How much does it cost you to house a snake?

How much per snake do you spend setting its enclosure up? If you have a single expensive item (such as a thermostat or rack system) running multiple snakes, divide the cost of the item among the number of enclosures it regulates.

I realize the numbers will be all over the board, but I'd like to get a feel for what people spend to acquire a snake outside of the cost of the animal itself.


Formula:

Total $ invested in husbandry supplies (thermostat, thermometer, tubs & racks, etc) / # of snakes you have = cost of housing per snake.

For ONE snake and first snake, most of the cost is just upfront with buying all the equipment necessary. And then the cost of housing itself is literally nothing, just a bit on your electricity bill for the one heat pad, and one rodent a week for food. It's also much less cost if you use plastic tub setups vs. glass tank.

For my first tub setup for my first snake, upfront I paid about $150 total for thermostat, hygrometer, temp gun, heat pad, paper towels, water bowl, tongs, soldering iron (for holes in the tub), plastic tub, and plastic hides off reptilebasics.

I paid $100 for my first tank (40 gal) and about another $100 for everything in it. After that I went DIY rack. Less than $100 and currently housing 4 snakes. Probably spent another $50 on tubs, water bowls, and hides. I have extra tubs and open rack space, so I could house 2-13 more snakes, depending on size.

So $150+ for my pied and $26-45 for the others. It'll be even less for future snakes since I already have all the supplies.

Counting in a mainly handmade and modified viewing enclosure, instruments, supplies, decoration, feeders, etc etc I spent roughly 500€ on setting up. Another 220€ for the snake itself, and i ended up at roughly 770€ for everything, which is nearly ~850 USD. Uh. Yeah. (Note: I "only" spent like 170€ of that on the bare enclosure itself, reptile supplies are very expensive in Germany. It's a tiny hobby over here, so stuff gets hella expensive...)

I suppose I should have added a few higher price brackets. I figured most people would be running racks with several snakes to split the cost of the rack among the snakes.

In the beginning it cost me about a $100 with the tank and heat lamps, then I built a rack and bought a herp4, that was about $450 for all, then built a 2nd rack, now I have an ARS7030 I bought used with tubs, that cost me about $1200. Like most people here it is an addiction and you can never have just a couple noodles! I now have an incubator that I built and a hatchling rack, so the price for 1 snake depends on what you plan on doing, and how you house it.

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Originally Posted by Spikeanoid

How much per snake do you spend setting its enclosure up? If you have a single expensive item (such as a thermostat or rack system) running multiple snakes, divide the cost of the item among the number of enclosures it regulates.

I realize the numbers will be all over the board, but I'd like to get a feel for what people spend to acquire a snake outside of the cost of the animal itself.


Formula:

Total $ invested in husbandry supplies (thermostat, thermometer, tubs & racks, etc) / # of snakes you have = cost of housing per snake.

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So for my first rack I spent about 100 on the raw materials to construct it. Then rounded up roughly 10 per tub and its a 6 tub rack. And 110 for the Herpstat. And 10 for a thermometer on the hot side x6 and 10 for a thermometer/hygrometer for the ambient temp/ humidity x6. Then about 15 dollars in heat tape and another 5 dollars in the plug/wiring/electric tape. Water bowls about 2$ x6. Hides about 5 x6. I think that's everything... Comes in around 452 ? Divided by 6 gives you around 75 dollars per tub housing cost. These would all be your one time costs.
This doesn't include substrate ,the snake, or food.

I've spent about $3,000+ on my ARS rack system that holds 20 large snakes, half of it will hold adult ball pythons, the other half will hold adult Woma pythons. I actually decided not to fill it with Woma pythons, I just have one in there and just bought a dwarf reticulated python that will outgrow it in about a year or so. Once my retic gets big it will need a Vision 600, those are about $600 for that one cage and that one snake. Once the retic gets bigger it will probably eat jumbo rats or medium rabbits every week, that's going to be a big expense. You didn't ask the cost of the snakes, my most expensive ball python was $1,500.

