Craigslist Depression

I was looking to see if I could find some racks or cages on Craigslist when I came across all of the BPs for sale. I could not believe how many of the ads listed "not having enough time" as the reason for selling. How much time does it take to take care of a single BP? I don't have one yet, I'm still in research mode, but it seems like once you have the snake home and the husbandry is fine tuned, it doesn't take that much time.

I'm doing my best not to judge, I know that I've made mistakes and rash decisions. My guess is that the novelty wore off. Maybe some day I will be set up so that I can provide a home for some of them, once I have some experience and can handle potentially mistreated animals.

its a mix of impulse buys, the "cool" factor of owning a snake, and the thought that a BP is going to be such a badass snake. Then IF they get the husbandry right in the first place, they realize that BP's hide 24/7 and they no longer want them.

You Both hit the nail on the head... People want what they want right at that moment and then after a couple months when there done playing Snake Keeper/Lizard man or The Dog Whisperer onto Craigslist the poor things go... I see how I've changed myself over the years and I think most of the problem is immaturity and no understanding of life other than "Me".
Some people grow up very privileged, ungrateful and almost with a sense of entitlement in this country and in return we have screwed up all kinds of other living things. Not to change the subject but in the 80's & 90's Pitbulls were known to be healthy, thriving dogs that could beat most diseases and genetic disorders that other dogs died & suffered from. Parvo was one of them. Most Pitbulls that came into the Rescue I worked at would beat Parvo once we got them hydrated where German Shepard's and others did not have a chance. Now days the health had been breed right out of Pitbulls and most labeled as Pitbulls nothing but Bull Dog/Bull Mastiff/ even PUG Muts that have all kinds of disfigures, eye, skin & joint disorders. Not only that but every idiot on the block that wanted to act like a tuff guy got one and months later dropped it off at the pound.
Its so sad how destructive we have been to other living things only having our own interests in mind.
Whether its a spider that my girls want me to kill in their room or a mouse that got into the basement I teach my kids that these are all Gods creatures and deserve the Gift of life they have been given as we do.

Wow, theres my 2cents, sorry about that Rant.... Ive been off work for almost 2 months and Im feeling a bit Crazy waiting for spring hahahahahahaha.

I agree that it is sad to see so many snakes listed for sale just because the person is tired of them. I know it's bs when they say they don't have time, because I have 3 snakes and they don't take up much time at all. I check them every day to see if anyone soiled the tub or spilled their water (little buggers do that a lot) but unless I have to clean a tub it doesn't take more than a minute. Even when I clean all 3 tubs it takes maybe 30 minutes. I'm fond of low maintenance animals myself because I have days that I don't have the energy to deal with anyone or anything. I've learned recently just from dog sitting for my sister that though I love dogs, I could never own one anymore. I wish people could figure that out about themselves without making these poor animals suffer.

That cracks me up too, don't have enough time LOL. A snake is just a little more work than a pet rock! Just change water, feed and spot clean once a week and you are good, especially if you use coconut husk substrate, don't even have to spot clean very much. Maybe if you feed live and have to drive to the pet store every week, or maybe if you raise your own rodents... Raising my own rodents saves me a ton of money but it takes me about three hours a week in cleaning and maintenance to produce about 160 rodents per month. I probably spend less than an hour per week on all 20 snakes, mainly just feeding and occasional spot cleaning. And maybe a couple hours every other month for a full substrate replacement.

I gotta get me some coconut husk, I bet that would solve my water spill problem.

The not enough time is total nonsense, I work 45 hours a week or more without including travel time and still manage to look after 4 reptiles three of which are tortoises that currently have a separate pen each. Snakes take far less time than tortoises do on a daily basis. Impulse buys are so frustrating.

It really is horrible. So many snakes get dumped into the wild and get a bad reputation (like burms) just because of people's stupidity. I mean, really, all it takes is a 5min Google search to find out such basic (yet extremely important!) things about snakes!

i do the same thing and it does upset me. the snakes i've seen are usually with terrible husbandry; i want to take them all in. i remember deciding to get a ball python because they were such low maintenance. how do people decide to buy an animal they know nothing about? the knowledge of the WORLD is at your fingertips; ignorance is not acceptable. how can they be so disassociated to not recognize it is a living being, not a cool necklace to show off? it just boggles my mind; i can't understand the (lack of) thought process.

My friend, who I got my Green Beans from said "Well, I don't really have much time anyways and I know you'll be good to him, bla bla..."

I didn't really think much of it because I had spent a few weeks convincing him to give me his snake because I just really wanted one. I knew GB was friendly and I wouldn't be getting a stranger snake. That made it less scary to me since I wouldn't have to learn (the hard way) how friendly my new snake is.
Now that I think of it though, that wasn't a valid excuse at all to give him away.
I guess you can make them time consuming, like I did. I built his entire enclosure besides the tank itself, by hand. It's a little over 100gal total so it took quite some time to make it "worth showing people" when a simple tub would have been just fine. 😅
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+ everything above

People see dogs and cats listed also with "don't have enough time", so they put the same thing for their BP's. They probably have all the free time in the world, but just want to get rid of their animal. Having "not enough time" for their ball python is like saying "I'm allergic to my fish".

