Why Do We Have Collections?

I was recently down at the Reptile World Serpentarium in Florida ( BTW, if you have a chance to go, it is well worth the money!) and I was talking to a staff member about snake teeth and they asked something to the effect of, "What's in your collection?" referring of course to my pet snakes, not a collection of teeth.

So why do we, as herp keepers, usually have more than one? Or do we? Maybe I'm totally off base and most herp keepers have just one?

It seems to me, based on my first assumption, that most pet owners have 1 dog, or 2-3 cats, or maybe a a bird, or pair of small birds. But the reptile keepers have much larger numbers. We have rack systems designed to keep dozens of snakes! I remember as a kid getting one, then two, then 3, and by the time I had to leave for college I had 6 different snakes all in my room. Empty top bunks without a mattress make for a great space for herp tanks :)

Here I am now with 3 (2 corns and a BP), and wanting a 4th and my wife doesn't want it or understand why I want it. Heck, I'm not even sure I understand why I want it. We have the room, and I feel like we have the time and money.

I think many people keep multiple pets because they are relatively low cost and low maintenance. Compare the space, money, and time needed for 4 dogs vs. 4 snakes. But there has got to be something more than that!

So has anyone else self analyzed the desire to amass huge numbers of pet herps?

because they are like pokemon and i gotta catch them all!!!!!!!!

Because they are so awesome. ;)

Because they're addicting! It helps that they're relatively easy to care for, don't need tons of space, and aren't as expensive to keep in larger numbers as other animals like dogs and cats would be.

Because it's an addiction.

So why are they addicting? And not any other pet? Or would people have dozens of dogs or cats if they could? Animal hoarders?

The requirements of multiple snakes is very easy even for the average person to meet. Heat and food once a week, it relatively cheap to keep multiple snakes. They take up a small foot print in the room and require no extra activities. They don't require interaction either besides cleaning and feeding. It's about as low maintenance as it gets for a pet.

My dog takes up more time than 30 snakes I have... a lot more time. When she was a puppy and getting all her shots, she cost a lot more money also. Shes all over the house, and requires a backyard, take her for walks, brush her, hair is all over the house, feed her 3 times a day ect. The requirements of a dog are so much greater than a snake or even 30 snakes.

Maybe because they're so variable? Especially ball pythons, with all the morphs available these days. You can have a dozen snakes and not one of them would look or act the same. :)

I really don't think it's a hoarders thing. I think it really does mostly have to do with the fact that you can take care of many of them without having an overwhelming vet/food bill and a messy house.

Their requirements are nowhere near cats and dogs, so having 36 cats vs. having 36 snakes is hardly a comparable subject!!

There's also the fact that our furry animals tend to be a bit more demanding.. Not just with the care, the cleaning, feeding and walking, but attention-wise as well. Don't get me wrong, I love my dog and my cats, but occasionally I get exhausted by being bombarded by all three of them looking for cuddles, belly rubs and chin scratches.

I love that with my snake I can take him out for 15-20 minutes a few times a day, play with him, admire him, and put him back - and not feel like I'm neglecting him in any way. I'm already looking at purchasing two more snakes this summer, and I've only had my guy for about three weeks ^.^

The variety of reptiles in general, not just ball pythons, and rather undemanding requirements (once you get them set up, of course) is a part of it, I think. You can have several species or several animals of one species and it'll generally take less time and effort to care for them than a mammal or bird. You can see the same pattern with inverts as well, those are even easier to care for than reptiles. I've also yet to hear of someone having a snake allergy :P There's practically an animal for everyone in this hobby with a huge amount of creatures to chose from.

For me, I love keeping animals in general. For each one I keep successfully I get a very strong feeling of pride and satisfaction, and for not so successful attempts (recent tarantula experience) it motivates me to educate myself and try again, correcting my mistakes. Biology being one of my favorite subjects it also gives me an opportunity to watch animals I normally wouldn't be able to see locally, and I can learn more about them. Being pets, after a while I get pretty attached to them too :D But those are my own personal reasons for growing a collection, along with the fun of breeding. Not to mention captive breeding relieves some of the demand for wild caught animals, and nothing is more fun than sharing my pets with friends and family members who would otherwise have very little interaction or experiences with the species I keep and will keep in the future

Well i would collect panda bears bc theyre freakin sweet but they take up a little bit more time and space.... So i went for balls

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Well i would collect panda bears bc theyre freakin sweet but they take up a little bit more time and space.... So i went for balls

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Just start collecting panda pieds :P

I can sum it up with one word.."Infatuation"

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Originally Posted by mike41793

because they are like pokemon and i gotta catch them all!!!!!!!!

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x2

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Originally Posted by Valentine Pirate

Just start collecting panda pieds :P

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I would if i had the funds, care to donate any panda pieds to me lol? :D

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Originally Posted by captainjack0000

So why are they addicting? And not any other pet?

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Here's the deal. I'm a sucker for cool paint jobs...cars, bikes, ball pythons, you name it.

For the price of one car with a cool paint job, I can afford to own many, many ball pythons with cool paint jobs...and unlike cars, ball pythons can make more snakes with cool paint jobs, and then those cool snakes can make more cool snakes......

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

I would if i had the funds, care to donate any panda pieds to me lol? :D

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I'll get back to ya on that one, have yet to get the ingredients and mix them. It'll be fun though :D

I will keep as many my time and resources will allow. Right now I'm only allowed three even if I can afford it. When I have the time and resources for them, I will have thirty different morphs and combos. Same thing for when I want one hundred and when I have two hundred plus. I love ball pythons. My biggest dream is to be a big time, well known breeder like Ralph Davis or Mike Wilbanks. If it takes forever I will get to that level. I want to be known far and wide for healthy, quality morphs.

