Where'd yah start...where are ya now?

I started back in 2003... Got a normal female from a lady who couldn't take care of it any more. Looked into the care of the critter, fell in love with the ease of it, and ended up within a year having 25. A year later, it doubled.....

And now? I have over 300, and still looking to expand.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CLSpider

A year later and almost 40 bps, tons of rats, lots of cleaning/work later...here I am.

---

And people think I'm crazy to have collected 10 snakes within a single year! I wish I had the means to add so many to my collection, I envy :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kevinb

Angolans are next on my list of non BPs.

---

A little Angolan male or female is on my wishlist too, I really want to work with the species.

Reading these stories (and numbers) makes me feel better... thought I was crazy for acquiring so many in such a short time, but some of you put me to shame! :D

I had a few lizards and turtles when I was younger, but didn't get my first snake until April '09 - a baby normal female, from East Bay Vivarium in Berkeley. I'd always wanted a snake, but it took me 30+ years to finally get one! And like Pringles, once you pop you can't stop, so I now have 32 including the new babies (5 from a recent clutch). You can see the full collection listed in my sig, and there are still many snakes on my wish list... just can't afford or make room for any more right now. :cool:

P.S. You know what's funny? I had to stop and count my own signature, just to come up with the total number of snakes... that's a good sign you have too many, LOL. :oops:

Loving the replies. Keep them coming! :)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

I started back in 1985-6 with a red ribbon racer and over the years have owned everything from yellow rat snakes to balls to burmese. However I was a free spirited young person and traveled quite a bit so my enjoyment of these animals was always short lived. I was responsable enough to know when it was time for me to move on and time to find another good home for whichever animal I had at the time.
I've since settled down and had a family and 2 years ago my wife and son decided to buy me a normal ball python as a Christmas present. Within 2 months it was up to 5, and within 2 years I'm somewhere around 20 now. Expecting 6-8 clutches this year. I own mostly base morphs and try to refrain buying the combos that I want. In doing so I make it that much more exciting as I pair for said combos and that much more rewarding when I hit them.
That being said the desicion I now face is either to maintain a small collection and hold back my combos or to invest heavily and purchase breeder size females in the next few years. I'm still weighing the pros and cons of each path and will make a desicion based on that. I personally don't think I will pass 30 snakes in my breeding collection (although don't mind exceding that until I can move some offspring), at that point it can become less fun and more work then I desire. I want peace and relaxtion when dealing with my animals, and I get that when caring for both my snakes and my rodents. So when it stops becoming fun and starts to become a chore I will reevaluate my options.