Why you shouldn't get into reptiles

[cletus]

When I was younger I used to hoard reptiles and keep everything I could get my hands on. Not so much these days. Now that I know a lot more about proper husbandry and the cost that comes with it, I'm able to restrain myself. On one side of the coin, I kept snakes for years before I had the internet to tell me I was doing it all wrong. On the other side, I cringe at when I think about some of the things I got away with back in the day. I still cant believe I didn't cook any snakes with no thermostats. I still have some stuff on my list but for the most part I'm very happy with the few that I have.

[redshepherd]

Like dumdum said, any hobby or interest can become an addiction if you let it become one. And I guess part of it is personality? Some people are more prone to addiction (the mental state) than others.

I don't think everybody who gets into reptiles, bonsai, dogs, horses, aquariums, etc. end up thinking they are ruining their life over an "addiction". It should be fun! Animals are fun, it's an interest, maybe an obsessive interest. But if you feel like it is taking over your personal life or you can't control your finances, that is a whole different problem. It's not reptile-specific AT ALL.

On a related note, part of the "ball pythons are like potato chips" specifically though comes with being able to keep them in a rack. You buy a 10 tub rack, and you want to fill it up. It's easy to clean, efficient, and the snakes live. But if another keeper has a different perspective on keeping reptiles and wants to keep each snake in 2x4 feet enclosures with bioactive substrate and plants, it would obviously significantly cut back on the "potato chip" ability of it. Just as an example.

[Zincubus]

Maybe we could also touch on the occasional feeling of guilt some get for keeping them enclosed ????


I am a self confessed snake addict , currently with 20 and the 21st one coming on Monday ...... but every so often , every few months I suddenly feel a tad guilty ...

Should I start a separate thread ??

[Lizardlicks]

Maybe we could also touch on the occasional feeling of guilt some get for keeping them enclosed ????


I am a self confessed snake addict , currently with 20 and the 21st one coming on Monday ...... but every so often , every few months I suddenly feel a tad guilty ...

Should I start a separate thread ??

yeah probably, you've mentioned this in several different threads now...

[Zincubus]

yeah probably, you've mentioned this in several different threads now...

If by several you mean this one and the other one then yes .

I plead guilty .



Never know wether to fit these in an existing thread or start a new one ( which sometimes get slaughtered for failing to use the search option properly .)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[distaff]

I try to keep a focus that keeps things simple. No lizards that require UV, or 110F hotspots. Nothing that requires I raise superworms, crickets, roaches, or fruit flies. If I had started with a beardie, or something, than branching out into other lizards with similar food and care requirements would make more sense.

This is the same reason that I don't keep tropical fish that require heaters. If I ever do more than goldfish, it will likely be North American native fish - bluegills, shiners, and the smaller more passive sunfish. (This is assuming they can just get a purchased pellet - anything that needs brine shrimp, white worms, tubiflex, etc. will be off the list.) An Oscar is an impressive fish, I love how endearingly ugly they are, but I'm not heating a two hundred gallon tank!

Then, there are birds. An African Grey would probably be my dream bird. However, I don't need to own sensitive, high strung, HIGHLY intelligent animal that will almost certainly outlive me by decades...an animal that needs extensive out of cage time, but also chews walls and furniture. Two budgies are going to have to suffice as the parrot stand-in choice. Canaries are fun and easy, finches are fun and easy, pigeons are fun and easy. Would love a corvid, but again, they come with too many headaches. It can work if that is about the only pet one has, but I'm long past that.

Find a focus, and you can get away with larger numbers.

[cletus]

Maybe we could also touch on the occasional feeling of guilt some get for keeping them enclosed ????


I am a self confessed snake addict , currently with 20 and the 21st one coming on Monday ...... but every so often , every few months I suddenly feel a tad guilty ...

Should I start a separate thread ??

I don't feel guilty about keeping animals because I know they are well taken care of.

[Zincubus]

I don't feel guilty about keeping animals because I know they are well taken care of.

Well the same here , as I've said but that's not the same as being free ..


Yes I know it's an odd feeling to be having - even if it's only 3 or so times a year .


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[cletus]

Well the same here , as I've said but that's not the same as being free ..


Yes I know it's an odd feeling to be having - even if it's only 3 or so times a year .


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I hear you. I guess the only time I ever felt guilty was with a hognose I caught and kept when I was a teenager. I never could get it to eat and it finally died. I should have released it much sooner and not let it get to that point. I had released animals before that I couldn't get to eat but I didn't want to let the hognose go because it was the coolest thing I'd caught at that point. This was early 80s and I didn't have the resources available that are out there now.

[John1982]

I start and end every day taking care of my animals and I wouldn't have it any other way. They help me start every(ok, most) days upbeat and happy. They're also there to help me unwind after any particularly long days. If you think your reptile keeping is a problem, you're probably right but remember you aren't me, he, or she - one can only speak for oneself in this regard.