, like oscars. The show scene, however, may be different. I've never attended a reptile show.

So back to the original question: where do they end up? I hate to think about it.

The answer is in the market itself. If there was really an overproduction the prices would make breeding unprofitable and people would stop breeding as much.

I get that there is always a market for cute babies. There is rarely much of a market for the cast off adults, and it doesn't matter if we are talking about dogs or burms. I used to work at our local animal shelter. Probably nine out of ten of the incoming animals were eventually euthanized (sp.?). We couldn't even find homes for the kittens.

I think the snakes overall have it better than other animals we keep in captivity, and (unlike cats) unintended breedings don't just happen with them. That's a plus, they are all wanted, at least initially.

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Originally Posted by kxr

This isn't something that seems to be discussed very often so I'm glad you brought it up. I'm really interested to see others opinions on this topic. Especially the part about retics. Burms, at least in the US, should be getting produced in lower numbers since there is a ban on transport between states.

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I'm very interested in this as well. You look at how many some the larger breeders are pumping out and wonder where the demand for so many of them comes from. You hear them talk producing huge amounts of hatchlings per season. I didn't know there was such a high demand for retics. I asked a local breeder about this once and he told me that he sells lots of ball pythons in bulk to wholesale dealers. Pretty much anything that doesn't go up on his website goes to a wholesale dealer.

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Originally Posted by cletus

I'm very interested in this as well. You look at how many some the larger breeders are pumping out and wonder where the demand for so many of them comes from. You hear them talk producing huge amounts of hatchlings per season. I didn't know there was such a high demand for retics. I asked a local breeder about this once and he told me that he sells lots of ball pythons in bulk to wholesale dealers. Pretty much anything that doesn't go up on his website goes to a wholesale dealer.

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Yeah, from what I've heard most of the single gene animals and even some of the double/triple gene codoms are given to a wholesale dealers. I know this is an unpopular opinion but logically and economically it makes sense as the breeders producing hundreds or even high tens of clutches might not have the time or rats to feed all those excess babies. It's better to stick to the animals with a higher return so that they can make a higher profit with their time and money invested and continue to breed full time or close to full time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kxr

Yeah, from what I've heard most of the single gene animals and even some of the double/triple gene codoms are given to a wholesale dealers. I know this is an unpopular opinion but logically and economically it makes sense as the breeders producing hundreds or even high tens of clutches might not have the time or rats to feed all those excess babies. It's better to stick to the animals with a higher return so that they can make a higher profit with their time and money invested and continue to breed full time or close to full time.

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And then, where do they go? Petco?
We know what that looks like.
I think it's sad.

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Originally Posted by distaff

And then, where do they go? Petco?
We know what that looks like.
I think it's sad.

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That is exactly where I would suspect many end up. And it is sad.

I wonder very much about the adults as well. Lots of things can happy to a person over twenty or thirty years (often even less as we all know). It doesn't take much imagination to see a rack of pythons becoming a serious inconvenience. What is the market for adults?