A chronic collecting issue with the hobby

[Snagrio]

Some of you have known me long enough to know that, even with a BP and several other animals, I've spent a lot of time here planning and discussing further additions when my financial and logistical background is screaming otherwise. Well, after mulling it over for a few days, I think I'm understanding why I have gotten into the mindset of wanting more snakes when I'm really not ready for it. It involves the internet and the reptile keeping culture attached to it.

I really took a step back and analyzed things and noticed a pattern of what you could call "acquisition syndrome." Wherein it feels like a major driving force of the hobby at large is to continuously get more animals at varying but steady rates. At first you'd think this is primarily just reptile YouTubers who do it for the views but, no. This behavior seems prevalent everywhere. On YouTube, social media, reptile groups, convention goers, even forums including this one; all of them sport a disproportionate number of people who seem to have a compulsive habit of needing to fill an entire room (if not multiple) of JUST reptiles and/or other exotic pets to fulfill whatever "collection quota" they've got in their heads. and I got caught up in it all that easily.

I should stress the difference between having a lot of animals in general and the almost clockwork rate at which the above mentioned seem to amass a host of critters within a given time frame. Namely, the animals feel more like they were acquired in the same vein as how one collects figurines or cards; rapidly and vapidly. In my personal case for example I knew from the start I'd probably want multiple snakes in due time after the circumstances and resources were sufficient, but it quickly got out of hand to me almost auto-planning for half a dozen species when I had barely gotten into a routine with the snake I had just brought home.

[Lord Sorril]

A lot of reptiles are relatively easy to care for and provide a high rate of entertainment for their keeper. I think most people follow the logic: if one makes them happy then two might make them *more* happy. The trap of course is that at some point you have diminishing returns. Is it more fun to keep 5 leopard geckos, or 500? Where does it stop being fun-and where does it become work? I think each person has their own threshold...some people are better gauging it than others.

[Bogertophis]

We often "joke" about snakes & other reptiles being addicting, but it's not a completely frivolous description. Snakes especially are so easy to live with & nice to look at, that it's all too easy to just keep adding "one more", because hey, why not? I'm glad to see you're doing some self-examination, as we ALL should do, to make sure we've considered all the angles before adding yet another long-lived pet. For some people it's cats, or birds, or dogs. But no matter what, all pets deserve the best care, & that includes long-term planning as part of our lives.

That means being able to afford not just their enclosure & food, but also leaving room in your budget for vet care, as well as the time to actually clean & interact with them as needed. It also means making sure that you have a place to live that allows your pets, & that's a big one if you're young & still living "at home", because in the future that's likely to change, & things can get really complicated in a hurry. Renting with pet snakes can be very difficult, & hiding them from a landlord when not allowed is a very bad idea. Being impulsive gets many people in trouble one way or another (not just with pets). There's always lots of temptations being shown here & elsewhere- fair warning- that's just life.

[WrongPython]

Yes, yes, yes to all of the above. Couldn't have expressed it all better myself.

I've run through the same mental exercise as you, Snagrio, and have come to the same conclusions. There are dozens of species and localities I'd really like to keep. I don't think I'd be happy keeping all of them at the same time, though. It can be very hard to resist running out and buying them all when they come up for sale, and doubly hard to turn away a cheap-to-free rehome when offered one by a friend. That being said, it's the best way to stay personally sustainable and enjoy reptiles in the long term. If anything, it makes finally getting that reptile I've been wanting for a while all the sweeter.

For what it's worth: pursuing proper vet care/health screening, building fancy adult enclosures (or at least setting aside the money to do so in the future), and spending a lot of one-on-one time with your herps is definitely helps keep the headcount from getting too large. At least on my end.

[plateOfFlan]

You see the same thing with tarantulas, I was proud of myself for putting on the brakes after 9. It seems like once you've had a new specimen home for a bit and are getting used to taking care of it the itch comes on again - and a lot of people in the hobby will just encourage it "oh you have to get that one! Oh just one more!" How many people have asked a discord or forum "should I get species A or species B?" and been answered with a chorus of "GET EM BOTH!" I've learned just to not ask so I won't be encouraged. It takes a lot of self control to say "I don't have space / expertise / time for this one right now" and anyone who makes the responsible choice should be applauded

[nikkubus]

