Question for those of you with large collections

[Simple Man]

It is time consuming even with 50-60 snakes. I can't imagine how it is for some midsized breeders with 100-200 animals. Here's some things that I think are key to my success.

• I have a well regulated heated sealed up reptile room.
• All my snakes are in racks.
• I use paper substrate to save time.
• I don't use hides.
• I use a portable whiteboard to track in my reptile room and then input into iHerp.
• I use appropriately sized ceramic brulee bowls (easy clean, also heavy so no spills)
• I never mist or spray water. I simply move my waterbowls on the heat tape when I know an animal is in a shed cycle.
• I spot clean any major issues throughout the week but usually have a dedicated day for deep cleaning. (Saturday Snake Day)
• I clean the tubs/bowls that are setup with a certain snake and they go back with the same tub/bowls. (This helps prevent a lot of cross contamination. Once in awhile a tub/bowl is so bad I have to soak and clean it. I have a ridiculous amount of spare bowls cleaned, dry, and ready to go anytime I need them.)
• Hatchlings get paper towels in their 6qts (Hatchlings are dirty! This facilitates quick cleaning.)

I guess those are some of the tricks and smarter things I do make things manageable. It still takes a lot of time to do things right. I'm kind of OCD about stuff. I might spend more time than some people would deem necessary, but I've never had a sick snake and they all eat great. *knocks on wood*

Regards,

B

[DooLittle]

I've never sprayed a tub down yet and my snakes have one piece sheds every time they shed.
I'm personally not a fan of spraying tubs, there's no need to jack the humidity up and have it fall just to jack it up over and over in a cycle of too high then too low of humidity.
Don't put too many holes in the tubs and if needed slide the water bowl back over the hot spot also works really well for shed period.

This is what I do to. Water dish stays on the cool side ( humidity stays around 60ish), until I notice someone starting a shed. Then I move water bowl to other side over the flexwatt (which bumps humidity just enough), and that works out perfect. When shed is complete, water goes back to cool side. I have never misted my tubs either.

Right now I have 6 bps, and 1 boa. In a few weeks will have another boa, and probably another bp. I feed on the weekend, Saturday or Sunday for the big kids. My two little guys get fed every 5 days, my boa every 10. I have a binder that everyone has a sheet in. I mark feedings, weight, and sheds in there. I have no science to weighing, usually when ever I get curious what they are up too which is about once a month, or when they shed.

I change water once on the weekend, once midweek. In between if needed due to rat turds in the water and what not.

I clean whenever I see a steamy window. I'm kind of obsessive about cleaning. If someone is dirty, they get cleaned. Tub wiped down with f10, clean water, and clean towels. This is especially fun at 5:30 am before work, lol, which is usually when they mess themselves. But since I don't have very many, I am able to keep up with things this way. If you had hundreds, you would need a helping spouse/significant other/bff to help. If you had thousands, you would probably have to have employees. As is, we breed rats and hubby helps with that.

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[3skulls]

For the people who place the water bowl over the heat, do you worry about bacteria growth at all?

[DeadGirlSuperstar]

interesting read definitely a few good points to consider x

[bubblz]

Bacterial growth is only an issue if you keep the water warm too long and don't change it often. With mine it's a little different depending on the snake since some like to soak during a shed while others don't. For the ones that don't I keep the humidity up just by wetting the substrate over the heat tape. For the one's that do like to soak I move their water bowl closer to the heat tape but not actual over it. They start soaking just before they go into blue and come out right after or just before they clear up for the shed. Which can be a few days to a week then their bowl and water is changed and moved back to the cool side as soon as they come out of it. Unless they pee or poop in their water it'll take much longer than a week for serious bacterial growth.

[3skulls]

I was thinking a day over the heat and it would explode with bacteria. That's good to know

It gets super dry in my house during the winter, the other day it was around 25%
Just added a new humidifier and it's working great. I was just always under the impression that it wasn't good to use the water bowl.
Might have to try that.

Its Always cool to see what works for everyone !!

[Jonas@Balls2TheWall]

I'd say once I get to a thousand I better have employees

Im pretty sure you will need employees way before the 1k mark.

Humidity shouldnt be an issue unless you have a lot of air flow through your snake room.

[Sand]

I have basic info(ID/Name, morph, gender, and initial cost), feeds, weights, and, pairings logs all excel spreads. Humidity isn't an issue with sterlites (that I've noticed) all my charges shed out completely and haven't had any problems yet.. Aside from having to clean tubs 2-3 times a week... My charges seem to think it's fun to hide under the bowls... Mind you after they flip them over.. I can't wait for breeding season to end.. then back on aspen and back to spot cleans..

[LLLReptile]

Just did a count and I'm at just under 60 animals in my personal collection - for me, the biggest thing is establishing a routine. Snakes get detailed record keeping, since it is usually a week or more between noteworthy events in their care. The lizards (blue tongues and frilleds) I don't really keep a detailed record of, but I do interact with them on a nearly daily basis nor do I have nearly as many of them, so it's easier to remember who ate what and when. The various geckos all have an easy system of feeding that I just refill every couple days (either Repashy or giant mealworms, and crickets once a week when the snakes are fed).

All of my lights are on timer systems, and the snake tubs and cages are all on rheostats or thermostats. Since I have a range of species from balls to bullsnakes to ATBs, plus the various lizards and geckos, I spend about 20 min every morning going through all the cages to check on everyone and mist cages as needed. I have several fogger systems as well for the species that require even higher humidity, but I currently live in an exceptionally dry part of SoCal...so there's just no way to get around misting the cages in addition to fogging them. A pressure spray bottle helps me, takes a matter of seconds to spray each cage!

Once a week, I spend a morning or afternoon doing routine maintenance - spot cleaning all cages, and completely cleaning out a tub or a cage or two. I acquired the quantity of animals I did because I enjoy spending a day just going slowly through the cages cleaning and working with them, messing with my favorites and making each cage "pretty" and enjoyable for myself and the animals. Work is work, and I'm accustomed to helping my staff maintain several hundred reptiles at any given time, so it's nice to slow down and really mess with each reptile I own.

-Jen

[cchardwick]

I have 14 snakes now, I couldn't imagine washing water bowls for all my snakes after going to disposable deli cups. Don't plan on washing them either, just dump in a bucket and replace, so easy. Saves me tons of work. I would also think spot cleaning aspen would be way easier than paper on the bottom, may be more expensive but way easier. My rodents take way more work than all my snakes put together.