[kala83]

so in my case I am noticing a new addicrtion that I probably have had for years. I am fairly sure I have a minor addiction of pet hoarding.

Now I am not the kind of hoarder that just gets all these animals and does not take care of them by no means. I went to school to be a veterianary technician so I know the value of doing your research before hand and taking good care of the animal.

I currently have three pet rats, a guinea pig, a hamster, and one ball python that I just recently picked up and rescued only a few days ago. I really am getting supper attached to her. And its really hard on me my mother totally refuses to let her live in her house so now I guess I am feeling a ton of pressure to move out of my mom's place and in with my boyfriend. Animals have always been a big part of my life and so what I am animal hoarder at least I take the right kind of care of them and clean them take time to give them the right kind of food that they need and care they need to.

I would not say this is true all the time but its not that uncommon for me to put the needs of my pets before my own at times.

But the snake currently lives with a friend of mine til I can move out and find a place of my own. Since I literally have no other options.

I didn't realize at the time but when I rescued her it was a day later from that I had recived a text from my father. My father currently has testicular and prostate cancer. And is seeming to get worse off then ever.

Not just that but I have two fast food jobs right now but only one of them I have been going into steadily. I have student loans, and am going to school online right now and also attempting to save back money for a place outside of my mom's. I think i have been just lying to myself about how stressed I am and how afraid I am of all the things that are going on in my life.

there are things going on with me and my family that could be rather bad news for me or them...and I try everday to deal with but to not dwell on it. But some days are harder then others to avoid all that.

Not to mention the fact that my meds for my bipolar and for my ADD are not doing as good a job for me as they used to. I don't have a ton of people outside my DBT support group or my therapist I can actually open up and talk to.

And thats for the most part how its always felt. I love my boyfriend to death but I can't really truly open up to him and talk to him....there is still judgment when or if i choose to do that...and it hard to just sit there and deal with.
He dosn't aim to be harsh I mean to be fair none of my friends or partners wish to but sometimes things that are not meant to be taken personally, are taken that way by me. lol I know this all ties into my Borderline Personality Disorder. but I still hate it, lol just like I hate dealing with my Dependent Personalty Disorder, and its partially why I am trying to damn hard to get away from my mother so I can stop depending on her as much.

but needless to say since i have never felt that close to people never feeling truly I can trust them so well, I suppose it could explain why I like surrounding myself with books.

I don't think that's really "pet hoarding" - just a reasonable amount of pets. I love pets and all animals too. Through my life I've had fish, numerous frogs and newts, water turtles, a tortoise, dogs, cats, a hamster, anoles. I have somewhat of a dream to keep poison dart frogs or possible a horned chameleon (but they are both lots of work/responsibility that I'm not ready to take on...).

If you want to trim down your pets to make room for more you can always feed the rest of them to the python (just kidding)

Books and animals are much more reliable than humans in my experience (and I also have trouble feeling close and connecting with people too, although I'm not so much of a reader). I feel very distant from people and never truly open up - it's hard keeping things in sometimes but I don't think I really know any other way...

Anyways I don't have any good advice or anything except maybe you can adjust your meds if they're not working well for you anymore. Right now I have a Russian Tortoise and they make an awesome pet (and easy to care for) if you have the chance to rescue one

[kala83]

lol well I know that when i do get my place I am already thinking of getting some fish, hermit crabs, geckos and Chameleons, possibly a hedgehog, sugar gliders, dogs, pac man frog, probably some fish maybe even ferrets but just being surrounded by animals is something that makes me happy and feel at home lol even if I do have a lot of animals I will make a schedule of when every gets feed and keep up with it all like I am supposed to

I would love that too but no so much the work involved. When I become a millionaire I will hire you to care for my menagerie of animals.

I have read a lot about chameleons (I want a Jackson's Chameleon) and I looked into sugar gliders for a while. Also love pac man frogs. I had a few fire-bellied toads (in one of those river tank setups) years ago so I definitely have a soft spot for those.

I'm a little offended that you are snubbing poison dart frogs in your list, haha. You would have to raise wingless fruit flies though, which would be a pain in the *****. But come on - they are the coolest-looking amphibians you could imagine!!

This thread is making me want to just go to town getting awesome pets but unfortunately I don't want to put in all the effort involved in daily care right now. Picking dandelion flowers/leaves and buying lettuce and endive for my Russian Tortoise is enough for me at the moment.

[kala83]

well thats sort of what the appeal with reptiles and amphibians for me was. I have always been used to having rodents as pets and I like them due to they do want attension from their owners when they see them. The whole visual regniton they got going on.

but as cool mammals are too keep they require more constent care then a snake or lizard. Now you pay a lot of money up front for this animal but think about. You don't change out their flooring nearly as much as a guinea pig or rat (which I both own), you don't have to feed them that often possibly once a week, like my ball python that does not live in the house with me, and then after that possibly once month or twice....

you set up their heating set up undertank heater, or lighting lamps both if it happens to be a lizard.

and your about done. The way I see it the more one keeps herb the less expensive this animal will be to take care of then a mammal. lol it does make you realize why so many people do end up loving reptiles.

lol not to mention I doubt very many people pay pet deposits on a leopard gecko.

Yeah that's what I like about my tortoise for sure. All he needs is his uva/uvb self-ballasted light and he's good to go. With this guy the bonus is he eats leaves - his favorite treats are dandelions flowers, which I can pick out of the yard 7 months of the year. For me it's preferable to buying frozen mice or crickets. Just needs a nice mix of the right greens from the grocery store and dandelion leaves when it's not winter.

I want to try breeding, but you can't keep males and females in the same pen... the males brutalize the females and bite of their scales and stuff - a very misogynist reptile.

Reptiles are also cool because you know they don't give a **** about you - all you need to do is give them the necessities of their lives and you don't have to feel bad if you don't hold them enough or whatever. Kind of the opposite reason mammals are appealing I guess.

I always wanted a ferret since I was a kid (my parents wouldn't let me of course - not snakes either) but I've come to realize they just smell too bad to be worth it... based on the ones I've met, even after scent gland removal they stink like piss!

[kala83]

I am not so sure I mean so reptiles don't require lots of handeling however I do think that snakes take a lot of handeling well not as much as a small mammal.

But you do want them to get used to you and being held. I got to go over and see my girl this morning and play with her...she has changed a lot in just a few weeks. she is really curious about all kinds of things lol cats, people anything that comes near her she is fascinated by.

and she loves sitting on my lap or around my neck and cuddling with me.