I've seen the funniest (worst) craigslist ad like this last year, except it went something like, "My daughter and I used to bring the BP out everywhere with us and it had a lot of fun. Recently, we don't have time to play with it anymore, and I feel bad for it being left all alone every day. I'm looking for a home that has more time to give to him." LMAO

With BPs they realize that they don't have a really active snake that they can interact with a lot. Once they see that pretty much all they do is hide, they get bored.

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Originally Posted by cletus

With BPs they realize that they don't have a really active snake that they can interact with a lot. Once they see that pretty much all they do is hide, they get bored.

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True... A bunch of idiots that want to be entertained.

People have the most ridiculous reasons for getting rid of animals. I saw one recently about an 8 week old kitten and the person said something like "I travel a lot so I won't have time to take care of it". What?? You JUST realized that you travel too much to have a kitten? Or when people say things like "I have to get rid of my 12 year old dog/cat because I'm having a baby". 99% of the time your pets will do perfectly fine with a baby. If you're going to be like these people don't get any kind of animal if you plan on moving, having a baby, or think you won't "have enough tine" in the next 10-15 years.

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Originally Posted by Kira

People have the most ridiculous reasons for getting rid of animals. I saw one recently about an 8 week old kitten and the person said something like "I travel a lot so I won't have time to take care of it". What?? You JUST realized that you travel too much to have a kitten? Or when people say things like "I have to get rid of my 12 year old dog/cat because I'm having a baby". 99% of the time your pets will do perfectly fine with a baby. If you're going to be like these people don't get any kind of animal if you plan on moving, having a baby, or think you won't "have enough tine" in the next 10-15 years.

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100% sure any of those ads with "don't have time for my 7~8 week old puppy/kitten" are either flippers or unethical breeders trying to make a quick buck.

Like wow, you suddenly have a young animal at the exact age that they would be if they needed to be sold. GEEZ

It should be harder to be able to legally own animals. Too many people just have no clue.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

100% sure any of those ads with "don't have time for my 7~8 week old puppy/kitten" are either flippers or unethical breeders trying to make a quick buck.

Like wow, you suddenly have a young animal at the exact age that they would be if they needed to be sold. GEEZ

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Yeah, you're totally right! What's even worse is I've seen people try to sell puppies and kittens that are only 5-6 weeks old. That's way too young to leave their mother! I think Craigslist should have stricter rules for the pet section. Like each IP address shouldn't be able to post more than one post per week.

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Originally Posted by cletus

It should be harder to be able to legally own animals. Too many people just have no clue.

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I think so too tbh... It would at least somewhat fix the huge problem with abandoned/euthanized animals, aka there's a surplus of animals because of too few responsible pet owners.

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Originally Posted by Kira

Yeah, you're totally right! What's even worse is I've seen people try to sell puppies and kittens that are only 5-6 weeks old. That's way too young to leave their mother! I think Craigslist should have stricter rules for the pet section. Like each IP address shouldn't be able to post more than one post per week.

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They really should.. And technically selling a puppy/kitten under 8 weeks is illegal, but nobody cares lol

I got a 10 year old lab from a family with 2 kids (both in elementary school).
They had his brother (same litter) and after 10 years, decided to give only one away and keep the other. Their reason "He jumped 6 ft walls to escape out of our backyard."
RIGHT [emoji19]

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I think its all about having the right expectations. getting things dialed in initially and getting comfortable handling with some regularity seem to key to connecting with any pet. If you are going to get a BP, they are relatively easy to keep, you just need to do it in snake time. handling a few times a week, at least at first seems to be decent recommendation. if you are willing to make the investment in the proper heating approach, get the humidity dialed in and feed weekly, they can be very rewarding! I think some folks get intimidated, don't develop trust and then avoid their BP. I like handling before feeding, getting them warmed up and then again in about two days... that has worked well for our BRB. If you enjoy getting into the zen, you'll enjoy owning a BP, they are fascinating creatures that will show personality if you are patient with them and give them a chance to "come out of their shell".

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Originally Posted by Paty

I got a 10 year old lab from a family with 2 kids (both in elementary school).
They had his brother (same litter) and after 10 years, decided to give only one away and keep the other. Their reason "He jumped 6 ft walls to escape out of our backyard."

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I had a black lab that did that. He wouldn't clear the fence but could get high enough to get his head, front legs, and shoulders over, and then he would scramble the rest of the way.

I fixed his wagon by installing a hot wire on the top of the fence. Only took one time. :D

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I had a black lab that did that. He wouldn't clear the fence but could get high enough to get his head, front legs, and shoulders over, and then he would scramble the rest of the way.

I fixed his wagon by installing a hot wire on the top of the fence. Only took one time. :D

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At 10 years? Jesus Christus on a Scooter! Max has never attempted to escape from anywhere I've put him in though. Not even a babygate. He did partially eat my door frame once but that's the only escape attempt he's ever made in the 3 1/2 years I've had him.

