Hand-reared snakes with a lot of effort (4-6)
I believe the answer is:
hard-earned
'a lot of effort' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'hand-reared snakes' is the wordplay.
'snakes' indicates anagramming the letters (letters snake around).
'hand'+'reared'='handreared'
'handreared' with letters rearranged gives 'HARD-EARNED'.
'with' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hard-earned that I've seen before include "Gained through toil or difficulties" , "Resulting from much toil" , "Acquired through much work" .)