Blood pics

I hadn't even thought about a hatchling rack. UGH. Last year I had 6 babies, wow. This year I had 5 with 8 cookin' and hopefully a gravid cal-king. But next year will be my first banner year because most of my snakes will be old enough/big enough to breed. wohoo. I can't wait to breed the jungle carpets. I also can't wait to see if I have any 100% het snow paradox KSBs. That would be great.

Originally Posted by Karen Hulvey

I hadn't even thought about a hatchling rack. UGH.

see how helpful I am ...I can see me doing that too, though. having all these eggs just about to hatch then realizing I had nowhere to put them (because I had put it off for so long).
It is something that I know i have to deal with in the not to distant future, though. I have 30 babies now, but also have gravid dumerils, and some possibles - yellow anaconda, ATB, ETBs. Next year is the one I am looking forward to also. I don't want to spoil the surpise or jinx myself by saying more.
Good luck with the JC babies - I am planning on holding back a bunch of my diamond Xs this year, just because I like to watch the colors come in (and to see if I am right about my assessment of the babies).

Originally Posted by Karen Hulvey

Harold: Nice bloods. Of course you'll post pics of the bouncing baby bloods won't you?

As for space, I have 55 snakes & 1 turtle in one room. I still have 1 wall left. I'm going to build another rack and then it'll free up the second wall and then I'll build another rack for that one when I need it. My 'puter is on the fourth wall.

I think the search is part of the fun of this hobby. Looking for that killer female to go w/the killer male you already have. Or seeing an animal at a show or on the net that you've never seen before and you're like, "Wowzer I gotta get me some of those."

That happened to me at a reptile show in St.Louis. There was a cape gopher on a table. I've never seen one before. At first I thought it was two snakes in the cage because the front half of the animal is a different color than the back half. But after a little better look I was like, "Wowzer, I gotta buy this guy." And I did. Now I'm on the hunt for a female cape gopher. It's a neverending battle but one I like.

Wow! I have 6 snakes, 6 hatchlings and a Uromastyx and I think my fiance is close to leaving me!! I wish I could have that many. I also wish it wasnt always hot as hell in my snake room. Might need to move the Uro somewhere else with his 130 degree heat lamp.

I also have a uro, a Moroccan, and she's in another room because the snake room is too small for her cage. I keep my snake room around 80°.

The majority of my my snakes are small snakes, Kenyan sand boas, viper boas, and baby corns & kings. But I will need more space by next year I know that.

I just bought 4 baby BCIs that were from the same clutch as the aberrant one with the stripe that didn't make it. I posted a picture about it another thread in the boa forum. I'm going to build these 4 snakes enclosures in another room because they will not fit in my present snake room.

Here's the thread: http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ad.php?t=68377

4 baby BCIs? I thought you were into the small stuff, lol. Although, I don't consider the BCI/BCC to be particularly big snakes. I was never much of a boa fan, but I have 2 young females now, and will be looking for a male next year (doubt I will be able to bring myself to dump that much $$ til then). Kinda funny, how tastes change...whether it just happens or it is a change in circumstance. I was always a rock python/retic/amethystine kinda guy, with a few carpets & ATBs, a bunch of hot stuff, monitors, and crocodilians to round things out. Now, I have less room available and a wife that gets freaked out by big snakes. Though I still yearn for a nice (somewhat pissy) rock python, I have found a whole new segment to play with: the 5-9 ft group . I actually bought my bloods primarily for resale (awesome price, I HAD to do it, lol), but they came in too thin for me to sell. then they grew on me, I've actually looked into a few others that would fit nicely with mine, but haven't taken the step (partially because I'm cheap...well, at least that I am not SO into bloods that I don't think about the money, yet). see how I like them in another year, and how receptive the market is...I only keep stuff I like, but I'll only breed things that tend to sell (last thing I need is 50 leftover mouths to feed and clean up after, not to mention try to find room for as they grow)

by the way, the avatar is my male JC/diamond X. probably not the best choice, since he is less attractive than the females and he was in a shed so his colors don't show. but it was the best pic I had to work with (I really need to get to work with my camera)

Originally Posted by hhmoore

4 baby BCIs? I thought you were into the small stuff, lol. Kinda funny, how tastes change...whether it just happens or it is a change in circumstance.