I probably have about $10,000 total invested in my ARS rack and 18 snakes. Should pay off in the long run once I start cranking out baby snakes, should actually make way more money than I spend and hopefully will pay not only for that rack but a few more. I'd like to get a hatchling rack, a grow out rack, then a rat breeding rack and maybe a rat grow out rack, all from ARS. So that's probably another $12,000 in equipment I'm looking at in the next few years. I should be able to make that with the babies from the first few years. But all my snakes are babies and it will take me about 2-3 years before I get my first babies, so I may be all set up and break even in about five years if I'm lucky LOL. I may get another retic male to breed my female, probably once my female gets really tame and a year or two on her as far as growth.

I like the ARS racks, they are top of the line and they hold their value. I see a lot of people get really cheap racks up front, then fill their whole room with cheap racks only to find years down the road that they want to replace them all with higher quality rack systems. You can almost sell a used ARS rack for the same price as a new rack. For most people it's a money making investment and you can easily get most of your money back if you decide to sell the racks after you use them for years. I like to go pro right from the start, that way ten or fifteen years down the road you end up with a really nice setup instead of a bunch of stuff that needs to be replaced.

So I guess right now I have about $500 per snake invested on average.

I also didn't include my rat, mouse, and ASF breeding operation. Probably have about $1,000 invested in that as well. Although since I breed my own rodents and use feed from the feed store, most of which costs less than $10 per 50 pounds, I'm coming out way ahead on the price of feeders.

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Originally Posted by Spikeanoid

I suppose I should have added a few higher price brackets. I figured most people would be running racks with several snakes to split the cost of the rack among the snakes.

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Yes, should have included higher prices. The enclosure alone was $250. My usual comment when people ask is, "the snake (normal male BP) was $50, the setup $500 ha ha ha".

http://i.imgur.com/J6qaPeQ.jpg

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Originally Posted by The Golem

Yes, should have included higher prices. The enclosure alone was $250. My usual comment when people ask is, "the snake (normal male BP) was $50, the setup $500 ha ha ha".

http://i.imgur.com/J6qaPeQ.jpg

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That's an awesome set up! I agree.. the set up is very costly especially if being kept as a pet lol. But I think it's more for us than it is for them :P

Quarantine tub $5-20 depending on the size of the critter.
Heat pad $10-25
Thermostat $50
So $65-95 total.

Most of that stuff I already have spares on-hand though, so there would be no need to buy more.

i actually wish i knew that

We paid about 300 for everything got luck with the cage my daughter's teacher was selling i saw the post and asked her about it she ended up letting us have it for alot less than she was selling.

First tub setup: about $200... considering all the husbandry supplies (tongs, heat gun, heat lamp, cleaners, etc.).

2 racks along with a herpstat 2: ~$90-100 per snake (racks $300 and $400, H2 - $200 apx, racks house 8 snakes)

Boas, BRB, Carpet in AP cages with a Herpstat 4 to run them... $350-$450 per cage, $350 for the H4, so apx. 450-550 per snake for t-stat and caging. Note that the cages came with heat tape, lighting, etc.

The bigger the rack setup, say a 12 stack of CB70's etc. the less you will spend per tub. Initially, the rack will cost a lot, but if you break it down by tub and consider that one t-stat can do the whole rack, it is less than doing the same t-stat with a smaller rack, etc.

Also note that purchasing one final enclosure and modding it to suit the different life-stages (i.e. dividing for small snakes) will decrease your overall cost. I invested in stand-alone tubs and tanks at different points and wish that I had just gone with a rack from the start. For my boas and other larger snakes, the racks were used as stepping stones until they were large enough for the bigger AP cages. The racks now house BPs, KSBs, and one CA boa male that is still young and not ready for his own AP cage.

From where I started with a tank, and one snake, to the rack with 4 snakes, it averages to about $80 per snake. We spent roughly $200 on tank set up to start, about $65 in supplies and tools, and lucked up and got our rack for $50 heat tape included!

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Personally, I am rarely if ever concerned about the cost of a pet or the equipment necessary to meet their needs.

In my experience, after your first trip to the veterinarian you tend to quickly forget the sticker shock you might have felt when purchasing your pet and supplies.

