For years, I have worked with adoptions and rescue of herps and often hear from the owners "it was too much", "my kid went to college and we don't have time to care for it....", etc. I look back at myself over these years and the state of my collection and others I know well with similarly large collections and wonder how we can do it and others can't or won't? Like anything else, it takes passion and commitment. I always joke with my non-herper friends that if you want a solid relationship, marry a herper! Though I have had herps my whole life, it was within the last nearly 20 years that I can claim to having a sizable personal collection. Those who know me know that I don't chince on my collection. A drug problem would be cheaper! But it gives me the satisfaction of know I am providing care for an animal or animals to allow them the ability to enjoy the best of their natural life cycle. To me the gauge of any being's quality of life is directly related to their overall physical health, including amount of stress as exhibited by their behavior and ability to reproduce periodically healthy offspring with out adverse effects to their own well being. Is this anthropomorphic? Maybe, but its the most understandable perspective I have.

It takes commitment, resources and cooperation. Commitment by you and your family over the duration often spanning decades. Dick Bartlett just posted on Facebook keeping a tortoise for some 60 yrs, that's commitment. Not everyone can provide that commitment and when life deals out challenges, a responsible owner acts accordingly. You seek out the best substitute for you. Whether a friend, a collegue or through local herp society or rescue group. Resources of course are needed in both time and money. Another resource often overlooked by novice keepers is fellow herpers either within your own family or herp societies. These fellow enthusiasts not only have the resources of knowledge and experience, but also physical assistance. Ever try going on a honeymoon or vacation with a large collection? How about selling and moving to a new house? What happens if you get sick or injured for a spell? Fellow herpers are more than they appear. Cooperation? It relates to your fellow herpers, but also to your family and funny as it sounds, your herps. Working with aggressive or dangerous animals may be thrilling at times, but what about routine maintenance? Moving a large snake every week or two to clean the cage is often challenging enough, but a fiesty or aggressive one makes it difficult. To address those unwanted behaviors zoos look to condition animals to certain activities to make it minimally stressful and often times fun. You can do this to some extent with herps. I routinely work with many of my snakes to hold their head and pull back their lips to examine their mouth. Over years, many will let me do this in public so people can see their teeth. You may not be able to do this with everyone, but it is an example of the conditioning that can be adapted for routine maintenance. I even had a monitor that would open his mouth using hand gesture so he would let me see inside. I am sure his incentive was to also close it on me, but we never tested that side

My advice to anyone is plan what you can handle and be prepared to set aside time on a regular basis, but also plan your other resources. Budget for your pets. Not just for food, but vet care, housing changes, replacement heating, etc. Identify your fellow herpers and work out details of who can care for your collection in your absence. Share this with your family so they know who to call in an emergency. And my last bit of advice, know your limits. Don't over-extend yourself. Its tough, trust me. But after all these years, I know where my limits are. Keeping to those limits and if you feel you are exceeded them, contact your local herp society, fellow herpers, etc. to help you compensate. Work to make your routine maintanance schedules efficient and effective. Think of how many times you may clean a cage over the years. Sometimes a little investment upfront goes a long way in saving time down the road. And last but not least, enjoy what you do! Its really the passion that will sustain you, otherwise it becomes tiresome work.