What is so expensive about large constrictors?

Since I got the bp from my bro-in-law, I've been browsing craigslist to see what snakes people are selling (not seriously looking, though). I've come across a few reticulated pythons or large boas, and some people say they can't afford them.

What costs besides the additional food would there be for a large snake?

A proper cage for a large boid can be quite expensive and while it sounds repetitive, yes, the food gets expensive. My cornsnake eats a mouse a week, so even I'm buying them, it's a max of 4 bucks a month. My burmese, however, gets one rabbit or piglet a month, which can range in price of 8 to 20 dollars.

I would imagine that herp vets charge more to work with large boids than with little punk cornsnakes as well - and I don't blame them, hehe.

heating a big enclosure can cost, humidifying also.
lots of food, and in some cases a big increase in your insurance rates :tears:

if you are still unsure why a big snake like a retic of a burm can be so expensive then you shouldnt be thinking about buying yet

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Originally Posted by $nake$

if you are still unsure why a big snake like a retic of a burm can be so expensive then you shouldnt be thinking about buying yet

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I'm not. That's why I said I was browsing, but not seriously :) Someday I'd like to get into something larger, but for now I'm happy with a ball python.

I was just curious about what made them expensive to the point of not being affordable.

It's the food costs, unless you're prepared to breed and raise up rabbits yourself... which has their own costs. But to keep a large burm or retic healthy and well fed, it's gonna cost ya, especially if you have limited funds.

Your biggest expense is going to be the extra large cage. But thats a one time expense and once it's over it's done with. Perhaps you're seeing ads from people who need to move up from a baby cage to an adult cage and didn't realize how much an adult cage would cost them? The food is really not that much especially of you buy frozen in bulk from an online source.

I think the food is most expensive. i dont even have a large collection and im shellin 32 bux a week for food. and i dont even have retics or burms.

How many snakes are you feeding Pat? 32 bucks sounds like a lot. I've got 4 burms and I'm only going through about a dozen or so extra large rats a month. With the balls I do produce a lot of my own feeders, but I still have to supplement with frozen and I bet I don't spend more then $200.00 a month with over a hundred snakes.

well
three large rats at 6.99
one small rat at like 4 somethin
three mice at 1 somethin
one pinky at 1 somethin

its like 32 72 or somethin like that
it sux. but i dont want to breed

but i found someone in oxnard that charges a fraction of that, i just dont know how reliable it is

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well
three large rats at 6.99
one small rat at like 4 somethin
three mice at 1 somethin
one pinky at 1 somethin

its like 32 72 or somethin like that
it sux. but i dont want to breed

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You REALLY need to go to someplace like Rodentpro.com $6.99 for a large rat is really obscene.

Yeh I pay 6.99 for small rats sometimes they are as smalls as hoppers with the same price tag, feeding our 7 balls run about 30 bucks for 5 small rats and 2 mice. Its ridiculous.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

You REALLY need to go to someplace like Rodentpro.com $6.99 for a large rat is really obscene.

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I know Mark, but I have had bad experiences with frozen. I just prefer the non hassle of live

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Originally Posted by Sinsation

Yeh I pay 6.99 for small rats sometimes they are as smalls as hoppers with the same price tag, feeding our 7 balls run about 30 bucks for 5 small rats and 2 mice. Its ridiculous.

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Thats crazy....I WOULDN'T pay that

Good grief.... I feel pretty good about $1.59 a week for mice now :)

If the sellers on CL say that the snake is getting too expensive.. I would ask them.. why? Is the snake undergoing treatment for a disease maybe? Perhaps something is wrong and they don't want to pay for vet care. Or maybe they just need to have cable TV and internet, and pay hundreds of $$ for that luxury, but don't want to shell out for snake food :)

I might ask. There's a guy with a 7ft reticulated python pretty close to me. Maybe I'll call him, let him know I'm not really interested, but see if I can go take a look.He said he rescued it from a kid who had no idea what he was getting into. He's trying to adopt it out because he doesn't have the money/time for that and a boa.

