Reptile & Amphibian Forums

o.k. I’m going to ask a hard one. I just lost a good friend to cancer. So, I started to think what would happen to my snakes if something were to happen to me.

Think of it like this if I die tomorrow who is going to take care of my snakes?
I have two dogs, five cats, one bird, two rats, and a 55gal fish tank. I know that they will be o.k. but as far as my 43 snakes are concerned I have nobody but my 5 and 7 y/o to care for them and that is too much for them. Is there a way that people of the hobby can register their snakes? Kind of’ will them out. I would not want my kings going to just anybody-Much less a pet store. Can people who love snakes come together in such a way? Just wondering if anybody has thought this far ahead and have a way to keep their snakes in the hands of experienced keepers.
Death does not scare me, its the life i leave behind i fear for.
thanks
jason wilson
p.s. i'm not taking names just yet i'm only 35!lol

I have a handful of friends/aquaintances that I would feel free to let my wife give my stuff away to and assume my daughter might keep a few of my favorites.Even if my friends eventually wound up selling them or trading them as long as it made the stress of me being gone a little easier for my family thats all I would care about.

Hpoefully we don't have to worry about this for a long time.
Bob.

can get the mind thinking. but i don't want her to get any ideas or practice at getting rid of them before i go.hehe

It would be a great thing for such an organization.

As it is now, there are organizations that will take dogs and such if you donate to them. Many people have this arranged in the event of death. But for snakes, not so much.

The law treats snakes as possessions. Nothing more. If no prior arrangements are made for the snakes to go somewhere and be taken care of, then the surviving family members get them and can do what they wish - give them away, sell them on kingsnake.com, call animal control(meaning kill them), etc.

Best call: Let family/friends know who they can contact to give away the snakes in the event of your demise. Many herpers if asked would be more than happy to take in some animals. Some of the snakes may show up on the kingsnake.com classifieds (I've seen it here) but there is nothing you can do about that.

you should give your wife the name of a person. In case of accidental death those snakes won't last long without care and cleaning. One less thing for your loved ones to worry about IMHO.

I'd also like to pass along my condolences for the loss of your friend. That's always a tough situation.

Right now, I'm a 42-year-old bachelor who lives 750 miles from the nearest family member. My snakes would have the added problem that my parents would have to come to town to deal with my stuff and figure out what to do with my snakes. I have a pet sitter who comes when I'm traveling. She could help a little, but I'm never gone long enough for her to need to learn the feeding routine. In addition, I've never given her name and number to my parents. Over the short term, they'd probably figure out what to do from someone, but there would be some interruption of services. My sister owns a lizard, and she might come to help and be able to figure out the snake needs fairly quickly.

Over the long term, I don't know what would happen. Maybe my folks or my sister would keep them. My snakes are the closest thing my parents have to grandkids. Maybe they would move the snakes to their home and find someone there who would take them.

I'm not a member of the local herp society, but this situation is one reason I should probably join. If I were a member and became close to someone there, my folks could give the snakes to that person.

Of course, one option would be for me to record some of your e-mail addresses and leave them where my folks could find them. I'd think that at least one of you would be willing to take an extra CalKing. He's a nice guy. He eats well. He'd probably breed well enough if I'd find him a mate. I also have a young ball python. Maybe someone here would be willing to take an extra bp.

Another long term issue for me is what will happen when I retire in 15 years. Now, if I don't show up to work for a few days and don't call, someone would come looking. Once I retire, maybe no one would notice if I kicked off in the night. I'd hate to think that someone would discover me a month later and find that my snakes had died of dehydration.

You raise an interesting though sobering issue.

Bill

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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.