(Major Newbie) Help, I need advice

[ladywhipple02]

I'll not speak to the hiding-the-snake-from-your-parents-thing because everyone else has stated my same opinion on the matter.

I'll talk money and time and care, and this is coming from someone who did EVERYTHING the wrong way. When I got my first snake, I was twenty years old and literally sleeping on two blankets on the floor of a rented room in a multi-room apartment. I had no furniture of my own, I was still trying to find an apartment of my own, I was broke as **** while going to college full time and working part-time. I could barely afford food for myself let alone my cat or a snake, as all my money went to gas for my car, or bills. The snake was an impulse buy, an I'm-out-of-the-dorms-and-out-from-under-my-parents impulse buy. I'd always wanted a snake and thought what the heck? Petco was running a deal on ball pythons and I bought one. My roommate had an old 10 gallon aquarium, and on the recommendation of the dude at Petco, I bought a heat lamp, a half-log hide, and one of those stupid sticky thermometers.

I came onto BP.net very soon after as the snake wasn't eating (shocker). And thus my education - and my journey - began. I needed to ditch the light and get more humidity, but I couldn't afford a thermostat for a UTH. So I bought a cheapo rheostat. Okay... still couldn't really tell the temp because I couldn't afford a temp gun (this was fourteen years ago). I saved and bought a digital thermometer. I'm keeping the light and the UTH, and spraying as I can for the humidity. I make a second hide out of a plastic container because I can't afford anything else while I'm trying to save for a better enclosure.

Now I think things are going pretty good and the little guy has finally started eating. I learn about keeping snakes in tubs, so I get a couple plastic tubs and take a plastic shelving unit off a friend who is moving away and didn't want to take it. I get the little baby set up in his new tub, he's still eating, life is good. I love this little snake and I'm starting to become obsessed with BPs and the different morphs out there - and it comes up that someone is trying to rehome an adult. I'm young, confident (dumb) and so I get ANOTHER snake, before I even have the first take care of.

This one comes in fighting mad and with a burn on his belly. I hadn't been made aware of it, and I have no money for a vet (and I still have a cat ). So I get some advice from a few people, put the snake on some dry paper towel, try to keep the temps steady, rub him down with bacitracin, etc. He gets better.

By this time, I've found an apartment for my roommate and myself, but it's expensive to live near campus and I still have to finish college. I can't afford all this stuff so I make the difficult decision to sell the baby snake. I keep the older one because I've bonded to him through the whole healing process.

However, I'm still young and "confident" so a couple months after moving into my new apartment, I take on ANOTHER snake that needs a home. See, I don't have money, but people know I like snakes and take care of them - and you wouldn't believe how many college students purchase animals only to dispose of them when they get real lives and real jobs. I get a second part time job - still taking classes too - and scrape together what I can to get a snake rack, thermostat, heat tape, etc. I get a decent little set up going... I don't even remember how many animals I ended up with, but I got completely overwhelmed. Six or seven snakes (including a boa who was completely deformed), eight geckos, etc etc. It was ridiculous.

You know how many of those animals I have today? None. Because when I graduated, I had to get a THIRD job. I was working a full time job, and two part time jobs, and I was still sinking. I couldn't afford food, I couldn't afford a vet. I had NO time.

Long story short, I found good homes for all the animals (minus the boa) and moved back in with my parents to reset. I didn't get another reptile for a couple years. I got a single good job, got a nice apartment with a second room, got all my materials beforehand, and then I started back into the hobby.

Life is tumultuous when you're young. It's tumultuous anyway, but it's easier to get a handle on things when you have a steady income and a steady place to live. Did I make it work? I guess that's debatable. It was HARD. I went without a lot. I didn't go out with friends because I couldn't afford it, I barely ate, I couldn't even go home to see my family because I couldn't afford the fuel. I remember breaking down and crying because I couldn't pay my bills. It was HARD. The animals never suffered and I - thank goodness - never had an emergency vet situation. But at what cost? I couldn't provide a stable situation for more than a few years.

I've since had to sell off my collection for a second time because I lost my stable income. That sucked. That really hurt. It's been years and to this day I only have a couple animals because I'm afraid of getting in too deep and not being able to provide. I want a boa. I will get a boa. I'm NOT getting one until I can get an AP cage with proper heat and equipment. I just built a house and I'm still adding things to it - a deck, a driveway. So I'm waiting on the boa. I've finally, finally learned patience.


I tell this looooong story because I was you. I did everything wrong. Maybe it worked out okay for me, but not really for the animals. I don't really know where any of them are now. I hope they're still alive and being cared for. But I don't know for sure. I regret that.

If you really want a critter you can love and care for and KEEP for the next 20-30 years... have patience. Get the funds together, get the job, get a place to live, get stability for yourself (which is FAR different than the stability your parents are currently providing for you). I promise you won't regret the wait in the end, even if it sucks now.