why do you worry about the money? dont get me wrong, i have to work for all i have. i have three dogs that eat about 35 pounds of food a week. that runs into some money. i am not saying you cant, but you should be able to afford ALL aspects of the animal before you get it.

true you gotta have fun with it if you think that you'll be worrying about the cost of w/e you have to think... is it really worth it?

i never had to pay a lot for food i have a colony of roaches that cost next to nothing to feed and maintain and they are food for my tarantulas and scorpions so i pay nothing for that and i've got a friend who breeds rats who sells me rat fuzzies for $1 even:)

I agree that if you're worrying about whether you can afford it, it's a good sign that you're not ready. That actually applies to pretty much everything in life, but especially something that's gonna suffer if you acted hastily.

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Originally Posted by patthesnakeman

I know Mark, but I have had bad experiences with frozen. I just prefer the non hassle of live

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Let me guess the mouse/rat burst open while being eaten. Happened to me about 4 times. its freaking disgusting and once they burst my snakes wont eat them because the blood and gooey stuff blocks their breathing tube thingy and they regurge then i have to go in and remove a puddle of rat goo. I have tried different ways to thaw them and nothing makes a difference.

I'm a highschool student and I can afford to feed 13(I think thats the count now) snakes, how someone couldn't afford to care for a single giant is beyond me. Even with only about 100$ a week coming in, I can afford to buy rat food and bedding for about 70 breeders on top of new racks and enclosures and frozen rats.

Even if you are feeding a large retic and you order frozen from rodent pro, you are looking at rodent pro, for 10 10-11.75 lb rabbits, it is only 211$ shipped to me, thats about 20$ a week if you were to feed that size rabbit 1 time a week. Even I could afford that being a full time student and part time employee!!

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Originally Posted by Pork Chops N' Corn Bread

I'm a highschool student and I can afford to feed 13(I think thats the count now) snakes, how someone couldn't afford to care for a single giant is beyond me. Even with only about 100$ a week coming in, I can afford to buy rat food and bedding for about 70 breeders on top of new racks and enclosures and frozen rats.

Even if you are feeding a large retic and you order frozen from rodent pro, you are looking at rodent pro, for 10 10-11.75 lb rabbits, it is only 211$ shipped to me, thats about 20$ a week if you were to feed that size rabbit 1 time a week. Even I could afford that being a full time student and part time employee!!

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As you get a little older, have a mortgage/rent payment, car payment(s), kid(s), a spouse/significant other, etc.... You may find $20 a week is less and less affordable ;)

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Originally Posted by Pork Chops N' Corn Bread

I'm a highschool student and I can afford to feed 13(I think thats the count now) snakes, how someone couldn't afford to care for a single giant is beyond me. Even with only about 100$ a week coming in, I can afford to buy rat food and bedding for about 70 breeders on top of new racks and enclosures and frozen rats.

Even if you are feeding a large retic and you order frozen from rodent pro, you are looking at rodent pro, for 10 10-11.75 lb rabbits, it is only 211$ shipped to me, thats about 20$ a week if you were to feed that size rabbit 1 time a week. Even I could afford that being a full time student and part time employee!!

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yeah being in highschool you dont really have the responsibilities, like rent, car insurance, gas, registration, school. live up the high school. its a little different when your out

I would think that the initial set-up would cost the most. Like Mark said, the caging can cost a lot, but it's a one time deal. (ideally) If your just planning out what you want for the future, go and talk to the guy, and maybe some retic or burm breeders and get a good idea of what you need to house and feed. It's something I would like in the future, but just because I'm fantasizing about one now doesn't mean I'm going to go and jump out and buy one tonight. ;) :gj:

I'm just saying I pay about 200$ a month on non herp related things and can still afford to feed some 13-14 snakes and 70+ breeder rats. Anyone working full time should be able to afford to feed a giant and housing is no excuse either, you need to have the money saved up for an adult size cage before you buy the baby.

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Originally Posted by Pork Chops N' Corn Bread

I'm just saying I pay about 200$ a month on non herp related things and can still afford to feed some 13-14 snakes and 70+ breeder rats. Anyone working full time should be able to afford to feed a giant and housing is no excuse either, you need to have the money saved up for an adult size cage before you buy the baby.