A Neodesha cage with light, then the UTH, thermostat, hides, water bowl, thermometers, temp gun, bedding, vines, suction cups... around $400. My first beep was Daisy. She’s my albino noodle who is willing to wear hats. She is a great ambassador to my students. And likes to get rubbed under her chin.
Eventually, I saw the wisdom of racks, which require one thermostat for multiple snakes, far less decorations etal... and the cost per animal significantly decreased.
Of course, then I discovered more species, RHP’s, T25s, and my housing costs went through the roof.
Snakes are worse than crack cocaine. Lol

The first terrarium my one and only ball python has had (he still lives in that one but will move out once he's a bit bigger) was about 750$.

150$ for the terrarium itself
200$ for decoration
400$ for technology (But I have things just for my own well being. For example, I have a humidity switch and and a fogger so I don't habe to worry about humidity all the time, even if he's in shed.)
30$ for the quarantine process

1) Single AP-T12 with LED - $406 shipped.
2) Pro Panel RHP- $135 shipped.

3) Herpstat $100

4) 2 Hides and Water Bowl- $40

5) 1000' x 24" Kraft Paper substrate - $36

6) PVC pipes, wrinkle paint, plant leaves - $40

Total $757 each.

This is an interesting question. Of course, before getting into a new pet you would be concerned about the upfront costs to get started, but it really depends on your setup. I got started rather quickly for "just" $170 (US) and that got me a glass tank from the pet store, a CHE and dimmable dome and heat pad from Amazon, plus some substrate, plastic dollar store bowls for hides, temp sensors, and an IR gun. Since then, I've bought a Herpstat 4, backup heating elements, and extra decor. Just recently, though, I bought a nice PVC cage with an RHP that cost around $360 total, plus overly-expensive rock hides and a new water bowl. On the other hand, the plastic holding tub I have for when I clean his tank only cost about $20, so I could have housed my bp for way cheaper. For me, my bp is a hobby (and my scale baby) and I like being able to get him nice things.

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Originally Posted by CALM Pythons

1) Single AP-T12 with LED - $406 shipped.
2) Pro Panel RHP- $135 shipped.

3) Herpstat $100

4) 2 Hides and Water Bowl- $40

5) 1000' x 24" Kraft Paper substrate - $36

6) PVC pipes, wrinkle paint, plant leaves - $40

Total $757 each enclosure.

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A Pic...& I built the stand for around $65.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...853789551a.jpg

Well my last BP boy cost me $450 alone plus then had to buy another thermostat $$$ Just recently bought a 2 bin rack with heat tape for $200 for my 2 BP's. And as for my other 2 snakes, they are still small and in 15qt tubs with heat tape and won't be upgraded them until later. But yea, it does add up fast especially if you have more than one snake. It's an expensive hobby but well worth it!! :gj:

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Originally Posted by CALM Pythons

A Pic...& I built the stand for around $65.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...853789551a.jpg

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Very Nice indeed!!! :worship:

For 1 snake (fairly low cost morph), this is about what I spent over the course of a few months and leading up to looking for a snake, so that I had everything ready (except the AP cage as I started him in an old aquarium until I found the AP cages)

Snake Himself: $175
Heat lamps: ~$30 total
CHE bulbs:~$36 total
Customized AP T11 (waiting for a sale): $375 total
Hides: $45 total (I have 4)
Water bowl: $4
Thermostat: $35
Thermometers/Hygrometers: $20
Sphagnum moss: $10
Cypress Bedding 40qt: $27
Rats:$50
Cage Decor: $0 - rocks and branches from outside

So total for 1 single ball python: $804ish total if you buy everything all at once

Now, I shop on amazon to keep cost low and get free decor from outside so - other than the AP cage which is a one time thing (if I don;t get another snake) the rats, bedding, moss, CHE bulbs and Hood are all things that will be bought many times over the snakes 20-30 year life (some more than others)

