Individual pictures / records - Opinions please

Although I have always provided individual pictures and records for all of my baby boas, I have decided to take the same approach this year with all of the colubrids. This is a very time-consuming process. If any of you have ever tried to photograph a couple hundred squirming baby corns and kings, I'm sure that you can relate.

My question is this. Do you think it is worth the time investment to photograph, maintain individual records, and post them to a web site?

When you are shopping on-line for a baby snake, would individual pictures and records appeal to you, or is it all about price?

I know that I always want to see a picture of the animal that I am purchasing and detailed records are a big plus for me, but it seems that very few breeders do this. Most of them will simply take a representative picture.

Of course, when you're producing thousands of babies, it just doesn't seem like it would be feasible.


Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

well for me i think pictures and records are important ,more for older snakes but for babies i dont think so much,i mean you know what the snake is that you are wanting to buy so unless theres some that are alittle diffrent i wouldn't worry about pictures,i suggest maybe showing acouple and then when someone is interested find out what sex they want ,and then at that time take a picture of the exact snake you will be sending them,that way the buyers sees what they are getting before you ship ,and if theres any questions then at that time they can be discussed ,and it will help you then too,because the time you take to photograph the snake you know is worth it because its basically sold ,so i say get some pics of what they most look like and then wait till one is pretty much sold then take the picture of that exact one,saves you time there i think,but I'm sure you will get some picky people that want to see more picture like i said earlier unless there diffrent from the rest why bother ,the picky ones can also be them tire kicker shoppers hope this made sense and helped alittle ..good luck

i think its a good idea in theory . if like you say someone is breeding thousands of babies then it could really be a big pain . however if your only raising a small number of critters i can see where it would be a definate plus . next year when i hopefully have some babies to sell i plan on doing pics of the parents and as complete a set of records as i can on them . for someone like myself who is just getting into the breeding end of the hobby( i say hobby as i am not intent on making a living doing this , just want the experience.) , i think it shows a real desire to do an honest buisness of selling . if you can show your animals history in a neat and precise package i think it shows professional like intrest in the animals you are selling . atleast thats how i look at it . hope that helps as apposed to confusing , lol .

I keep records on all my snakes. Some things like, sheds, breed dates, etc. I keep track of all the time, but to keep the paperwork down, some things I only record temporarily-defecations, eating, etc, for hatchlings/newborns, and new adult acquisitions, I only record for a few months, after that I only keep records of "negative" incidents, like a bad stool, or missed feeding.

Pics, I don't take individual pics of "normal" varieties of snakes. Often times if it is something that is fairly uniform in appearance like Honduran milksnakes, or most of the milksnakes for that matter, I will take a group photo when they hatch. If they are not uniform in appearance eg. aberrant, high yellow, and banana CA kings, then I do. It is getting to where everybody wants to see a photo of every animal, so if somebody asks I will show them one.

So I guess the general consensus is that if it's already there (which it is) it's nice to have, but to most people it doesn't make that much of a difference. One representative picture will suffice.

Interesting. I really thought that this would have appealed to more people. The idea being that you can basically hand-pick your own snake.

Thanks for the responses.

well me personally yes if i could hand pick then yes pictures are best ,but being real "the best" ones are already taken by the breeder or close friends so unless you are looking for a certain type ,the norm is still just a norm

I keep records on each of my snakes, some have pedigrees going back 7-8 generations to their wild caught ancestors. Hatch dates are recorded as well as feed/shed records. Most of the breeders of gtps that I know also keep detailed records. These really help me when making future breeding plans too.

For my adults I usually keep only shed records, breedings and problems if/when they should occur. I think each snake should be minimally recorded when they are acquired, when sold and any major problems in between.

Vets really appreciate having a "history" to look at when confronted with problems too. I think it adds an intrinsic value to the snakes too, no matter the monetary cost.

Mike,

Absolutely! Have you checked the Sutherland's system? To me it's one of the best guarantees for anyone buying animals directly from them or even through a third party. You can go in and check if the animal you are being offered is the original one with just his id number.

Regards.

Dan,
No, I have not seen their page. I'll check it out - it sounds very interesting.

Thanks,

I think that for corns and kings it's a great idea.

IF you're producing one or two clutches a year.

There are years when I have several hundred babies. I will take specific pictures for people to let them see what I have for sale, but to just have them on hand for these guys is just not something I care to do, too much similarity as a rule. Like John, for the oddballs, of course, there must be pics, but one or two pics of the 50 calkings that are just normals is fine as far as I'm concerned.

Now, with a higher end snake, I can see where it is more desirable and would be of benefit to the seller as well as buyer.

If you've got time and like taking pictures though, a mess o' snakes is a great excuse to indulge yourself.