Yep, I love it, my whole family loves it (I'm in my 40's and the mother of 4). I'm very blessed that my husband and all our kids are just as snake crazy as I am.
In the balance it's more about joy and passion for the snakes (heck let's just be honest...obession lol) but it would be unfair to you to say there's never any frustration. When you have a snake you've put years into not produce a clutch or a snake that's a good feeder suddenly go off feed for no apparent reason - you get frustrated. When you have a breeding dream and it takes years longer than you hoped it would - you get frustrated. When a pairing doesn't produce the hoped for results - you get frustrated.
What you do with that frustration, how you come back from it - that marks what you are as a breeder.
We've been very blessed this year to have more people asking for our hatchlings then we have hatchlings to sell. However we are holding back quite a few this year for our own future breeding plans.
Depends on what you personally consider the payoff. If it's just to make a fast buck, then nope it's not. If you figure in the sheer hours cleaning up poop, sheds, feeding the snakes, feeding the feeder rodents, cleaning up those too, the money you put into racks, t-stats, snake purchases, etc. you aren't going to get rich fast on snake breeding.
When you find yourself in the snake room, cleaning up snake poop at midnight because that's the only time you had that day and you're about ready to fall over from sheer exhaustion, but you are still so happy to be doing it - then you know this is about more than making some cash - it's about just really loving the experience of snakekeeping.
Love the snakes, be fascinated by them, observe them and learn from them. Do the same with the experienced snake breeders you'll come to know (and if you're really lucky, get to call your friend). Take the time now to get to know other people at about the same level of snakekeeping that you are. They will likely be the ones you do a lot of trading with down the road. Be a sponge and absorb everything you can learn. Be a proactive keeper - never feel you know enough or depend on someone else to always have the answers for you. Take every experience, good or bad, as a learning experience because it is.
I have 4 kids, I know about that LOL. I think you have the right frame of mind and will do fine if you don't get caught up in any rush to achieve anything. Go at your own pace and keep enjoying the snakes.
Ain't that the truth!
Just remember Cuda those folks are just in need of a bit of education really. They fear what they don't know. Just smile and be happy you know better (and it never hurts to educate a few folks along the way).
Every time I get out a snake, even when I'm busy and just on poop pick up duty, there's a small part of me in there going "holy WOW I'm holding a snake - how FREAKIN cool is that!". I hope I never grow out of that feeling.
Originally Posted by frankykeno
Yep, I love it, my whole family loves it (I'm in my 40's and the mother of 4). I'm very blessed that my husband and all our kids are just as snake crazy as I am.
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