I'm surprised nobody noticed this is a old thread, over a year and a half. Usually everyone jumps all over that lol. But it's a good one so who cares.
I can't believe how much some of you guys spend per snake, it's crazy to me because I'm very selective on my spending but yet I've dropped over $1000 on one snake more than a few times, so I guess it's all about where you want to spend your money. Me personally, I'd rather get the best husbandry possible for the lowest dollar possible and then spend the big bucks on the actual snakes. If your setting up a display then that's the exception, I'd spend a lot there as well. But since mine are not on display and my main goal is to keep as many as I can with the best husbandry possible for the lowest dollar, I think I've done pretty well. I'm at only $16 per snake approximately. I'd have to add up all my supplies to be exact but it's close. My most expensive item and the most important imo, my herpstat. Then I built my own racks on a budget. Everything works great, snakes are healthy and breeding and due to saving so much on my setup, I was able to spend a lot more on my snakes. I'm thinking about dropping a few thousand on a ars hatchling rack in the spring so that will set my average cost per snake back a bit but I guess that will depend on how many hatchlings I produce lol.

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Originally Posted by Spikeanoid

How much per snake do you spend setting its enclosure up? If you have a single expensive item (such as a thermostat or rack system) running multiple snakes, divide the cost of the item among the number of enclosures it regulates.

I realize the numbers will be all over the board, but I'd like to get a feel for what people spend to acquire a snake outside of the cost of the animal itself.


Formula:

Total $ invested in husbandry supplies (thermostat, thermometer, tubs & racks, etc) / # of snakes you have = cost of housing per snake.

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This seems to be a very hard question... I see people wanting to talk about how much they spent on their snake even though that was a different thread 2 weeks ago and never answering your question which was about" HOUSING COST" . Sorry I had to say something. I was interested in your thread until I read about everything except what you asked. I did see someone say the Thermostat was $$$ though and another say they see why you would be concerned about costs, however thats all they said & never gave you a answer hahahahaha Gotta Laugh
[emoji85][emoji85][emoji85][emoji85]

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Originally Posted by rufretic

I'm surprised nobody noticed this is a old thread, over a year and a half. Usually everyone jumps all over that lol. But it's a good one so who cares.
I can't believe how much some of you guys spend per snake, it's crazy to me because I'm very selective on my spending but yet I've dropped over $1000 on one snake more than a few times, so I guess it's all about where you want to spend your money. Me personally, I'd rather get the best husbandry possible for the lowest dollar possible and then spend the big bucks on the actual snakes. If your setting up a display then that's the exception, I'd spend a lot there as well. But since mine are not on display and my main goal is to keep as many as I can with the best husbandry possible for the lowest dollar, I think I've done pretty well. I'm at only $16 per snake approximately. I'd have to add up all my supplies to be exact but it's close. My most expensive item and the most important imo, my herpstat. Then I built my own racks on a budget. Everything works great, snakes are healthy and breeding and due to saving so much on my setup, I was able to spend a lot more on my snakes. I'm thinking about dropping a few thousand on a ars hatchling rack in the spring so that will set my average cost per snake back a bit but I guess that will depend on how many hatchlings I produce lol.

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LOL!!! Looks like it took off on #13 and here it is on #27. I read about 10 posts starting from 1/19/18 so I never noticed that it was started in 2016.

Tanks, light fixtures, bulbs, water bowls, screen lids, acrylic covers, hides, temp gun, humidity gauge, humidifier, misc snake equipment (feeding tools, hook) shelving racks. Easily 150$ per snake. But after it’s just food, cleaning supplies and paper towels.

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Originally Posted by rufretic

I can't believe how much some of you guys spend per snake, it's crazy to me because I'm very selective on my spending

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I'm with rufretic on this one; it's literally baffling to see some of these figures and even more baffling to see that the majority of people spend $150+ per animal on just housing. :confusd::confusd:

I mean, to each their own as far as what you're willing to spend on housing and it definitely depends on how you want to display your animals (tubs and racks vs. terrariums, etc.) but wowsers.

It seems obvious to me at least that the majority of people that keep more reptiles generally start needing to spend less on husbandry items - it's sort of like buying in bulk at Costco to illustrate my point a bit more.

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Originally Posted by WastelandExotics

I'm with rufretic on this one; it's literally baffling to see some of these figures and even more baffling to see that the majority of people spend $150+ per animal on just housing. :confusd::confusd:

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I don't think this is surprising at all. There is an old adage that says: "The enclosure will almost always cost more than the animal itself." Perhaps I am showing my age here.

