At what point do you have too many reptiles?

I expect a dozen different posts with a dozen different answers. This is more out of curiosity of what people think is too much. For the most part, reptiles require less space and are lower maintenance compared to other animals such as dogs, cats, ferrets, etc. The exception to that are monitors and tegus. At what point do you make the call that you have too many reptiles or you can't have more? Space? Time? Finances?

For me, it's space, time and finances. I work full time, I'm back in school full time and I'm breeding hognoses next year. I'll have my hands full with all the hatchlings in addition to all the other reptiles I have. There are several different species I'm interested in but don't want to jump in and dislike keeping them. I have ball pythons, corns, sand boas and soon a burm. I love the 2 corns I have but have no interest in having more as they aren't my thing. I love seeing the large monitors but don't have the space for them and have no real experience so it wouldn't be fair to buy one only to realize they aren't for me. I do find myself wondering if I have too many hognoses as I look at expanding with 2 more for the axanthic projects. Depression and stress also contribute to that doubt so there's that.


What about you? What's your limit?

when i start having to limit my resources with my animals. the moment i have to make a decision between my animals' well-being and anything else is when i have gone over my limit.

my resources include time, money and dedication.

For me, it's still financial. My snake family will grow over time. That being said, I figure with the animals I currently have I could easily handle roughly 8-10 snakes. As my other animals pass on to ferret/fish heaven, I could add to that number, but that's years down the road.

Money, the quality of care, space.

If having one more snake/lizard/whatever will screw up your finances, or negatively impact the quality of care and amount of time you can devote to the animals you already have, then you already have too many IMO. If you have to sacrifice to have it, you shouldn't have it. I'm pretty opinionated about this kind of thing, though. It infuriates me when I hear stuff like "my pet needs xyz at the vet but I can't afford it until next month or in general."

i agree with a few of you above. The very moment you have to decide between feeding a snake or paying your rent, you have too much. For me it's all about the animals. as soon as i couldn't care for my whole collection i would downsize. You should never ever put something before the welfare of your animals.

When you can't put in the required money and time.

I agree with the post above. Right now, it's mainly about time for me. I work full-time and am married... I have a pretty big collection IMO (10 snakes, 6 geckos, 7 frogs, 1 skink, 1 chameleon) and it takes a while to do maintenance on them. Right now, I feel like I am pushing it to get home, clean cages, spray, feed, etc., cook, and then have some time to spend with my husband. Because of that, I will not be buying any more reptiles until some of my other higher-maintenance pets pass on.... It is not so much the snakes eating up my time as the others and I feel that if I only had snakes, I'd easily be able to handle the time commitment for maybe 30 animals.

Space is also a concern as I have a single reptile room.. some of my snakes require large caging (boas) and I can only fit so many with the space I have.

Eventually money may factor in, but for now, it's mostly the time and space that are issues.

When the animals care and well being become compromised. You can be broke, that's your choice but when the animals aren't fed regularly or sit in dirty enclosures or without clean water... That should be the determining factor.

I think it depends on many factors like size of the animals, if Im breeding, obviously money and space and time.
My personal limit as a pet owner is around 6-8, time to spend with each one individually.And low enough numbers to provide big habitats.
If Im breeding(my corns for example) then I would have room for more because they would be in racks.Babies are only around till sold so habitat size isnt an issue nor is taming them down.

Its easy to get caught up in the whole "collection" thing and end up with too many.

You have too many when

It's a financial burden

It's time consuming and no longer enjoyable

When the animals start to get neglected

Two things for me:

1) I can't afford the maintenance. 20 snakes is a lot more that 5 to feed.
2) The moment it feels like work. I hate work. Feeding and maintaining a lot of animals singlehandedly takes its toll. What used to be a passion can turn into a pain.

For me it's just the space, two dog, a cat, two ferrets, bunny, tortoise, two dragons and three snakes and a crestie ....I work in management at publix and my husband in management at universal, so time is precious but with a proper routine everything just flows...I know I want another BP BUT now it's the space [emoji23]


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I agree with Deborah, when it is no longer enjoyable and turns into a burden you have too many.

Back when I used to have 13 bp's - I ended up getting out of the hobby altogether for a few years due to my bp's always wanting live rats instead of f/t.

I ended up having to raise rats and let me tell you that is a full time smelly job. So, that helped make my decision to get out of keeping BP's.

