At what point do you have too many reptiles?

[andrewross8705]

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?

[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.

[Craiga 01453]

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.

[KayLynn]

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."

[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.

[OhhWatALoser]

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

[artgecko]

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.

[ElliotNess]

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.

[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.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

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