Burke Reptiles

This thread is being posted with honesty and by no means am I saying Tom Burke is a "Bad Guy" but I wanted to get a couple honest opinions and answers. Last year I bought a "lipstick sunglow" from Tom and it cost me $3000... way over regular market value. The boa is very nice and has a great feeding responce. However when the boa came in the mail I noticed that it didn't seem to be a RED and the picture showed on his site. I have contacted a couple of well known breeders about this and they said the pictures looked like they had red color added to them. Again I am by no means calling Tom Burke a bad guy, just wanted to hear everyone else's experience with their sunglow purchase.

I know I am not the only one that thinks maybe somthing may be up here, their is a guy that posts on the KS forum screen name art that bought a sunglow possible super from Tom and he feels that the pictures miss represented the animal. If anyone else has a answer or opinion please chime in. If anyone wants to see a photo of the sunglow email me at bryan.lucas@ymail.com

Hi Bryan, please post the pics here and it will be much easier on everyone.

I have seen Tom and Amanda's animals on several occasion in person at shows and they always have insane looking sunglows on their table. I am not saying anything until I see pics, but they make some damn nice snakes.

Chris Canada-Smith

Chris I don't know how to post pics on here so shoot me an email



bryan.lucas@ymail.com

Here you go Bryan, this should work.

Burke's pic of one snake:



Bryan's pic of previous snake:



Burke's pic of other snake:



Bryan's pic of second snake:



Bryan, the second snake seems to be pretty similar in color in both pics. The other picture seems to possibly be washed out some. Can you take some pics outside in shade? I have found that is the easiest way to show accurate color.

Chris

It looks like TB's pics were taken with a flash , while one of B's pics looks like it was taken outdoors in bright sun ,all washed out, and the other one looks pretty good .I don't think your problem is the snake as much as the photos.Killer sunglow!

Here are a before and after pic of my Lipstick I got from Tom a few years ago. I actually was a little bummed when I got the snake here, I also thought it wasnt as red as the picture that Tom had sent, however i must say that I think thats just how the Lipstick develops over time, it doesnt stay RED RED....it becomes a more orange/yellow with pink highlights as it matures. I think Tom's Lipsticks are consistently the nicest sunglows produced every year and you should give it some time, I think that your animals will get better as they mature but as far as being as red as the pics i do agree with that, however I dont believe Tom is doing anything on purpose to misrepresent his animals. I do film and video work so i know a bit about photography and tricks that are used to "enhance" pics. I dont see these tricks in Tom's photos...


Paul Harb

I just don't know why they are so RED on the site then when the come in they are burnt Orange. The pictures on the site shows blood RED animals.... when their in your hands they are a dark orange color. Maybe the man himself can come explain to everyone why the pictures seem to show sunglow dripping in red then when they come in they aren't as colorful. I mean when I spend 3K on a snake I want it to look like what it looks like in the picture. I have spent a good amount of money of the animal and no I am wondering if I got taken for my novice boa knowledge. I still think Tom produced the best sunglows but what I seen on the site wasn't what I got in the mail. I wanted RED not burnt orange.

I hear ya, like I said I was a bit disappointed when I got my Lipstick in the mail as well, however...I think there are a few things going on here.

Lipstick animals DO seem to be more red at birth and as they grow larger, they quite quickly turn into a more orange/yellow/red animal. I have not seen any full grown lipsticks that look otherwise. Even the best looking full grown Lipsticks I have seen follow this color scheme, some having more "coraling" than others. I have seen some in pictures that look really red, but with no white as a reference in the picture, there is NO WAY to tell if that is a true representation of the colors of the animal. I dont believe Tom is doing any of this on purpose, and I do think the animals look more red at birth than even months later...

I will say what Ive learned very quickly as an old hobbiest that just got back into this after years, welcome to the world of snake breeders, its a cutthroat, backstabbing, self righteous, money needing, dishonest community that encompasses a wonderful hobby.

Sorry, couldnt resist...just seems that way a lot of times...Im sorry you feel bad about your purchase, I would give it a little time, I think that second snake is going to be a killer adult...and the line does put out consistently good animals that sell well.

IMHO a breeder should stand by what they are selling and if a buyer feels that when the animal shows up it is not what they thought they were getting, that breeder should give a full refund minus shipping fees...just seems fair but most breeders arent fair now are they?

Most people breeding snakes are doing it for money, they can say otherwise, but they make decisions based on money. Now add on top of that the size of the market that will pay $1000 or more for a snake, its tiny and only encompasses others that want to but the snake with the hopes of making money of of its litters... now we all know that when your only business model is the bottom line, the buyer is the one that will suffer...see US economy.

I would start demanding to see a white piece of paper in the pictures of animals from now on that you are thinking about purchasing...


Paul Harb

I normally wouldn't get involved here as I have no experience purchasing from Tom. However, everyone knows that boas yellow as they get older. This is always going to happen and if you spend $3K on a snake, you should know what you are getting into.

More importantly, I hate to see someone with a good reputation for years get dragged through the mud by someone who is quite infamous in the boa community for wasting people's time and causing trouble.

Matt Tipton, aka Bryon Tipton, Bryan Lucas, Mark Wainscott, Mary Ann Boids, etc., has quite a reputation for having multiple personalities and wasting people's time. He has gone as far as threatening a major boa breeders family with physical violence. That is completely unacceptable.

Hey Matt, you don't seem too disappointed with the animal from Tom in this post: http://vpi.com/brag/lipstick_sunglow

I'm guessing that Tom, who was the only person still willing to sell to Matt, finally said NO MORE, and now Matt is trying to retaliate.

Matt Crabe

Didnt know that backstory here....thks for the info Matt. I thought this guy was for real. I love my Lipstick....

Paul Harb