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When did you start and why?

Ill stop pickin on ya now Laura, and get this thread back on track!

It all started with my dad. He had burms before I was born but got rid of them. When I was 5 or so he caught a gopher snake. Man, that snake was just mean to me lol, and it honesly put me off for a while. Then about 4 years later we went to utah and he caught a garter that was just awesome, and we kept it for a while until it died. Devastated me. Fast foreword until 2 years ago when my dad caught a baby cali king up at my grandparents. He got the bug under my skin and its history after that. (That's right, I'm a frickin 2 year herper! Shocker! :O)
 
I was 4, almost 5, and I broke my arm. My parents asked if there was anything they could do for me (or something like that). I didn't ask for a puppy or kitten or candy or ice cream, etc.......I asked for a snake. So that's when I got my first snake. Ever since then I've had tons of different kinds of reptiles. I'm more into bearded dragons rather than snakes now though.
 
I started working at a mom/pop pet store 3 years ago. I was always a fuzzy pet owner. Its not that I didn't like reptiles, I did, I just wasn't into them. Rabbits, cats, dogs, hamsters, etc. That was more my thing. Plus my mother was not a fan of reptiles either. I saw the different reptiles come through the store and I grew to like them more, but still, I wasn't in the "I have to have one" mode yet.

Then my grandmother came to the store one day. She went to the reptile area where I rolled my eyes behind her expecting her to moan and cry about how disgusting reptiles are and then she said so many things that each shocked me. First she asked had I thought about getting anything there. I said I kinda liked a few. She told me, I should get one. WTF? Who was this woman and where did my nana go? Then she points out the Nile Monitors, and asked why not get one, they were kinda pretty. I told her they were like little baby alligators. I showed her a bearded dragon and answered her questions about it and she said I should get it. I told her I didn't have all the money for something like that. So she said, she'd pay for it. And asked me to feed it and call her in the living room whenever I fed her. And so I got Jinx. Whenever I fed her, I called her into the room so she could watch her chase crickets and eat mealworms and salad. She loved it all. Never wanted to touch Jinx though, lol.

A few months later, a manager at the store gave me a corn snake he didn't want and I gave it to my daughter as a Christmas gift.

We currently have 2 bearded dragons and a corn snake. With plans on adding several more snakes and maybe more dragons in the coming weeks.

I know most people couldn't credit their GRANDMOTHER in getting them into herps. But I am glad I had my nana and she loved Jinx a lot. She never petted or touched her. Never held her or cared for her, but she loved to watch her eat, run around, swim, and sun bathe. So funny.
 
Well, I was kinda happy with one dragon and one snake. Then I moved in with my boyfriend. He had a dog. And he not only wanted me to live with him, he had no problem with the fact I was a mom of 1 daughter and also had 3 dogs, 2 cats, a hedgehog, bird, rats, a rabbit, and fish. When I moved in, we both decided, no more adding pets. Then he saw some pythons, mainly bloods. And he was hooked. Now he wants to get more snakes and is doing a lot of researching on breeding. We decided if we go with breeding, since we are new, we will start with breeding corns. Move up from there. :)

Oh plus I have turtles. How can I forget them? They stayed at my parents' house though. The turtles started also by accident sorta. Many people know me for taking in homeless animals, often exotics. I either keep them for life or rehome them to the best possible homes I can find. For little to no adoption fee. Depends on the situation really. One person gave me a red ear slider and then another, and another. Eventually I built them a pond outside, I live in Florida so they survive great out there. I fenced it all in so they can't escape, as they aren't native. Then one year, I saw an influx of box turtles with injures due to cars. I started to rehab those with minor injuries, major injuries were given to a licensed rehabber friend who had veterinarian resources I didn't. I rehabbed 7 adult box turtles total. I got SO good at it, they started having kids. That's when I knew, they were doing great and it was time to set them free. In the end I ended up having 8 red ear sliders and 3 yellow bellied (who someone dumped in the pond in the middle of the night). I rehomed the 3 yellow bellied to a friend's land who had a private pond, as they are native. Rehomed 2 baby red ears that hatched outside.

Oh and I got 2 iguanas that were found running loose in the city. One was super friendly, a sexually mature male who was extremely tame and enjoyed human companionship. He was the biggest iguana I ever saw and we got on the news for his capture. I did rehome him, only because I didn't have a cage large enough and though I would have been fine with a house iguana, the family situation I was in at the time was not safe for him. A month later another adult male was found, wilder and not nearly as big. He actually escaped while I was cleaning his cage. Found a way out of the kennel I put him in while I was cleaning. :(
 
I was around 5-6 years old. Found local woods and water bodies, as well as the lake our family cottage is located on. Caught everything from fish to snakes, frogs, and of course turtles of all ages and types. Baby turtles, were somehow always brought home. Did all that hardcore, for a number of years into my teens. However, I was also very into cars, and Musclecars, so for years I kinda got lost in cars, repairs, driving, and eventually opened up a trucking company. Years of being on the road makes a person homesick, and begin to reminisc the old days. Every time I got near water, either in my travels, or when I visited home, I would somehow get hold of some sort of reptile. This even includes catching baby American Alligators when I visited the Everglades in the tractor trailer. I kept three tanks set-up in the sleeper cab of the truck and made pets out of everything I could catch. I had the gators, several turtles, and many different snakes, in the truck with me.
Anyways, Long story short, The trucking industry took a dive, and I sold the company, all the trucks, and all the contracts, to Fed-Ex when they made me the right offer. Swore off the trucking industry forever, and so began hardcore with the cars, and reptiles again. Now I have a Fiance', who is as much interested as I am, so it's our bond, and our mission as a couple to basically revolve our whole lives around reptiles. I/We, are happier than ever now, and looking to get even more serious with the reptiles in every way possible.
 
My fascination began when I was hunting with my dad down in edgewater and I was only like 8 or sumthin I was at the hunting camp and I was walking to a neighboring camp and I saw a tiny red ratsnake. It was gorgeous and I just picked it up and it didnt even try to bite or musk, it just sat there roaming my fingers. I brought him to my dad and begged him to let me keep it but he said no my mom would flip. So I let him go by a tree next to where I found him and he slithered away. Then ironically later that night under the same neighbors trailer we found a 6+foot THICK yellow rat snake and we tried to chase it down and catch it, but it was too smart for a bunch of old drunk rednecks, and they wouldnt let me near it for some reason.

After I moved into a friends house who would actually let me own a snake, I bought a female BRB that was nasty and traded it to a guy the day after for a neonate 2007 "hypo" RTB. My whole intention was to get the BRB and trade I knew it was nasty. Friend wanted to get rid of a snake, guy wanted an adult female BRB and for some reason they couldnt work out a deal with each other. I came in played middle man bought the BRB for 100 traded for a $300 "hypo" RTB, and all parties were happy, turns out after a while all the black started to bleed in and she wasnt a genetic salmon hypo, just a normal that had NO black pigmentation as a youngun. and after a year she would get a black border around her tail pattern, but to this day she doesnt any black anywhere else.

BTW now I am back at home and have all my snakes with me, tho my mom made me get rid of all the boas except the one I just described, she woulda had to fight me about my baby. lol
 
I seriously got into herps when we were living in Spain. I must have been about 9 at the time.
Used to catch lizards by the dozens and all kinds of water and land snakes.
I would always end up letting them go after I kept them for a day or two.
Now I am a big boy who works at the local zoo, I enjoy it to no end.
There is a great need for reptile conservationists these days.
Something to think about when you are starting to think about college.
 
I started as a young kid.

My patrents had nothing to do with reptiles of any kind. I got hooked when I cased down a large rat snake. I grabed it by the tail and it bite the crap out of me. By the time he was done i had only one finger that was not bleeding. He went south I ran north. Been hooked ever since.

Sulcata Tortoise
Russian Tortoise
Greek Tortoise
Several small lizards
Hognose snake
Several local garden snakes
Black Throat Monitor current purchase
 
I always liked snakes.

But my ex-wife hated them.. so.. when she decided she had a boyfriend and moved out, I bought about 15 corns, turned the extra bedroom into a snake room and that Guaranteed she would never come back. She wouldn't even come to the house to argue over it. Didn't even want the house for fear I'd let a couple loose before I left! That was 15 years ago. Enjoyed it so much, I now have about 45 boas, balls and corns..LOL.. And I have a GREAT snake enthusiast wife now!
 
I started with whatever I could catch in the woods behind my childhood home. I remember catching a leech and thinking I had the cutest baby snake ever (I was 5).

Noelle
 
started young

I was maybe 3 or 4 years old. My Dad brought home a baby painted turtle, then a box turtle... Nothing was allowed to eat mammals in my home growing up so I kept indigenous herps (turtles and small ground snakes) and released them in the fall. Fast forward to college -> acquired corns, rosy boas, kings, etc. Over a decade ago I graduated from school, started breeding colubrids and geckos. I am still in it but I find myself attracted to insectivorous lizards. My 3yr old daughter is interested in Daddy's pets and Mommy's bearded dragons.

Its now a family hobby.
 
Anyone else old enough to remember when anoles were sold as chameleons, and we put red-eared sliders into those plastic bowls w/ a 2 inch fake palm in the center?

Noelle
 
My friend won a iggy at the fair- it was like th e mega- win, the normal win was an anole. Luckily, my friend is a good pet owner- once she realized it wasn't an anole, she provided the best care. The iggy did pass away a few years ago, but she won it while still in HS. So, at least you know of one story where the poor animal was indee dprovided with proper care and lived a good life.

I was never really into the lizards or turtles. They are very neat- just not my cup of tea.
 
it was 2003 and I lived less then 200 meters from Matco pets down in Tememcula, California. not the best pet shop but a few nice animals, mostly reptiles with a few mammals and some birds. I would go in everyday after school to play with their baby beardies and sometimes the two 8ft albino burmese they had, I was 12 at the time, and they had some rather large red tails in the back where I would sit in front of the enclosure and watch the 9ft female and she would coil up right in front of me; sometimes watching me too.

that went on for a looong time until one day i went in and they had some new animals. baby red tails! they had been the babies of my big friend in the back and i took all the money I had and bought a 20gallon, substrate, ect and ran out of money just on supplies and a few weeks worth of f/t mice. when i got enough to buy a snake there were only two left and i put my hand in the cage, after a few minutes one of them slithered onto my hand an wrapped around my wrist. I then bought him and wore him home like a bracelet and he wasn't stressed at all. Now I know this isnt really true but its like he was waiting for me to pick him ><


He was very important to me and i fattened him up nice over the next 6 years but my roommate couldnt afford rent and I lost my home. Had to move in with family for a while but they lived in hawaii so i had to give up my babies, 3 red tails at the time :'( made sure they went to good homes with help from Tim at house of reptiles in Oregon

Well that's my story :)

oh and I recently found out where I got the herper gene! talked to my estranged mother and found out she used to keep albino burmese before I was born but didn't think it was safe to have an 6ft burmese around a new born haha
 
i got started at the age of 7, such an odd way for someone to start loving reptiles. i was visiting with family and had a very rude, mean cousin who loved to do mean things to me....this time could have been serious. he decided to put a cotton mouth around my neck, i was terrified at first, then realized the snake wasnt actually that bad and wasnt out to just kill me as i was told it was. i soon got my first reptiles a pair of green anoles, then soon after got a year old ball python.
unfortunately the anoles died a few years later, but i still have my ball python.
 
I started because of a cottonmouth and a gator! I was about 6 years old and my dad took me fishing for the first time. He said "watch out for snakes and gators". Just as he said that I saw my first gator in the wild! I turned to get him and got bit by a cottonmouth on my calf. After my dad rushed me to the hospital my grandma and mother came to see me with books and stuff on snakes and lizards. When I got home I started trying to catch everything I can find! My mom then got me my first Iguana when I was 7 and then she started introducing me to other reptiles. By the time I was 10, I had more snakes than most of the petshops I went to. I just never gave it up.
 
I think I came out of the womb loving herps. I always loved dinosaurs and I felt that reptiles were as close to having a dinosaur as I could get. I loved the frilled dragon since I was a toddler because of a Disney movie that had one but I didn't really express an obsession in wanting to keep them until I was about 8 years old. My school had an educational assembly on reptiles and amphibians and the guy brought in a reticulated python, rhino iggy, chameleons and a bunch of other animals and I got to touch all of them. I fell in love with the rhino iggy and made it my lifes goal to own one so I drove my parents crazy to let me get some reptiles and fast forward a bunch of years and I finally got one (I also got the frilled too). I've been lucky enough to live in an area where reptile shops are common which has helped my love for herps grow.
 
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