Took about 5 years off and got back into keeping snakes but went with Boas since they are great feeders with f/t.

I really missed having my snakes. It was the right decision for me at that time to get out of the hobby and it was a good time 2 years ago to start over again. I don't regret it at all.

I don't know, 'cause I'm not there yet.

Space and money are the current constraints. We live in a small house, and keep to a strict budget. I don't keep any reptiles or fish that would require large amounts of electricity. Have recently been more interested in insects and arachnids simply because they take up less space, and are less expensive to maintain, and no vet bills, either. The new Madagascar hissers cost me $5 to buy, and another $5 for a suitable tote. I don't have to worry about where to place another 40 long. The next acquisition will probably be a $10 millipede.

Really want a Russian rat, two garters, a Transpecos, and a Tarahumara boa. Just don't know when I'll have a chunk of cash for any one of them.

Like others have said, pretty much when feeding, cleaning, and overall well being of the animals gets to be too much or becomes a job/chore vs a hobby/fun.

For me, probably about 2 more snake would be my limit as I try and get all my snakes out for some personal time and treat them as 'pets' instead of just animals in cages.

Yeah, there's sometimes a fine line between enjoying a healthy collection of reptiles and actually beginning to show a hoarding mentality. People do it with critters all the time and they're not even aware of it. As long as you can have a healthy and enjoyable life away and apart from the reptiles you're probably on healthy ground. If the reptiles have become the focus of your life and your happiness, you may have strayed "over the edge." Obviously this doesn't apply if you're breeding reptiles as a business. Just sayin'

Peace

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

when i start having to limit my resources with my animals. the moment i have to make a decision between my animals' well-being and anything else is when i have gone over my limit.

my resources include time, money and dedication.

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That's how I look at it but in addition to my animals well being, I also take into account my own well being. If I'm stressing over having to feed everyone, spot clean or do anything else then it's time to take a step back and reevaluate things. Thankfully, I haven't gotten to that point and know where that line in the sand is so I don't cross it.

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

For me, it's still financial. My snake family will grow over time. That being said, I figure with the animals I currently have I could easily handle roughly 8-10 snakes. As my other animals pass on to ferret/fish heaven, I could add to that number, but that's years down the road.

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I'm planning to breed my hognoses next year and yeah, the planning is stressful but it's a good stress (if that's even possible). I would love to add more females but I know it's not a smart financial choice because I have 2 females that will be bred and I could have 10 babies or 30 babies after it's all said and done. I see the reptiles as lower maintenance and cheaper when it comes to care, for lack of a better word.

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Originally Posted by dylan815

i agree with a few of you above. The very moment you have to decide between feeding a snake or paying your rent, you have too much. For me it's all about the animals. as soon as i couldn't care for my whole collection i would downsize. You should never ever put something before the welfare of your animals.

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I completely agree with this and I don't understand how some people knowingly put themselves in that position. I bought a burmese that was just barely within my budget but only after I looked over my budget 5 times over (no joke) and then looked at my feeder inventory and how much I would be spending in the next 8 months on feeders with the addition of her. I could have passed on her and put that money towards what was left of a credit card but realized I get an extra paycheck this month so I'm still on track to pay down bills. Then I added another hognose because the deal was too good to pass up and he was exactly what I was looking for. I did the same thing all over again and came to the same conclusion.

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Originally Posted by Miranda2

I think it depends on many factors like size of the animals, if Im breeding, obviously money and space and time.
My personal limit as a pet owner is around 6-8, time to spend with each one individually.And low enough numbers to provide big habitats.
If Im breeding(my corns for example) then I would have room for more because they would be in racks.Babies are only around till sold so habitat size isnt an issue nor is taming them down.

Its easy to get caught up in the whole "collection" thing and end up with too many.

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I have everyone except the leopard geckos in tubs because it's more space efficient but also because only a few are adults. The adults are the hogs and will remain in tubs in the racks because they will be bred. I see everyone as a pet whereas my girlfriend sees everyone as a pet that needs a name. I'm happy that there are options where you can stack the enclosures on top of one another which is what I plan to do with the ball pythons once they are adults. Decorative because they aren't going to be bred. I agree that it's easy to get caught up in "collecting" reptiles. There was an article last year in the paper about the local reptile show and a woman who was looking to purchase a corn which would bring her total to 43 snakes. All of which were pets. I can't imagine having that many.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Like others have said, pretty much when feeding, cleaning, and overall well being of the animals gets to be too much or becomes a job/chore vs a hobby/fun.

