How much do you pay per year for your collection?

I'm just curious to see, around how much do you pay per year taking care of your snakes? (Electricity, food, bedding, etc.) Not counting the snakes itself, racks/cages and tubs you have already bought though. Include how many animals you have so myself and everyone else can see how much it adds up please!

I don't think I want to know...:D

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Well just taking care of snakes, so i wont count what i spend on new snakes lol.

Food is like $200ish for 5 snakes im guessing? I spend about $50 at each white plains show an thats 4 times a year. Maybe a little less? I cant remember exactly.
Bedding is like $40 a year. I use sani chips but when i run out of them if i dont have money for more at the moment then i just use newspaper bc its free lol.
Electricity im unsure of bc i live with my parents and they dont charge me for it. The freezer that i keep my rats in costs $25 a year to run bc i rmbr reading it on the label when i bought it. We keep food in it too bc its huge though. And idk how much it costs to run my rack a year?

I cant think of any other costs right now? Let me know if you can think of something else, im more than willing to share. :)

I don't think I want to know either...my collection has grown so much from last year at this time to this year it's really an unfair comparison. I'm really not too worried about it though. This is my hobby. Some people craft, shoot guns, golf, etc. This is what I do. :D

ok I have approx 20 balls.
I also breed my own food.

1. Rat Food $10 a month = $120
2. Bedding $10 a month = $120
3. Electricity Free we live on base!!
4. Live Food (occasionally) = $100
5. Hides (make my own) = $30

So about $370 a year....now you know time is the most valuable aspect of these little guys! I spend a minimum of an hour everyday in the snake room just checking everybody. Not cleaning or feeding!

We built our own rack. We built our own incubator. (I love my Hubby!!) And I make my own hides so we have been able to invest more in the actual animals. I hope this helps! The most expensive equipment we have our the thermostates. We have 4!

No eye deer! Hate to see that bill! LOL

I currently have 5 snakes in my racks, 4 of my own and 1 that I'm keeping for a friend who's deployed overseas. I don't raise my own rats, so that is the bulk of my expense. Each animal costs me a little less than $120 per year to keep. That includes feeders, electricity, water (I use bottled), bedding, and cleaning supplies.

So, I'm looking at around $600 per year.

We have 40 Balls, 1 Boa, and 1 SD Retic.

-I spend at least $100/month on frozen rodents.
-We also have a smallish rat colony for our few that need live food. That costs around $50/month to feed and maintain.
-Not sure on the electric costs.

I would say we spend at least $2k/year on our collection. Minus caging and whatnot.

rough guess (we ) got snakes at both houses. lol
but i know i spend about 100 bucks a month between rat food and bedding (i breed my own feeders) the snakes i guess another 100 month for heat and papertowels, water (city water type system)

Food is about $20 a month so 240$ a year.
Bedding is super cheap (coco coir) 16$ a year
Cleaning supplies (disinfectant, rags, brushes and such) a year 75$
Power is about 1000$ a year for a single rack and 6 enclosures.
Medical 250$ a year. I do fecal every year or 18 months on all of mine (DIY fecal exams) but I set the 250$ aside in case it is needed some years I spend it some I don't, but I gives me medical money when and if needed.

So for 11 snakes about $1581 a year. Just under $150 per snake per year.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Food is about $20 a month so 240$ a year.
Bedding is super cheap (coco coir) 16$ a year
Cleaning supplies (disinfectant, rags, brushes and such) a year 75$
Power is about 1000$ a year for a single rack and 6 enclosures.
Medical 250$ a year. I do fecal every year or 18 months on all of mine (DIY fecal exams) but I set the 250$ aside in case it is needed some years I spend it some I don't, but I gives me medical money when and if needed.

So for 11 snakes about $1581 a year. Just under $150 per snake per year.

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1000 a year for power? That seems like a ton for one rack. How did you figure this out? I would be curious to know what I'm spending. Thanks.

-rat food & bedding $25 a month (breed my own & buy in bulk)
-electric $80 a month extra
-cleaning supplies $20 a month
-bedding free (newspaper)
-my wife's & my time (do it for free, love the animals)
-30 bp's constant and what ever hatchlings coming and going
-11 leopard geckos
-2 Beardies
-beardie veggies $15 a month
-crickets $10 a month
-meal worms $10 every 3 or 4 months when we run out or the beetles get old and gotta start over lol
You can add it up I dont think I wanna know cuz then the wife will want to take it out of the profits if its too much. lol

I have 20 snakes all together. 17 Ball Pythons, 2 Carpets, and 1 corn snake.

$175 every 6 months for f/t rats = $350 yearly
also breed some rats = $80 yearly
Paper Towels for bedding = $60+/- yearly
Cleaning supplies = $60+/- yearly
Electricity = $100+/- yearly

Total = $650 +/- yearly

@kitedemon - :O at your power bill... My power bill for the year for my entire house is only about $2000.

That is actually quite easy my snakes were for a while at my studio. When my bussiness changed (photo biz has changed massivly in the last 10 years :O:O) I know what my average power bill was and how large a jump it was when I brought them home. The one rack and 6 enclosures bumped up the power bill from about 30$ a month to 112$ roughly. That is just under 1000$ where I am power is very expensive I use about 640 Kw/hr per month. There is taxes in there someplace... I didn't figure that it just is what it is. It is about 18¢ per Kw/hr.

Spend about 1100 a year on rats
about 100 on bedding
20-30 on cleaning supplies
My power is only about 1600 a year for the whole house
then gas to go to get rats lol
then heat tape for new racks to come

Dannnnnnng, I wish we had all you guys electric bill. Ours is like $350-$400 a month! :O

Then again, we have over 100 reptiles.....not saying they are the entire reason its that high, but its a good chuck of it!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by heathers*bps

Dannnnnnng, I wish we had all you guys electric bill. Ours is like $350-$400 a month! :O

Then again, we have over 100 reptiles.....not saying they are the entire reason its that high, but its a good chuck of it!

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Mine was almost $800 last month...I'll take 3-400 anytime! LOL

Electric was often $2000 a month in our facility, and could be $2500+ in the winter months.

I was always jealous of those Florida breeders who kept open air facilities, paying $100 a month for incidental use : )

To me, it isn't so much about the cost. I spend at least a couple grand a year on maintenance. The more expensive commodity is time. Between rats and snakes, it takes a LOT of time. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but think about it.

This last weekend, after working a 50 hour week, my son had an emergency that landed us in the hospital for the entire weekend. I came home late yesterday and as exhausted as I was had to go spend an hour and a half in the reptile and rodent rooms.

Time is more valuable to me than the cost of maintenance of the collection. So, be sure to calculate both money and time involved.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Don

To me, it isn't so much about the cost. I spend at least a couple grand a year on maintenance. The more expensive commodity is time. Between rats and snakes, it takes a LOT of time. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but think about it.

This last weekend, after working a 50 hour week, my son had an emergency that landed us in the hospital for the entire weekend. I came home late yesterday and as exhausted as I was had to go spend an hour and a half in the reptile and rodent rooms.

Time is more valuable to me than the cost of maintenance of the collection. So, be sure to calculate both money and time involved.

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Well said. Definetly a different way to look at it!:gj:

I spend a little under 4 grand this year on mine, but its worth much much more than that in cash value.

Rodents average out to about $200 per month
Electricity averages out around about $50 per month (This includes using a dishwasher for cleaning bowls and heaters for the room)
Bedding about $20 per month
Equipment upkeep about $50 per month
Other cleaning supplies $10 per month

Total of $330 per month X 12 months = $3960 per year.