You see the same thing with tarantulas, I was proud of myself for putting on the brakes after 9. It seems like once you've had a new specimen home for a bit and are getting used to taking care of it the itch comes on again - and a lot of people in the hobby will just encourage it "oh you have to get that one! Oh just one more!" How many people have asked a discord or forum "should I get species A or species B?" and been answered with a chorus of "GET EM BOTH!" I've learned just to not ask so I won't be encouraged. It takes a lot of self control to say "I don't have space / expertise / time for this one right now" and anyone who makes the responsible choice should be applauded

It's even worse with T's from what I've seen. When even adults take up so little space, and you have to buy a lot more slings of one species to have a chance for a female or breeding pair because you can't sex them for quite some time... whew, gets out of control fast. They are cheaper to feed, cheaper to house, easier to care for save a few species or personal living situations, so that adds to it. That being said, T's are really, really easy to provide for in large numbers outside a few species unless your home has too harsh of an ambient climate.

[303_enfield]

It’s called hoarding. I look at it this way. If a flood is coming can I take all the dogs, snakes an kids with me? If the answer is no, time for a bigger truck!

Sometimes you have to step back an just say no.

Good luck!

[mdb730]

When I started in this hobby I wanted to breed different morphs/improve on examples of morph and the hobby needed to sustain itself. I understood I wanted a mid to large collection of snakes but planned to only hold back best examples from my babies or acquire new snakes with profit from selling my babies. I know I have an addictive personality so this basic rule I stuck to helped me avoid impulse buying a large quantity of snakes in a short period of time. Granted the initial investment was for an adult pair and 4 juvie females but with my rule I needed to wait an entire year to buy another snake with profit from babies from my adult pair. If not for that those rules I set for myself I would have been straddling a line between hobbyist/hoarder early on.

[Snagrio]

It’s called hoarding. I look at it this way. If a flood is coming can I take all the dogs, snakes an kids with me? If the answer is no, time for a bigger truck!

Sometimes you have to step back an just say no.

Good luck!

I hesitated to outright call it hoarding because the parameters of it compared to say, hoarding dogs or cats are a lot blurrier to define. It's easier and more manageable to have a dozen+ reptiles (give or take the species) than it is to house the same number of dogs/cats out of sheer logistics. Having 10 snakes won't turn your home into a wreck, but having 10 dogs more than likely will. There's also the matter of if the person in question is a breeder or pure hobbyist since the former would obviously naturally have more than average.

Of course, there's still plenty of examples of a reptile owner who has way too many to the point of being overrun and the animals suffer for it. But they're not nearly as obvious or common a sight as, say, the crazy cat lady who's house is falling apart and floors are covered in feces.

[Bogertophis]

I hesitated to outright call it hoarding because the parameters of it compared to say, hoarding dogs or cats are a lot blurrier to define. It's easier and more manageable to have a dozen+ reptiles (give or take the species) than it is to house the same number of dogs/cats out of sheer logistics. Having 10 snakes won't turn your home into a wreck, but having 10 dogs more than likely will. There's also the matter of if the person in question is a breeder or pure hobbyist since the former would obviously naturally have more than average.

Of course, there's still plenty of examples of a reptile owner who has way too many to the point of being overrun and the animals suffer for it. But they're not nearly as obvious or common a sight as, say, the crazy cat lady who's house is falling apart and floors are covered in feces.

You're right- no one calls tropical fish keepers "hoarders" if they have 200 fish either. It's all relative to what you're keeping, & what the person can keep up with. Snakes are way easier to live with than too many dogs or cats. It becomes "hoarding" when any animals are not properly cared for- when their nutritional, grooming, cleaning, social or medical needs are not met. What happens with some people (no matter what they're keeping) is that at first they're keeping up just fine, but they have a financial setback, or health issues, & they fall behind yet don't get help. They meant well in the beginning & they love animals but have a big "blind spot". That's why it's so hard to pick an arbitrary number that fits all people as "THE" absolute number that's "too many". So it's up to friends & relatives to try to watch out for those situations, but often any interventions are not well-received. If worst comes to worst, it becomes neighbors & authorities that get involved.

Sometimes it's not a pet-keeper but a business- I vaguely remember some years back- a supposedly-big name (with a good public reputation) in dealing reptiles was busted for an enormous warehouse full of sick & dying (or already dead) herps & other exotics. The guys name didn't stick with me, as I'd never heard of him, but apparently he was well-known in some circles or some states. Anyway, it was both embarrassing for the herp world & horribly sad for the animals- they were kept in filth, without heat, & many without water, etc. Everyone assumed, by the public "face" that guy put on, that he was trustworthy & legitimate. You really can't be too careful.