I wasn't saying snake keepers are hoarders, but that the people who keep a dozen cats are. Oddly enough the same doesn't apply to herp people, my wife says because of sanitary reasons. That is 30 cats are a lot more messy than 30 pythons.

Now if I can only get my wife addicted :D

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Originally Posted by captainjack0000

I wasn't saying snake keepers are hoarders, but that the people who keep a dozen cats are. Oddly enough the same doesn't apply to herp people, my wife says because of sanitary reasons. That is 30 cats are a lot more messy than 30 pythons.

Now if I can only get my wife addicted :D

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I think your wife is 100% correct! Snakes don't make noises (for the most part)aren't messy and Dont require a lot of time or space. That, for me, is a major plus! (not to mention they are just freaking cool!)

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Originally Posted by OhhWatALoser

The requirements of multiple snakes is very easy even for the average person to meet. Heat and food once a week, it relatively cheap to keep multiple snakes. They take up a small foot print in the room and require no extra activities. They don't require interaction either besides cleaning and feeding. It's about as low maintenance as it gets for a pet.

My dog takes up more time than 30 snakes I have... a lot more time. When she was a puppy and getting all her shots, she cost a lot more money also. Shes all over the house, and requires a backyard, take her for walks, brush her, hair is all over the house, feed her 3 times a day ect. The requirements of a dog are so much greater than a snake or even 30 snakes.

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^Agreed. They are kinda like fish, once you have one, it involves relatively no work or cost to get another. My dog likely requies more attention (feeding/walks/petting/grooming, etc), work (cleaning up after him, vacuuming when he's in shed, etc), and money (he was expensive to buy, expensive to feed, and expensive at the vets) in two weeks than my snake requires in a year. If the requirements of a BP were the same as a dog/cat, and you had more than 10, you'd likely have the SPCA visiting your house.

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Originally Posted by captainjack0000

I wasn't saying snake keepers are hoarders, but that the people who keep a dozen cats are. Oddly enough the same doesn't apply to herp people, my wife says because of sanitary reasons. That is 30 cats are a lot more messy than 30 pythons.

Now if I can only get my wife addicted :D

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Yes that's true, much less messy. I want other herps too but mostly ball pythons. Maybe a dragon or three and some geckos. Eventualy want to breed all types of exotics. And good luck getting your wife addicted. That would sound bad if we weren't talking herps lol

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

because they are like pokemon and i gotta catch them all!!!!!!!!

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Me too! :P
I'm addicted to animals in general (see signature, lol) but before snakes it was never feasible to take care of more than a few at a time. Snakes are beautiful animals that don't need a lot of care, and also don't care if you give them attention or not.
And because they make such great display animals you can argue they're living art. :D

Also snakes have given me an excuse to own tons of rodents.... which I also love and now they have a purpose. :banana:

I have to agree with the addition argument. It's so easy to keep several of them, even a dozen/s. I'm sitting with a collection in the low 20s and it barely takes more time to care for them than it did when I only had a few. For something that doesn't take up a lot of time or room it's easy to get a lot of them. Dogs/cats take up a lot of room, you see them all the time and you basically have to spend hours with them every day, nothing like snakes.

Coming from someone who used to breed/show cats (Japanese bobtail and Maine coons), I can tell you that there is a huge difference between 20+ cats and 20+ snakes. Don't get me wrong, I loved the cats, but it was more than a full time job and the cost was tremendous. The last time something went wrong with a litter of kittens, it was over $6k in vet bills alone. Granted, if something goes wrong with my herps, they'd get the best vet treatment as well, but luckily, I have yet to have to deal with that. Also, snakes can be left for awhile when I go on vacation. The furry critters need someone to come over. Even though my hubby isn't fond of snakes, he's already agreed that once the furry animals are gone, we'll stick to reptiles.

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Originally Posted by Dracoluna

Coming from someone who used to breed/show cats (Japanese bobtail and Maine coons), I can tell you that there is a huge difference between 20+ cats and 20+ snakes. Don't get me wrong, I loved the cats, but it was more than a full time job and the cost was tremendous. The last time something went wrong with a litter of kittens, it was over $6k in vet bills alone. Granted, if something goes wrong with my herps, they'd get the best vet treatment as well, but luckily, I have yet to have to deal with that. Also, snakes can be left for awhile when I go on vacation. The furry critters need someone to come over. Even though my hubby isn't fond of snakes, he's already agreed that once the furry animals are gone, we'll stick to reptiles.

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I raise and show German Shepherds. We have 6 dogs and a cat along with the herps. I also used to have 2 horses not so long ago. My hubby and I actively show our dogs in agility, obedience, and German seiger shows and SchH. I agree with everything that's been said so far.

In addition, I think herps are so addicting because they are easier to care for and have fewer expenses. But also because there is so much variety - not just with morphs, but among the various species as well.

I know I will always have a German Shepherd - they are amazing dogs! But the dogs' care is also amazingly expensive. I am at the point in my life where we are taking a hard look at what we do with the dogs and we've decided to hold off breeding for awhile and keep to only 2 once the older ones have passed (which hopefully won't be anytime soon).

BUT the herps on the other hand... Well, I plan on obtaining a few more boas and I'd reeeally like to get a pair of Angolan pythons as well. Those of us who love animals find this to be a wonderful hobby that satisfies our love of animals yet be a bit more financially possible!

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

But also because there is so much variety - not just with morphs, but among the various species as well.

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I definitely agree with this. I want one of each... which frustrates my roommate since he wants to breed and having a corn, a king, a red tail, a python ...ect does not help. :P

Since no one has said it. I will. Part of the reason is...

To show off!

Admit it! You love being able to show people your most prized snakes and say "Look at what I got!!!! Isn't it cool?!?!?!?!"