Terry, I think I have to print this out and show my wife!!! Hahahahaha!!!! You have hit the nail on the head over and over in your post. I got my first garter snake when I was 9 or 10 (I'm almost 37 now) and before that, kept anything that I could catch and stick in a container (baby turtles, salamanders, newts, crayfish, etc.). Since then, I have almost continuously had at least 3 or 4 herps at any given time, and had built up quite a collection consisting of retics, amazon trees, corns, blood pythons, boas and a few monitors by my mid-twenties. Then when we got married, bought a house and had a baby, for the first time in my life, cleaning cages and thawing out rats and rabbits just wasn't fun anymore, so everything went. And she was (secretly) very happy about it. Three years ago, my daughter (3 at the time) started showing a very keen interest in herps and before I knew it, I was very happily, back into it. Now it's more about concentrating on just a few smaller species that really turn me on and don't take up too much space or time. Hopefully, I will get babies from three different species this spring so I can show her that at least it's a productive hobby. I also always use the excuse that at least I'm home and not out drinking with the boys or at sports practice or games, etc. Bottom line is, all our spouses are saints for putting up with our addiction! Billy



>>We have to get this hobby officially classified as an addiction so they understand we can't help it and my health isnurance might kick in and pay for some of it. LOL. My wife keeps saying and telling friends that I actually said, "I only want one". I can't recall ever saying something like that. My wife also thinks that I sneak a snake in every once in awhile. She'll say and think something like, "Is that another new snake on the shelf on the wall in the living room?" I tell her, "No, its one I've had for a couple years; I just moved it from where it was to that shelf. I moved it so people would notice it more often". I don't know how long that will work, but that's my story for now. Just in case anyone calls me. If you mention to her it's concerning snakes, you are automatically on the list "Not" to get a Christmas card. Everyone starts out on the list to get one. Quite a few make it over to the list NOT to get one. LOL. My friend Del Alspaw gets tranferred over to the list Not to get a Christmas card by January 2 each year. I think he made it till January 5 once. My wife actually is pretty good about my snakes. She has to put up with a lot of things other people whose spouse isn't addicted to this hobby don't put up with. It takes up alot of my time. There's rodents in the freezer. She bought me 4 books about snakes last year for Christmas. Really nice books that are good reference for someone who doesn't know about snakes. Actually, she called Del Alspaw and he told her some books that would be nice to have as reference. He didn't do it for free though. She had to put him on the list to get a Christmas card again. She hesitantly did it, but it didn't matter. He was back on the list Not to get a Christmas card 2 days later for coming by and picking me up to go look at some snakes. Del and I took the wives with us and went to Tucson, AZ for 4 days. They weren't really thrilled about the idea. Del and I told them we were going to swing through Las Vegas on the way back. They decided it was a good idea to go with us to Tucson, It took until the third day and they both figured out Las Vegas wasn't going happen. That one cost Del and I. It's not only an addiction to have to get snakes, it is also what it can casue us to do. LOL.

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>>Terry Parks

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