Let's look at this from a bare minimum perspective, you would need:

1. A tub with latches, assuming you're housing a new baby: $2.78

2. Paper towels for bottom: $6.86

3. Under-tank heater (heat tape + connector): $2.20 + $3.48

4. Thermostat: $18.99

5. Polypropylene Hide boxes: $5.98

6. Water dish: $2.09

7. thermometer / hygrometer: $12.99

Total: $55.37

This is being as economical as I possibly can with a new baby snake and money spent on the setup only. I have not included the snake itself, food, cleaning supplies, potential shipping fees, or any other miscellaneous items that always come up when you do any project. This also assumes the snake is in a warm enough room and is heated sufficiently by the UTH itself. Caring for reptiles can be very inexpensive and relatively speaking, they require little care in comparison to other animals. That's why people can manage to have 100+ snakes, but the equivalent in other animals would be....difficult. However, the average person doesn't have this many (pretty sure there's another poll where most have a single snake or a few) and thus spend more on a nice setup as the snake grows. Tubs are great for breeders because they are economical in terms of space, but if you only have one or a couple animals, most keepers want them to look nice and be visible. They will also, over time, evolve to better setups that include cages like animal plastics (minimum $100-$200 investment) and thermostats like Herpstat, which run around $75-100 per probe depending on which model you get. In addition, many new keepers purchase a glass tank because that's what the pet store recommends, which needless to say, are more expensive than a $2.00 tub. These factors combined make it extremely easy to exceed the $150 threshold.

It baffles me that a ball python could be properly housed for < $25. Though, if you had a cheaper rack setup for hatchlings running on a single thermostat and divided the cost among say, a dozen snakes, you could probably manage it.

Let's see.. Not including the cost of the little banana man and shipping for him...

Tank: $60
Lights: $35
Thermometer: $35
Thermostats: $65
UTH: $24
Substrate: $30
Hides: $35
Plants: $10
Water Dish: $6
Food and Tongs: $40 (small quantities)
Tank Stand: $35
Misc (Foil tapes, outlet extension): $15

Total: $390

And I am a bargain shopper so, I looked for the best product in the mid to low end price.

Cashew was $200 total with shipping. So $500 isn't too bad!

I'm interested to see how much the lighting will effect my electricity bill. :)

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Originally Posted by Regius_049

Though, if you had a cheaper rack setup for hatchlings running on a single thermostat and divided the cost among say, a dozen snakes, you could probably manage it.

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Exactly my point. Seems like the cost of housing goes drastically down the more animals you acquire to split the cost of your chosen setup. Especially if you're a DIYer, the cost goes down even more.

And to explore that a little more, if I was a bettin' lady, I would definitely bet that the big breeders out there with 1000+ animals spend far less than $25 per animal for housing, especially with turn over and reuse of housing for new animals. Say, for instance, you're breeding and have a clutch of babes, sell all of them and then have another batch next season. Would you divide the cost twice because two animals occupied it once? I would imagine that's pretty important when determining actual cost of housing too.

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Originally Posted by WastelandExotics

Would you divide the cost twice because two animals occupied it once? I would imagine that's pretty important when determining actual cost of housing too.

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Yes, I mean really, it just comes down to "snake density" per rack. You could indeed probably get it down pretty low. However, perhaps it is the way the questions is phrased. When I hear "how much does it cost to house a snake?" It sounds more like you are talking about an individual pet and thus the implication is a single, adult animal. The connotation kind of implies a single animal in a small collection, but maybe that is just the way I read it. If you wanted to know the dollar cost per hatchling within a rack, you might have gotten replies closer to what you were envisioning if it were worded say, "Within a rack setup, how much is the cost per animal for a breeding setup?"