Yeah I thought I was only into small stuff too. You're so right about how tastes change. The guy I work for has a lot of boas and when the one popped out with the stripe I flipped for it even though it wasn't finished "cooking". So I bought some of its siblings. I'm sure it was just a weird fluke and nothing will come of the four I bought but who knows? These could be het for albino because the dad is 100% het albino.

And yeah, I'm cheap too. I only paid $25 each for those BCIs so I couldn't pass them up.

I got some of my snakes very cheap too. I have a radiated ratsnake that I bought at an auction on April 06, 2005. We looked at this snake before the auction and he had several stuck sheds and was dehydrated and looked to be at death's door. But when they couldn't get a bid I finally bid and won the little guy for $12.50. I really didn't think he would live because he looked so bad when I got him. On the trip home I rehydrated him and I've never seen an animal drink so much. He's turning out to be a really nice snake and really pretty too.

I got the two ATBs that died, 1 hatchling BP and a 3' BCI (sold the BP & BCI) in a trade for a bunch of fish tanks that were cluttering up my back yard. I originally was going to sell the ATBs too but I kept them because I really liked them, nastiness and all.

Just two weeks ago a guy had an ad on this site for 8 Cal-kings, 2 gophers, 4 corns and 3 Honduran milks. He was only 40 or so miles from me so I emailed him and he let me have all these snakes for $285. Cheap ole me bought them. I figured there was probably something wrong w/them because he wanted to unload them so bad. But he told me he was getting rid of everything that wasn't a blood python to make room for his bloods. Well he didn't lie. All these snakes eat like pigs, nothing wrong w/them. So that really upped my snake collection. I'm keeping some of them and taking the rest to the reptile show(s) next month. It'll be hard to decide who goes because they are all nice animals.

I have a pair of jungle carpet pythons that I got free, yeah free, my favorite word. A friend of mine got married & his wife doesn't like snakes. He finally caved in and one day just gave all his animals away. I got the carpets and a turtle. They are 3 y/o and he raised them from little babies. So I'm hoping I'll be able to breed them this fall.

Originally Posted by hhmoore

I was always a rock python/retic/amethystine kinda guy, with a few carpets & ATBs, a bunch of hot stuff, monitors, and crocodilians to round things out.

I've handled rocks, retics and a couple amethystines (those are scrub pythons, right?)before at the store I work at. Almost all of them were babies. We had one retic that bit and bit and bit and looked to bite some more. What a nasty little guy. My boss used to breed retics, tigers & supers. The darn things were getting so big that us girls couldn't hadle them any more so he sold his breeders. I'm glad. I'm not fond of the super large stuff, espcially super large with an attitude and huge appetite to go with it! He has large burmese but they're really docile and except for their weight, it's not that hard to work around them.

Originally Posted by hhmoore

and how receptive the market is...I only keep stuff I like, but I'll only breed things that tend to sell (last thing I need is 50 leftover mouths to feed and clean up after, not to mention try to find room for as they grow)

I understand what you're saying there. My boss still has one supertiger retic left from last year's clutch. The retics just don't sell well even though the tigers & super tigers never offered to bite and are really easy to handle. People know how large they get (& if they don't I tell them) and not that many people are capable of providing for a snake that big.

Originally Posted by hhmoore

(I really need to get to work with my camera)

Yes you do! I want to see pics of your snakes.

I've always loved photography. Now I have to get a digital camera. I'm taking pictures, having them develoed at Wal-Mart and put on a CD at the same time. A digital camera would save me tons of money.

Here's a pic of the radiated rat the day after I got him. 04-07-05

I guess I shouldn't worry too much about selling the babies...that's why they invented wholesale, lol. I will have a few days off next week...after I do my "chores", I'll fire off a few pics. Some of my old mentality still shines through - the part of me that just doesn't want to reveal what is hidden in my house. I know that it is unlikely that my animals will get stolen, or that any problems will come of it, but for some reason...I just don't. (you may have noticed on some of my posts that I have frequently ducked questions about what I have and/or what "projects" I'm working on - the fact that I mentioned the albino boa before was HUGE, lol).