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My Zoo

post #1 of 9
4/5/08 at 10:13am
Thread Starter 
I love animals so naturally I have several. I have 3 cats, 3 sugar gliders, 1 ferret, 11 snakes, several rats, and one salt water tank. When I told my mom I wanted to have a baby, she told me to get rid of all my animals except my cats (because they are like my children). The thing is though, I can't bring myself to get rid of them. The snakes I plan on breeding and making it kind of a small business of mine, so I don't want to give them up. They only get fed once a week and their cages get cleaned once a week, so I don't see too much of an issue with them being around AND having a baby. As for the gliders, we plan on finding them a new home anyway, baby or not. We don't want to get rid of the ferret either. We plan on getting her a playmate so when we do have a baby, she won't be as lonely or bored when we won't be able to take her out as much. And the rats hardly take up any of my time and they are only there as breeders to make feeder rats for my snakes (its expensive feeding snakes) and their care and the time to clean cages and feed and water everyone is not that much.

Now if it came down to it, and I had the baby and I just could not find time to care for all the animals (which I don't see happening because I've always got friends to come over and help me out) then I could find homes for some of the snakes (not all) and find a friend to take the ferret for a time. The saltwater tank and the gliders would go (the gliders for sure) and the cats stay no matter what.

Do any of you have any experiences having a lot of animals and having a baby? My animals are like my children so the thought of any of them leaving me is horrible, especially the cats and the ferret.

Note: If any of you are worried about me bringing a baby into this world around dangerous snakes, let me ease your worry. The snakes I keep are less dangerous than my 5 month old kitten. I keep ball pythons and corn snakes, neither of which gets any larger than 3-4 feet long and all are in secured enclosures and all snakes are kept in a seperate room that can be locked, so no escapees and no danger.
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post #2 of 9
4/5/08 at 10:56am

Re: My Zoo

As a an a fellow animal lover and mini-zoo owner myself, I don't see that you have to get rid of any. I am a mom to 4 kids, 3 dogs,a cat, 3 birds(one being an large parrot so you might as well say a fifth child), 3 snakes(2 corns and a ball) and two tree frogs. Before my cat started torturing them, I also had two lizards and 4 rats. I have always had a lot of animals and have never re homed any because of the kids, even when they were babies. As long as you can care for them, and have your SO/DH's help and support there shouldn't be a problem. Obviously you don't let infants and small children play with/handle the animals without total supervision and proper hand washing (and that of course goes for you as well with the hygiene), but unless you have a "free for all" where everything is loose and running rampant and/or your house is unsanitary because of the animals they don't pose a danger to the baby. Be extra careful after handling/cleaning the rodents,cats and snakes to wash with a good antibacterial soap and hot water because of the risk of certain bacteria and make sure someone else does the litter box during pregnancy.
If after you have a baby and the time constraints are a problem or there are allergy issues, etc...that may be a reason to re home them, but just adding a child to a zoo of healthy friendly well cared for critters is not a good reason.

PS: I will mention however that breeding snakes on a small scale is not very profitable, from a friends experience and the over population issue that the reptile rescues are dealing with snakes make a pretty large number of babies and only appeal to a limited number of people, there for you end up with a LOT of unsold babies and no where to go with them. The rep rescues are full to the max and there biggest issues are iguana's, ball pythons and corn snakes because they live a LONG time, are very prolific and people get bored with them or can't properly care for them. Two of my three are rescues for this very reason.The cheaper reptiles are considered "disposable" pets...bought on a whim and then either dumped or neglected/abused.
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post #3 of 9
4/5/08 at 7:56pm
Thread Starter 

Re: My Zoo

We are always washing our hands when we deal with our animals. Its like second nature now and we keep anti-bacterial hand sanitizer at every cage.

As for breeding the snakes, I am a part of a huge reptile community and I will be dealing with morphs. So its not like I'm taking two snakes from a petstore and breeding them and hoping to make a pretty penny. One of my snakes, if bred next year could produce young that cost $300-600. And eventually I'll be hoping to produce snakes that will cost upwards of $1000.
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post #4 of 9
4/6/08 at 10:36am

Re: My Zoo

Quote:
Do any of you have any experiences having a lot of animals and having a baby? My animals are like my children so the thought of any of them leaving me is horrible, especially the cats and the ferret.
First of all, what are sugar gliders?
I have three dogs, which were like my children until I actually had children. While I love and adore animals, they no longer compare to my kids. Especially when Emily was a baby, it was hard for me to devote the time I needed to give to my dogs. My husband and I juggled it, and as Emily got older, it became easier, but do know that human babies are a lot of work, and should be first priority. That's not to say that you can't have animals and kids, but it will be a balancing act.
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post #5 of 9
4/6/08 at 9:47pm
Thread Starter 

Re: My Zoo

A sugar glider is a marsupial from Australia and another island I can't remember right now. They are quite cute but need a lot of attention. Attention we won't be able to give them when we have kids so we are in the process of finding them a new home.

I think having the snakes and having a baby should be no problem since they only get fed once a week and cleaned once a week. I will be talking to my fiance tonight about possibly putting the snake breeding on hold for a while, at least until we are more experienced with having a child and juggling so many tasks.
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post #6 of 9
6/16/08 at 9:02pm

Re: My Zoo

Yesss another snake lover!

I have 3 corn snakes:
Pastel Motely
Charcoal
Upper Keys

And an Eastern/Florida intergrade kingsnake. I had to deal with so much flak from my future in laws, like they thought I was gonna feed the baby to the snake, or rub them all over him.
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post #7 of 9
6/17/08 at 6:22am

Re: My Zoo

Snakes? I could live with them if I had to. Rats!?! No frickin way! You are all braver than I am! I DESPISE RODENTS! Of any kind. I don't even like hamsters or guinea pigs - I don't care how cute they are. Ewwww!

Done now.

As long as you can care for the animals after the baby comes, I don't see a problem with it.
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post #8 of 9
6/17/08 at 9:41am

Re: My Zoo

Well rats really are great pets, they're like little lap dogs. I had to have mine put down recently
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post #9 of 9
12/15/08 at 2:39pm

Re: My Zoo

I looove snakes!!

I use to work in the largest reptile store here in San Antonio
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