Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just a couple of recent shots of my meager pit collection;

Lovely female Jani;

Nice calm snake, if still a little shy. Happy to cruise around the room, but not a massive fan of handling, though she never bites or hisses.

My first Sayi is still a shoelace at around 26" but is proving to be very calm and confident;

Last but not least my Annectens who spends more time out of his viv than in it;

A pathetic collection compared with you guys, but I "wasted" more than 20 years keeping other species before I got my first pit! (Actually I have had some great snakes, but as you know, pits seem to get under your skin.)

Feel the same way!

Nice animals.

Personally, for some reason I can't adequately explain, I think the person with just a few awesome animals he interacts with regularly has something that those of us with bigger collections gives up to have "more fun". I found I used to be inadvertently condescending to folks that had "pets" that were lap snakes but here I am years later feeling like, especially with Pits, that their lives are enriched and interesting compared to an animal that is only handled for cage maintenance.

I could be wrong....

Merry Christmas all!

Thanks Bob
I used to have many more snakes but kind of lost touch with why I kept them and all but one had to go.
As time went on my interest in pits began (they have been out of favour in the UK for many years to all but the die hard enthusiasts, and are generally not seen in pet stores at all!)and as you can see I now have three.
They all get a free roam session every day once "hand tame" and although I don't actually handle them that much when they're out, I like to just sit and watch them negotiate each situation. It is a real eye opener how they figure out how to get somewhere I really would rather they didn't go, or what they can actually remember, and it has re kindled the passion again!
There are many beautiful pits I would like to keep now, but from a personal perspective, keeping the numbers down actually works better for me.

Paul,

Your words, observations, and explanations are perfect, and to me, you " get it !
"

You are experiencing the true joy of owning these fine gems.

Your collection is not pathetic at all, in fact, to me, it is perfect!!! It is not about numbers, but about quality of what you are experiencing, and the quality of the lives of your awesome pits!! They appear to be doing fantastic, and that is a testimony to your great work!!! Your jani is incredible!!!!!!! Both other snakes are impeccable as well. Show off more pics!!

I kept other snakes too, before the pit disease took over for me. HA! I still have some kings, milks, corns, and one hog, but years later, I finally found my " niche ", so to say. No other snake has done it for me, as much as pits have. I have also found more keepers, in the realm of pits, that were more focused on the knowledge and enjoyment, of the snakes' themselves, versus a crowd of trend followers on the next up and coming morph, or " in " thing. Every pit keeper I know, is crazy about them, and all aspects.

To me, that is what it is about.

Bob S. said some awesome things as well, and like you both have said, when the collections get to be big, sometimes it is very easy to loose focus, on what you both now, myself included, are experiencing. Heck, my collection would be twice as big, if I let loose, but I have been able to keep a lid somewhat on letting it get too big. My collection is the second smallest out of all of my herp brothers, and I like how it is now.

Merry Christmas!!

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Genesis 1:1

You and I have a lot in common. I kept hundreds of different exotics over the years and in the end, I came back to the snake of my childhood; P. c. sayi