Prayers Needed- Pro Exotics

Well, as you may or may not know, the Reptile Industry is a rather small community in the big picture of life. But if you have been around long enough, you get to know who has been around. People who have been in the business for a while, people who are just starting to get their names out there..

Lots of people with lots of things, making up an eclectic mix of reptile lovers and breeders.

So with that introduction, I want to dedicate this blog to a company that has been around for a while (way before I came onto the scene), one that has been devastated by a tragedy yesterday morning.

Pro Exotics Reptiles, an industry leader in the Desert game, had a horrible fire at their facility in Colorado, and lost their entire stock of animals as well as the building, which they shared with several other businesses. Over 3000 animals were lost in the blaze.

Read the Article here (Forgive the Bald Pythons...)

Watch the Interview with Chad and Robyn here.

It's a sad day when that many creatures lose their lives, as well as for the Breeders themselves. Chad and Robyn have been in the industry for almost 20 years, and they have managed many successes, many firsts. Now those animals are gone...

How would you feel if that happened to you?

I know I would be devestated, as well as heart broken.

So with that, please send all the healing and loving thoughts you can, prayers and well-wishes to Chad and Robyn at Pro Exotics.

Don't take anything for granted.

Have a great day, my friends.

The Reptile Living Room

A month or two ago, I got interviewed by a very cool guy named John Taylor. He is the author of the Reptile Living Room, which is a website that does radio spots for reptile enthusiasts to enjoy.

It is a program that is broad and well rounded, as a few of my friends in the industry in other genres of animals have been interviewed. Leopard Geckos, Tortoises, general cage making and Carpet Pythons to name a few animals of topics of recent interviews....

I was approached during the January Pomona Reptile Show, and I agreed to do it back then, but due to scheduling conflicts and a few other things, it got postponed until a couple months ago. BUT IT IS DONE and it is READY TO BE SHARED, my friends!

So please, instead of me typing something up today, take a listen to my interview.

http://reptilelivingroom.com/

Enjoy it, and of course, if you have any questions about it or anything else, the comment box is frequented by my eyes and I do see them and try to answer all the questions I can.

By the way, Chris, I use Goo-Gone gel spray to get the China Marker off plastic tubs. It works WONDERS, and smells like oranges! Just be sparse with it, as you don't need much to get it off the tubs, and it is rather greasy. Spray a bit on a paper towel and watch the marker disappear! It works well with stuck on adhesives as well, like stickers and tags.


Have a fantastic weekend, my friends! I have another test on Saturday, but hey... it's alllllll good!

The Industry

I didn't have time to take pictures, and it's actually pretty late (I am doing this at 11PM PST right now), so I wanted to touch on something that has always been on the forefront of my mind, but I don't think I've ever really discussed it with all of you, my fellow ball python enthusiasts and blog readers.

Let me talk to you about the Ball Python Industry.

There are three levels.

The BIG NAMES. I'm sure you can think of at least two or three that deserve the title... Those that have been around forever, have come up with names for too many morphs than they can count, the people who started when Albinos were $10k a piece.

The Middle Ground... Those breeders that have established themselves as breeders, as long time industrialists, the ones that you know have been around for a while, but still are not "famous". They may have come up with a new morph combination over the years, but have not been the ultimate breeder in many peoples eyes.

The Beginners... These breeders have done their first to second season, maybe even third. You have not really known them from anyone else, but the name seems familiar from the forums or maybe an add here or there for something you were intrigued about. You are aware of their existence, but they have not been around for long enough to really garner your trust.

Now, I bring this up because I see a lot of beginners. Every year there are more and more of them, and that is great!! The more breeders there are, the more there is interest in the industry. The middle ground, however, watch the beginners for their prices and their interest in specific morphs. Either they are good, or they are bad. They may have hatched out 20 of Morph A, but then again, Middle Ground Breeder has 30 of those as well, so then, there may be a problem. Maybe, maybe not, but there are enough hobbyists to be interested to sell Morph A to everyone...

The problem seems to be in the price of Morph A, and the availability of it.
QUALITY Morph A will sell, no problem, but when everyone and their mother are producing them, there are plenty more to choose from.
Morph A becomes devalued because of people that are not interested in holding on to the lives that they helped bring into this world...

I get it, I really do. There are plenty of mouths to feed, plenty of things in this life that may take precedence over a group of baby Morph A's.

My problem really is in the beginning breeders that think that in one week they can sell everything. Yeah, you can do that, to a Wholesaler. They would love to take Morph A off of your hands, no problem. They didn't do any of the hard work... They just need to hand over a bit of cash.

But did the beginning breeder think about the possibility of holding on to the animals? Did they prepare themselves to have twice as many animals as they began with because putting one male with one female tends to replicate itself? Maybe, and if you did, I applaud you, beginning breeder!! I admire your preparation and your zeal for bringing life into this world..

If not, however, there will be a price to pay, either with the animals who are not being cared for, or for the people who are looking for the perfect Morph A, just to see a bunch of B grade animals on the market.

And of course, all the while, BIG Breeders are laughing, as they have worked out their lines and are already working on the biggest and greatest..

So think of it this way, my friends... Know that you need to breed for the best. Make it happen, make it work for the best looking animals that YOU think are going to help the gene pool. It doesn't help anyone by making a bunch of Boo-Boo looking animals and putting them to market, because all that does is let Joe-Shmoe start breeding Boo-Boo to Boo-Boo, and making double Boo Squared animals. Who wants that???

This is not to say that you, my beloved blog readers are doing this... Just keep in mind that we are doing this not only for ourselves, but for the animals. They want to be pretty, they want to be valued and loved... Help them help themselves.

And thus spaketh the Heather, who is tired and done with her rant.

I look forward to your comments on this one, as I'm sure this is a hot topic to be sure.

Have a fantastic weekend, my friends.

Friends in the Industry

I have to say, this Industry is great for meeting amazing people.

There are a great number of fantastic people that love snakes, love the customers, love the people...
I have made a bunch of friends over the years in the industry, breeders and customers alike.

It's always a bunch of fun at shows to see people that you know, and spend time talking shop over a weekend.

Talking shop is part of the fun of this hobby, and learning from other people about what they do and how they do it is a great tool that is easily accessible due to the internet. Obviously that is the reason you guys out there in internet-land read this blog, right?

Who made what, what does this combination look like, what are they thinking about combining, what new dinkers proved out, etc...

All great stuff to know, and with the amount of people out there willing to talk to you about things, it is a fantastic way to get "in the know" and make some life long friends.

The problem with this is, of course, with the good comes the bad.

I have been running into a few of those bad apples, and it is really hard to deal with sometimes. Rude customers who try to undercut my bottom line because so and so has it for $50 less, other breeders who are only in it for the money, and problem people who just rub me the wrong way.

I am usually very patient with things like this, because it happens often enough that I have a guard up, but when someone pokes often and hard enough, something has got to give.

But then, all I do is turn to a fellow breeder who I know has experienced the same thing firsthand, and we talk and laugh about it.

I love my friends. I love my customers. I love my blog readers.

You are all awesome.

Give yourselves a hug for me. Or maybe hug a snake instead..

Have a fantastic day, my friends!