I actually made a little Excel sheet with the initial cost so I could see what I was getting myself into before hand. It's not on this computer, but I think it came to a bit under $200 for everything. I would say at least $250 is going to be at least what it ends up being by the time I have everything. However, I didn't have a soldering iron, so $8.00 of the whole bill went to that, I spent $20 on a melamine board for my mat and tub to rest on, and $80 on a Dremel with a routing attachment so I could route a channel in the melamine for my t-sat probe and just tape my mat over it. The Dremel and the soldering iron were not in my original budget because I didn't know I'd end up having to actually purchase both. :rolleyes:

My costs are all over the place, as some vivs are just the basics, and some are much more of a display. For the single BP I own, he was free, and I had no time what-so-ever to prepare (he showed up at my front gate with no warning), so everything was hacked together. 5 gal glass tank that I'd had for years and bought at a garage sale for $2. Used scrap hardware cloth for a top - approx. $1 worth of material, I already had a water dish ($1 yard sale glass ash tray) and cut some yogart tubs for home-made hides. Ordered a heat pad ($25 shipped) that day, and a Herpstat $110 (?) shipped. I already had thermometers and a lazer temp gun. Also, I had a perfectly sized litter of baby rats, and some suitable frozen mice left over in the freezer, so no cost there.

That is about as bare bones as you can get for an animal housed in a stand alone enclosure.

He is growing like a weed, and is active at night, so I'll be getting him a 10 gallon soon. Add approx $14 for that, and maybe $15 for a Zilla top and clips.

I don't worry much about the initial costs - we keep a strict budget, so if I can't afford it, I just don't get the animal. Once the money is spent on equipment, it's over with. I can always raise rats, and while my own supply isn't consistent, we have a neighbor who usually has spares.

What does stress me out are future electric bills. I very roughly figure $1 per month per animal ($2/3 if I'm running an RHP in addition to the UTH), but today's prices could be much higher in a few years. I have six snakes now, and there are several more species I would like to own examples of. That adds up, eventually.

As far as people being surprised about the amounts some of us spend on equipment when one could just get a rack, and then have the extra cash to buy high-end animals...well, we are not all in this hobby for the same reasons. I doubt I'll ever breed. I don't care about expensive genetics. If something needs a home, and I can handle it, I'll take it in. If something listed on-line appeals to me, I'll try to scrape up the cash to afford it. The last snake that I regret missing out on was a Glossy snake listed for $39. THAT wasn't the problem, but then there is shipping, there is the herpstat, and the heat pad, and the cost of another tank....

For me, I like seeing my snakes, so everyone is currently in either Monster or Reptile Basics cages (black plastic with plexi doors). So cage, heat, and thermostat per animal runs $250-$300...give or take. These are pets, so I’m splurging. In the past, I’ve either set up in glass tanks or built cages for less than $100 per snake, but I really like the look and ease of cleaning that a plastic cage provides.

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Originally Posted by Dianne

For me, I like seeing my snakes, so everyone is currently in either Monster or Reptile Basics cages (black plastic with plexi doors). So cage, heat, and thermostat per animal runs $250-$300...give or take. These are pets, so I’m splurging. In the past, I’ve either set up in glass tanks or built cages for less than $100 per snake, but I really like the look and ease of cleaning that a plastic cage provides.

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Excellent !!

I can't imagine having snakes but not being able to see them absolutely perfectly..


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I got my Normal and a 40 gallon tank for 50 bucks. Then I got to spend another $200+ getting all the needed equipment to take care of her properly. All she had was hides and an empty water dish when I picked her up. No thermostat, thermometer, heat, hydrometer or anything. Needless to say, I got the herper crash course :D

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Excellent !!

I can't imagine having snakes but not being able to see them absolutely perfectly...

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I totally agree, and this is for several reasons...not simply aesthetics but also for their safety. If something goes wrong, I want to know about it, so easily seeing
into a cage is important to me. When you have to go out of your way to look in, you just won't do it as much.

I also prefer that my snakes get a natural photoperiod from room light, plus I believe that my snakes are far more trusting when handled because they are used to my
presence. A snake that cannot see out until suddenly you swoop into their tub to handle them has to be a little more traumatized, though the effects depend on what
species you're keeping...some just have naturally better vision.

Balls ain't cheap, they have a lotta needs due to being exotic and ectothermic. Which is why ya need to be sure about getting one.