At what point do you have too many reptiles?

[MasonC2K]

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.

[Aerries]

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


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[jclaiborne]

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

[L.West]

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.

[distaff]

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.

[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.

[dadofsix]

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

[andrewross8705]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

[Vipera Berus]

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.

[distaff]

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.