Can you imagine the heartbreak those two dogs are going to feel once they are separated? We had to put our 13.5 year old collie down 1/6. Our 8.5 year old collie is still sad and depressed. They were together for 7 years. We're working to help him feel better because we love him. I wonder how those donkey butts are going to be with the dog they keep. I have a cold hatred of people like that. Scum suckers.

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Originally Posted by DLena

Can you imagine the heartbreak those two dogs are going to feel once they are separated? We had to put our 13.5 year old collie down 1/6. Our 8.5 year old collie is still sad and depressed. They were together for 7 years. We're working to help him feel better because we love him. I wonder how those donkey butts are going to be with the dog they keep. I have a cold hatred of people like that. Scum suckers.

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This was 3 1/2 years ago. I've had max since September (I think) of 2013. His brother passed away sometime in spring last year but I'm not in contact with the owners very frequently anymore. I send them updates once in a while but I haven't in a while and they haven't contacted me at all either for probably a year now. Max is attached to me like a piece of velcro since the second day but the previous owner told me he did that to her too. 😢

I have 2 dogs, a cat and my BP...Out of all of those animals the BP takes practically zero amount of time out of my day. (I work an 8 hour day, but commute 6 hours, yes 6 hours) I mean really. Check temp/humidity when I walk by the tank, check/change water, spot clean when needed, feeding takes 15 minutes a week, whole tank cleaning maybe 30min out of a month (if you keep up with spot cleaning). I could never understand how someone could say they don't have time to take care of a BP.

In my mind it's just a bogus excuse because they don't want to say they got bored with it.

That being said at least BPs are not like a dog or cat who get emotionally attached to their owners. You just have to hope that while the owner is trying to get rid of the snake that they still keep up with its care until a new home can be found.

Stuff like this and aspca commercials always remind me to not let my babies turn in to sad examples. The least i could do is not contribute to the problem.

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Originally Posted by Paty

At 10 years?

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Oh no, he was 10 months old! Point being that if the family had wanted to, they could have worked out a different solution than rehoming a 10 year old pup that had bonded with them and another dog.

I can say my first 10 were impulse buys, but was thinking of future breeding. After that it was selective due to what I already had and future clutches from original purchases

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I certainly understand your frustration at people, their issues of instant gratification, and their treatment of their pets (of any species) as if they are disposable.

I'm retired and I volunteer at the Humane Society of North Texas. Personally I cannot work at the intake area because so many people come in with their dogs, cats, rodents, etc. and say "I don't have time" or the inevitable, "It's not cute because it's not a puppy/kitten anymore". I've even heard of one idiot who turned in their bulldog cross to a Tennessee shelter because the "dog is gay"!

On the adoption side of things, most people looking for a pet haven't done their research, and/or they are just plain stupid. We had a year old, 90lb pitbull/lab mix who was sweet as pie, but he was also a big ol' clumsy oaf. A man about 30 was interested in him, but when I questioned him about his lifestyle he said he had his 85 year old grandmother living with him. When I told him that the chosen dog would not be the best choice for his living situation as that big dog may accidentally knock over Grandma, he got mad at ME and turned around and walked out. Even though he didn't want to hear it, it was the best thing to happen in that situation.

I would encourage you to think about fostering a "Craigslist" snake from time to time if you can. People like us can weed out the idiots and make sure these snakes get the good homes they deserve.

Sorry for the ramble, but I'm kinda passionate about this subject. Cheers! :)

I got my first two from Craigslist. Emrys was in horrible living conditions but managed to thrive and didn't have mites or any problems. Circe came from a guy that was thinning out his collection and she had mites, but I already knew to quarantine her so they didn't spread to Emrys. She was thankfully well taken care of other than the mites. Calypso was my first breeder bought snake.

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Originally Posted by Brainplague

I certainly understand your frustration at people, their issues of instant gratification, and their treatment of their pets (of any species) as if they are disposable.

I'm retired and I volunteer at the Humane Society of North Texas. Personally I cannot work at the intake area because so many people come in with their dogs, cats, rodents, etc. and say "I don't have time" or the inevitable, "It's not cute because it's not a puppy/kitten anymore". I've even heard of one idiot who turned in their bulldog cross to a Tennessee shelter because the "dog is gay"!

On the adoption side of things, most people looking for a pet haven't done their research, and/or they are just plain stupid. We had a year old, 90lb pitbull/lab mix who was sweet as pie, but he was also a big ol' clumsy oaf. A man about 30 was interested in him, but when I questioned him about his lifestyle he said he had his 85 year old grandmother living with him. When I told him that the chosen dog would not be the best choice for his living situation as that big dog may accidentally knock over Grandma, he got mad at ME and turned around and walked out. Even though he didn't want to hear it, it was the best thing to happen in that situation.

I would encourage you to think about fostering a "Craigslist" snake from time to time if you can. People like us can weed out the idiots and make sure these snakes get the good homes they deserve.

Sorry for the ramble, but I'm kinda passionate about this subject. Cheers! :)

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I would love to foster some and find good homes for them. I'm going to keep that in mind as I set up and plan for having snakes. I'm definitely going to have to look for snake-friendly apartments/homes for rent.