Don't judge me!!!!

I have a vet fund that i put money into each month. So if one of my snakes gets so sick that the fund is depleted then I would have no choice but to put them to sleep. I have found that preventive care is alot more affordable than emergency care...

Well i got a new royal from a pet shop and she had mites and a skin condition soon after we called up the person who give them their license to keep exotics and they had it removed although i had only had her a few days i still took her to get sorted out and i had to pay about £150 for antibiotics and other treatments to help her, i also have a royal with scoliosis she needs antibiotics every time it gets bad to straighten her out again.. which i am willing to pay for .. also my iguana (5foot male and silly tame) has had serious chest problems and we have had to pay well over £1000 to save him in the last month or so also he will need nebulisers monthly for the rest of his life if it plays up which we have been told it is likely too .. i rescue reptiles and by doing this i see it as my responsibility to do my best for sick animals so this is my choice.. although i only list some of my animals on my signature as snakes are more my thing.. the iggy, beardies, tortoises, boscs, geckos, water dragons etc. are my partners responsibility lol

My babies are my life. I wouldn't trade them for the world. I would sell everything I owned before giving them up. If they need some vet work, no questions asked, they get some vet work. If they need a major operation that I can't afford, I bundle them up along with all the money I have and put them in a home with someone who could afford it.

It's been a really rough past couple of months here... we've been hit with everything, and once their immune systems go down, there's no stopping other problems from arising. We've had MBD (in the beardie), coccidia (in the beardie), pinworms, mites, RIs, and a host of other things. I've spent well over $500 at the vets in the past few months, and that's not counting meds, mite treatment, etc.

No question I would and have paid more on vet bills on a given snake than that snake is worth.




Jodie - Kudos to you for helping your animals! I sense a fellow animal lover. :D

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

A good thread and an interesting topic Mike, I do hope you don't mind if I stuff my nose into it LOL

For me, maybe because I'm an old broad with a load of common sense, or that I grew up around farmers and hunters but I have a view of the place animals hold in my life that isn't always popular. I love the animals but in the end, whether as a pet owner or a breeder/collector, they remain "in their place". The needs of my family are first, the needs of the whole collection has to be, for me, more important than the needs of a single animal if the costs of vet care for that animal would place me in a position of being unable to properly provide for those that depend on me.

I also take into consideration the quality of life vs simply getting more days counted off. I've had very old cats and dogs that simply needed the rest and that last trip to the vet. I could have chosen expensive surgeries but without any real promise of a painfree life for my aged pets, I chose to honor the time we'd had and not prolong it because I couldn't face their loss.

I do have snakes in the collection that may never breed. The spider from Tim being a good example. Grace may not be breedable and that's okay. We made the choice when we offered to take her, knowing her full medical background. That's a personal choice thing from the heart and we can afford to keep her regardless of her genetic potential.

All this babble basically means I guess that I'll always take a very common sense approach to the snakes when hard decisions must be made. Some are just not viable, some you can save, some you likely cannot. Being level headed about that, taking the whole picture into account is what I personally strive to do. Sure I may go off and have a good cry about it in private at some point, I've a very tender heart but in the end the decisions Mike and I make will be ones we are comfortable with.

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As a person also brought up on a "Working Commercial Family Farm" and a former Dog kennel owner, importer, trainer and Schutzhund Competitor I agree 110% with the above. It might seem callous at times but you have to have lived the life to really understand.

i bought a normal 1600 gm female from a reptile show for 45 bucks and being inexperienced on what to look for I got a snake with a very bad RI. One of my herp buddies looked at it and basically yelled at me to take it to the vet ASAP. I spent over 160 bucks in vet cost and the snake still ended up dying about 2-3 weeks later.