How do medium sized breeders do it?

I only take care of 60 snakes right now and most have been 80. One day i hope to uave a couple hundred. My wife breeds and cares for the rats. I come home on a friday night after 8.5-10 hours of work and clean and water all the snakes. Saturday morning I get up and feed. Breaking it up seems to make the process go alot faster and smoother. You do what you gotta do and thats it. Being in this hobby/ business can really test you. Like people have said cut back on the collection and focus on what you like the best. The problem isnt catching the bug or ball python fever... Its managing it to a point where it doesnt wear you down. Best of luck and remember where there is a will there is a way!

Something else that makes work go faster....on cleaning day I wear gloves. You can spot clean so much quicker!! Just grab and go!

And yes we keep our own rat colony. They get their own cleaning day. Husband dumps and I spray and wipe down!

If you have somewhat troubled family members who rely on mary j and can seem to grow up sometimes they make good helpers when dealing with snakes. At least in my situation and kids are free labor :D(minus the expense to have feed shelter and school them)

It just takes finding your own personal limit to how much you feel like you can take care of, without it becoming a burden and causing you to burn out on it. I've done 125~ breeding animals and 700~ babies in a year before...I don't want that again. 75 breeders and 180-200 babies is much easier to me (different species now, a few boa and python species, no colubrids) although I was attempting to stay in the 60~ range of adults to be safe. Finding an awesome girlfriend that shares the hobby makes a huge difference and the 75/200 could easily go up by about 50% and still feel quite manageable.

I will say this though, what begins to get to me first isn't the reptile care, it's the rodent breeding, which I much prefer over buying them...and the girlfriend is amazing at helping with that too.


It's all about finding personal limits though and keeping yourself under them before it starts to effect either you, or the care your animals get.

Wow, I don't think I could personally handle more than 30 myself, and that would be pushing it.

ETA: Keeping in mind I am a mother to 3 children ;)

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Originally Posted by Wapadi

Something else that makes work go faster....on cleaning day I wear gloves. You can spot clean so much quicker!! Just grab and go!

And yes we keep our own rat colony. They get their own cleaning day. Husband dumps and I spray and wipe down!

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So it's weird that I just grab and go without gloves? I wash my hands when I'm done lol. I actually only grab it with one hand and manage the water and open tubs with the other. Yes i designate a poop hand.

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Originally Posted by OhhWatALoser

Yes i designate a poop hand.

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That right there is funny. LoL

I think we all get into this same situation at one point or another.
I was thinking about a post like this last weekend.
I know my problem is that I have too many hobbies so I don't ever get a real day off to relax.
I have close to 40 snakes currently, 7.96 breeding rats, 10.30 breeding mice, my concealed carry holsters, trying to get into leather tooling, and starting two veggie gardens. This doesn't include my 40-50 hour job and all of our other reptile, amphibians, chickens and dogs.

Sometimes its like having 3 full time jobs all at once.
I try to feed and clean the snakes every Thursday night after work and the rodents on Friday nights after work.
Sometimes it just helps to have someone to vent to.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Sometimes it just helps to have someone to vent to.

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Isn't that what a wife/girlfriend is for?

Wait, its the other way around. Carry on! :cool:

Boy does this thread hit home for me. My problem is similar to Pit's, too many hobbies.The 50+ hour a week job, my model aircraft, had to basically stop playing world of warcraft, haven't rode the atv's in forever, etc; etc. But the critters can't wait for me to have time, they get it whether I have it or not. I hit my "wall" several months ago, and realized that I just can't do everything I'd like to. So I've set personal limits based on my experience and available time. For me that mean keeping it under a hundred animals, including all the lizards and turtles, on top of the snakes. It also means I can't jump into all the new things/projects I'd like to. Hang in there, find and stay within your limits, and have a heck of a good time in the process.

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Originally Posted by zee-man

Isn't that what a wife/girlfriend is for?

Wait, its the other way around. Carry on! :cool:

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I vent to my pitty, she usually listens right up until we start to argue ;):rofl: