That is a very good plan! Reptiles ARE addictive. It's very common for a new keeper to become so enamored with them that they start aquiring everything that catches their eye. Before they realize it they have far more animals than they ever intended and possibly far more than they can properly care for. At that point it DOES become overwhelming! What began as a very enjoyable hobby has become a dreaded task and the neophyte hobbyist either neglects the animals until they die or dumps them on someone and gets something less time consuming like collecting stamps!
And no I am not bashing stamp collecting!

Its always better to start out slow and really learn the ways of the 1 or 2 (or 4)that you have. Get everything down pat and going smoothly. And THEN you can start to add to your collection.
And EVERYONE will be a lot happier!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

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Zane Neher.

The great and strong man is one who bears within his character many contradictions.
Crocodilian care.

I wake up at 8 during the week usually and turn everyones lights on, check temps and humidity and clean out water dishes. I usually handle Libi everyday cuz I bring her in the shower with me cuz its nice and humid. The monitor gets handeled alot less now that hes sick only 2 times a day for meds and soaking. Cham I hand feed every morning and evening, thats about as close to handeling he will tolerate tho. And my ferrets have free roam of my basement, so whenever they want attention they bite me..it works rather well. You just have to get on a schedule that works out for you and the herps

Hello,

All of my lights are on timers and my heating devices are on rheostats or dimmers. I don't need to worry about any of them.

The dragons get fed in the AM, normally by Angie and Amber. The Leopard Geckos get fed at night, by me, Amber, and Cody. I can skip leo feedings comfortably because they always have food in the enclosures. I leave a dish of mealies in with all of them at all times. The feedings consist of whatever "extra" insect I happen to have that week. (crix,superss,butters,waxies,etc.

The snakes are fed every 10 days. The kids like to watch, so its normally an event for them. (We normally handle them before the feedings too. Since I don't let anyone near them after a feeding for about 3-4 days.)

All of my critters are handled throughout the week. The kids like to handle the snakes. I don't allow anyone to touch the Leopard Geckos but me. The dragons get handled the most because Angie and Amber don't leave them alone. lol

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Savannah, you take your red tail boa in the shower with you??

We spend quite some time cleaning and feeding our animals, as Joe said, and handle them as often as we can - we sometimes have my young brother and his friends helping us - but we don't see it as a hard job, it is second nature - something that needs to be done and we give them the time they need as their needs always come first. I have to say, 4 reptiles would be a doddle though when you have 60+ animals!

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

Even with my little collection its really not all that hard, i come home and have basically a rhoutine every day for feeding, watering, cleaning, etc which takes me about 30 minutes each day. Reptiles are happiest when they are healthy, it has nothing to do with you holding them whatsoever. Right now I may or may not hold my Bearded Dragons while im doing homework or something, the only one of my herps that I must hold every day is my monitor because I feel that he needs the human interaction in order to have any chance of being less agressive as an adult. though im sure that will be desputed. Herps really aren't anything like cats or dogs, they don't need nearly as much human socialization and don't swet if you can't pay attention to them besides feedings and cleanings. As long as its a healthy herp, its a happy herp.

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ginko tutors in basic math just ask paris hilton

obsoleta lindheimeri(texas ratsnake)
varanus nilocticus(nile monitor)
Sternotherus odoratus(musk turtle)
pagona minor(2)(bearded dragons breeding pair)

It's a very complex problem for me. Actually, not really.

My gold skinks are "unhandleable" because to be honest they are very stubborn and VERY fast and uncooperative. My fire skink gets handled when she feels like, which is almost never. My berber gets taken out when she's walking about and lets me take her up, which is only a few times a week. The blue tongue comes out as frequently as I can for walks outside, it loves it! The crestie gets handled almost every day before bed, if only for 5 minutes. Same with the snake. the Croc skinks would just as soon not be handled, they are so wild caught (which I didn't know til after we paid) it's scary. They are taming down though.

Not much eh? The problem for me is when breeding skinks, I try to hand tame them which takes HOURS every day, or when I have a sick one...I get almost no sleep.

yea if one of my girls were ever to get sick I'd go through the roof insane!

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I am owned by:
2 dogs, a Hahn's macaw, 2 parrotlets, 2 parakeets, 1 bearded dragon, 1 cornsnake, 2 yellow belly sliders, 1 razorback musk, 30 gallon saltwater reef, 10 gallon planted tank, 5.5 gallon planted betta tank

Yeah, she sits on the towel rack I have, my main reason is cause I really dont get to spend much time with her anymore and the high humidity makes her a veryy happy snake. She is getting to be too big for the towel rack tho, I smell an upgrade

I must admit, that we have grow very quickly with our herps, at the beginning of December we had 1 Iguana, 1 fire belly newt, a baby snapper, 3 cats, 2 cockatiels, 1 rabbit and a dog. Now we have 2 corn snakes, 1 ball python, 4 bearded dragons, 5 Leopard Geckos, 4 turtles, 1 tarantula, 2 Iguanas, 2 tree frogs, 1 fire belly newt, 2 cats, 2 cockatiels, 1 rabbit and a dog. During the summer our schedule is thrown off a bit. But during the school year here is what we do: I’m the first up, turn on lights, etc., feed the dog, let him out, and sometimes the cats. When Sean get up he will cricket all the cricket eaters, check water etc. before school. I get home from work 2 hours before Sean does, I’ll feed the veggies; take care of the loes and spot clean cages as needed. Sean or Marty will feed the turtles. Sean will feed the birds and bunny everyday. Snakes will be fed on weekends. All cages are completed cleaned and disinfected on the weekends. What really helps us out is that we use paper towels for substrate, which makes quick clean up. We have switched to mostly sterlite or custom-made enclosure. The custom enclosures have flooring to make easy clean up.
Handling: everything that can be handled is handled at least every other day. It is not unusual for Sean to be on the computer or reading a book with some critter joining him. I usually have a snake or Bearded Dragon with me when I’m on the computer or doing stuff around the house.

This is a breeze compared to 150 long hair show angoras, grooming, shearing etc 30+ bunnies a week. Feeding and watering would take 2 hours, then there was the clean of the poo etc. Add on another 30-45 minutes in the winter for frozen water bowls.