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There's no excuse for anybody to buy a pet they can't afford, but the idea that anybody working full-time has an extra $80 a month isn't very realistic. If the snake I have cost anywhere close to that, there's no way I'd be able to afford it.

im paying about 50 a month for 1 snake, she eats 2 little rats a week a 6.50 a rat + 9% sales tax.

If I may show my ignorance once again, why are rats so much more expensive than mice? I pay $1.59 with tax for a mouse.

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Originally Posted by ChrisBowsman

If I may show my ignorance once again, why are rats so much more expensive than mice? I pay $1.59 with tax for a mouse.

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They eat more? Rats take up more square footage than mice, so to breeders, they can not breed as many in the same space?

$1.59 for a mouse sounds like highway robbery to me. I wouldn't pay over a dollar plus tax for a mouse...one pet store I used to buy feeder mice from charged $1, which included California's ridiculous tax.

But...Pomona Feed & Fuel pwns me. $8 bunnies plz thx! And the employees have nooo problem when I tell them the bunny is food. Farm kids understand the food chain. /nod

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Originally Posted by Pork Chops N' Corn Bread

I'm just saying I pay about 200$ a month on non herp related things and can still afford to feed some 13-14 snakes and 70+ breeder rats. Anyone working full time should be able to afford to feed a giant and housing is no excuse either, you need to have the money saved up for an adult size cage before you buy the baby.

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you will find out one day soon enough kid

house $1800 month
cars $650 month
insurance $200 month
light bill $90 month
phone $120 month
gas for cars $200 month
heat $120 month
cable $130 month
internet $50 month
credit cards way to much a month
law school $4000 a month
wife and kids lets just say there will be no retirement
and that not including food, clothes, repairs, up keep, and normal everyday needs around the house and personal needs

200 a month that would be nice as hell enjoy it while you can lil man

I really think it has nothing to do with expense. Now over the coarse of time with conservative feeding you could spend less than 10 bucks a month give or take. Housing isn't that big of a deal either a smaller tank out of craigslist or the paper could be had at a discount even still not that expensive for an initial investment. From there you save a little here and a little there. You should have more than enough money by the time the snake needs larger quarters. IMO it is all about people who get into a large constrictor and think it is really cool, killer feeding response, great to show off and by the time the snake is 2 yrs old its 8+ feet long and it starts to set in with people WTF am I going to do when this thing is 16 feet long. So all of the sudden they cannot afford it. If done right snakes really don't cost that much to maintain. Now if any animal gets sick that is different, almost always an arm and a leg to visit the vet, everyone got kids that need to get put through college right!! Really the issue is not in the cost of large constrictors. They are fairly easy to breed and produce large clutches and cost 60 bucks in a pet store. I think they suffer from peoples impulse buying. Its not like pet store do much to steer people away from large constrictors they have bills to pay also. Until large constrictors are so expensive that it brakes a pocket book to buy one, which will not happen this will continue or until they are banned in every state which is not far off at the rate we are going. Sorry I know that got steered off topic a little but just my 2 cents.

Chuck

I got sick of cleaning up piles of sh&t that would make a horse pile look small. My albino burm was about 16-18 foot long when she died (died during breeding). When she went I got rid of all the large boids I had. The few balls and rainbow boa i have now are much easier to care for (clean up after).

I will say though if you want something you dont think about the money you just make it happen. They never felt like a financial burden but i guess that also depends on how straped we make ourselves with our other bills. My wife has to be reminded every now and again that sure we could afford a nicer house but she wouldnt be able to go blow a c-note at the mall whenever she feels like it.:rolleyes:

On a serious side note anyone considering buying a large constrictor should care less about the cost and maintenance and focus more on the fact that they have the potential to be very dangerous. I personaly had a retic and an african rock snap out on me I did not sufffer any injuries but I could have easily needed a plethera of stiches either time. Even the most docile pet can throw the crazy switch at any time. My son got bit by our juvenile ranibow boa the other day and he laughed had that been a large burm I would have been going to the er.