For me, probably about 2 more snake would be my limit as I try and get all my snakes out for some personal time and treat them as 'pets' instead of just animals in cages.

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I might be the odd one out but I enjoy cleaning. Moreso when I'm stressed or my anxiety is through the roof. It's a way to distract me from what is stressing me out or making me anxious. I enjoy cleaning the snake tubs because some of my hogs will immediately turn into a pancake when I put them back in the tub and the bedding is smoothed out. I imagine the thought is something along the lines of "I had everything exactly how I wanted it and you screwed it up." The sand boa tubs are a pain to clean since they like to poop on the bottom and smear it around.

I would say finances and space as the main reasons. Considering I have multiple tortoises and a royal.

I cant fit any more tortoises in as they take so much space, although I can fit in multiple snakes as their much easier to stack. That Said the main reason I wont be adding tortoises is the fact all of mine carry a species specific herpes virus that's fatal to other tortoise species, Sadly I lost my hermans as I didn't know about the virus my spur thighed tortoises carry until she caught it.

I should be able to fit in some more snakes - just got to decide what to get and have the finances available.

A lot of it depends on what you choose. A couple dozen BP's in a rack might be easy, and a single monitor lizard might be hard. Tarantula fanciers seem to be unfazed by large collections, but parrot owners don't have that luxury (a big macaw owns you). Tortoises are fascinating, but even a small one requires more space, and attn. to heat and UV than I would want to deal with. I expect to have more birds in the future, but that will be society finches and ring neck doves (the more the merrier for these easy birds) - no macaws nor 'toos.

When you start to feel that routine maintenance is work instead of "the joy of knowing you're doing right by them" tanks clean and the water is fresh!

prolly when i get a T-Rex.

:P

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Originally Posted by Ax01

prolly when i get a T-Rex.

:P

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ROFLMAOOOOOOO! You win the internet today lol

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I don't understand the title of this thread! Too many reptiles? Whaaaaa? Lol

When it stops being fun.

ask me in about 5 days. was trying to pack up my animals around 2:30 am to evacuate ahead of irma, then realized i can't fit them all into my car.

so i'm going to ride it out and hope miami still exists come monday morning.

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Originally Posted by se7en

ask me in about 5 days. was trying to pack up my animals around 2:30 am to evacuate ahead of irma, then realized i can't fit them all into my car.

so i'm going to ride it out and hope miami still exists come monday morning.

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Prayers, good thoughts, and fingers crossed for your safety.

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Originally Posted by Ax01

prolly when i get a T-Rex.

:P

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The bar has officially been raised.

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Originally Posted by Sunnieskys

I don't understand the title of this thread! Too many reptiles? Whaaaaa? Lol

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When I see friends posting the memes of a dozen puppies jumping on someone I tell them to replace the dogs with snakes. Most don't get it but some do lol. I started this because I was curious how others felt. Some people stop with a few balls, others have multiple full grown burms or retics and you have people like myself who have almost a dozen hognoses in addition to others. I work with numbers all day, research trends and go on borderline wild goose chases for a living. It spills over into the personal life or maybe I got into this job because I love that kind of stuff and enjoy seeing what others think.


I'm looking to add a pair of axanthic females that I found. I told myself I rounded out the hognose morphs I wanted and had pretty much given up on the axanthics. Then I saw the listing and immediately reached out to the seller who I've worked with before. My family thinks I'm absolutely crazy because 2019 will be busy but 2020 is going to be even busier with 4, maybe 5 breeding females, including one sand boa.

I reached 24 snakes ( many different types ) but I'm down to 20 and I think that in MY case I'll be happier with around 12 .


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When you can no longer provide the highest level of care and the health / cleanliness / quality of life of the animals starts to falter. This can happen if you have 1 snake or 100, it just depends on your time and effort (and $$).

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Originally Posted by se7en

i can't fit them all into my car.

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Excellent point and not a metric most keepers consider.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Excellent point and not a metric most keepers consider.

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been meaning to buy a cargo van (i.e. ford E150) for the longest. will have to fix that after this hurricane.