Hobby seen as an obsession??

sorry down to 17 snakes 2 monitors lol

Angelica, we're all passionate about our snakes. One of the reasons I love them is because snakes are uncommon pets that are living works of art. Many people can't understand why a person would own even a single pet snake, let alone an entire collection. However, millions of households have pet reptiles.

I agree that the word obsession implies negativity. However, there is nothing unusual about keeping multiple pet snakes. Increasing the size of your collection allows you to bring this hobby to another level by breeding your snakes. There is no greater feeling than when your care and attention rewards you with a litter of babies. Also, it takes less time to feed, clean, and care for 10 snakes than it does to properly care for one pet dog. You can easily house 10 or more snakes in a single bedroom of your home. Imagine if you were to try and keep 10+ Great Danes in a small apartment.

Another terrific thing about this hobby is that it has the potential to pay for itself. With the advent of the the internet, when we breed our snakes and produce offspring, we can readily sell the babies all across the country. If you wanted to breed most other types of animals on a small scale, you'd likely be limited to finding good homes for them in your immediate area.

Although some look at us funny when we tell them we have pet snakes, it's important that we share our knowledge and enthusiasm with those who are receptive.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

If I told you I had 1590 hot wheels cars in the package displayed on a wall in my house* would you think I was a bit obsessed? Probably :)

---

Mine are all hidden in a couple dressers :oops::oops:

Another comparison argument is fish....
If you had a couple 50 gallon aquariums with HUNDREDS of guppys would she still think you were obsessed?

Or what about gardening! Someone might have 30 rosebushes in their yard and have to spend all kinds of money on fertilizers, insecticides let alone tripling their water bill. And they have to spend a lot of time weeding, mulching, watering and pruning or paying a gardener to do it... It's too bad people are so weirded out about snakes.

I drive a transit van and just about every one of my passengers knows I have" A" snake. Just one. Most are accepting but don't want to see it. Some want to see it but don't want to touch it. And one told another passenger that I've gone crazy. They told them; "Did you know JoAnn has a SNAKE?! The other passenger said yes, whats wrong with that. He said don't you think that's kind of strange? Lol When I showed him a picture of Hermes he immediately said "GROSS"! I won't even begin to try to educate him. He is too closed minded- he is close minded about a lot of things anyway.

I am still just learning myself but I try to educate anyone who will listen.

I know how you feel tho about no having many people to share with. I had a feeding mishap last week with Hermes and the next day at work I couldn't share the story with anyone. Being a snake was gross enough but what happened would have just been off their comfort zone meter.
I am learning that there are not many people who find snakes so fascinating.:tears:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spitzu

I no longer tell people how many snakes I own because I'm tired of being stared at like I'm some crazy hoarder. God forbid I mention the massive rat orgy that I have going on in my garage. :D

---

Funny!!!

This is a great thread. It's interesting to hear how everyone deals with the taboo surrounded by having a snake collection. Keep the stories coming!

I guess I've lucked out and most of my friends are fascinated by my normal Koga. Almost all of them are willing to hold him and they all jump at the opportunity to watch him eat. But on the other hand, there are some freaks at my school that will cry under their desk if you even say snake haha. Once my dreams of having a large collection come true I'm sure things will be a bit different with some people, but it seems that my generation is a bit more accepting. Maybe it's just my area, I dunno. If only everyone could see the same beauty that we do.

I haven't really had anyone tell me that it was an obsession. I've had plenty of people call me a hoarder, which is frustrating since hoarders don't sell their stuff. Everyone has their opinion on things, just like they have things they spend their money on. For example I think spending money on cigarettes, ceramic figurines, expensive purses, etc is a huge waste of money, but those same people would say spending money on snakes is a huge waste. People just need to realize they have their own "hobbies" that they spend a lot of money on that we may not agree with ourselves.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

If you're not a little bit obsessed you don't have your head in the game :snake:

[/SIZE]

---

This.... I have the space but since aug. I picked up 21 as of now, And that BC I just cant find any around me that are the size/sex I need/want. Or if I do they want $600+ for a single gene morph...

It is very frustrating when some one doesn't understand the hobby. I choose carefully when I tell some one about our collection/hobby/business. Most of my friends and family accept it now and some are very supportive. And they all know I'm stubborn and wont listen to their complaints any way, lol. I try to explain it as a passion and equate it to any other type of hobby that they might think is "normal" and not to judge others on what makes them happy. As long as we can care for our collection properly (food, housing, health, time) then we'll keep adding on to it. It's hard to ignore the negative opinions but if you don't add fuel to the fire it usually goes out ;).

Besides, they are all just jealous that they aren't as passionate about something as we all are :D.