All older ball python people......

How many of you used to keep the big guys, and just down sized over the years.

(pics would be great too)

Just curiosity, my local friend Bob Hammonds (Just about everyone knows good Ole' Bob) used to keep mainly breeder burms and a few retics, Now in his older years he keeps only ball pythons and a handful of boas.

I don't know if I am in the older category or not, I hope not lol, but I've been keeping snakes for 20 years.
I've never kept any of the giants though. Common boas have always been my size limit. This has been due to two factors, first being space, the big guys need a lot of it. The second is I never wanted anything I had to get help to come over to move it.

One day, and that day is getting closer, when I can finally relegate myself to just being a keeper, I'll get a burm or retic just to have, as well as a large monitor. Until then though, as long as I'm breeding and keeping 60 or 70 reptiles around, I won't have any of the giants.

A lot of the guys breeding primarily for profit, haven't downsized because of the snakes or their age, they've moved into the balls etc because of the market. Twenty years ago burms had a ton of profit potential, I remember when albinos wholesaled for $600 here and that wasn't their peak by any means. They're not as lucrative as they used to be though, and the balls have far surpassed them.
You can keep 12 balls in the space required for two burms, so the potential for money made is much greater.

Originally Posted by Clay Davenport

I don't know if I am in the older category or not, I hope not lol, but I've been keeping snakes for 20 years.
I've never kept any of the giants though. Common boas have always been my size limit. This has been due to two factors, first being space, the big guys need a lot of it. The second is I never wanted anything I had to get help to come over to move it.

One day, and that day is getting closer, when I can finally relegate myself to just being a keeper, I'll get a burm or retic just to have, as well as a large monitor. Until then though, as long as I'm breeding and keeping 60 or 70 reptiles around, I won't have any of the giants.

A lot of the guys breeding primarily for profit, haven't downsized because of the snakes or their age, they've moved into the balls etc because of the market. Twenty years ago burms had a ton of profit potential, I remember when albinos wholesaled for $600 here and that wasn't their peak by any means. They're not as lucrative as they used to be though, and the balls have far surpassed them.
You can keep 12 balls in the space required for two burms, so the potential for money made is much greater.

Yeah dave, You fit that category I know the feeling I have the big snakes just for the fascination, and they are what I love, I actually loose more money then I make I am in it for the hobby not the profit so I am 100 % with you there.

Hopefully you could get a big retic/burm they are something else. I pulled out the big retic today (the one in my pic) its amazing seeing the size she is right around the 21 foot mark 220 lb, its insane the size.

I love boas too.