Too Cool!

As you may know, I ship exclusively with FedEx. I am shipping several boxes this week, and was wondering about the temps over on the East Coast.

So I googled "FedEx Hub" and I found this awesome little video of a day in the life of a standard FedEx flight.

I thought it was so super cool, I wanted to share it with you! The main hub is in Tennessee, and if you watch, you can see why.

Anyway, back to the grind.

My friend Anonymous asked me last week about smaller females and how small I breed them.

"how young do u breed your females? i have a bunch that are 1,200-1,300 grams and just recently went off feed, should i toss a male in? or wait til next season what are your thoughts"

I breed my females no earlier than 2 years ONLY if they are large enough. I do not breed females at 18 months, and I do not breed females smaller than 1200 grams. I like to try for three years old on females, and sometimes that is just the way it pans out.

I understand that some people out there are impatient, and I have been one of those people too. The call of getting eggs can and will be just too much to bear sometimes, and I have to admit that I really like the idea of getting eggs from females that I just hatched out the year before.

Tossing a male in with a female can spur up feeding responses in some animals, but can stifle others. It can trigger breeding, and sometimes it doesn't.

BUT... it can be costly. Some females will slug out, some females will not take, some females will stop eating in response to being bred. An already small female stopping growth due to early breeding? Not really worth it in my humble opinion.

But you CAN do it.

You just have to weigh the pros with the cons. Figure out in the long run if it is worth it to you.

Handle it, my friend Anon. I believe in you.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!! 

Shipping in Cold Weather

Well, it's getting to be that kind of year, and this is the time where most breeders don't ship.

Christmas time is around the corner, and Fedex and UPS tend to get more swamped now than any other time of the year.

What does that mean for us? It means more room for ERROR.

And an error in snake shipping could spell the end of the road for a beautiful creature just trying to get to its new home.

So, what do I do?

Well, I never ship below 35 degrees F, or above 90 degrees F.

I always check the temperatures of the hubs in between where I am shipping, especially if it is across country.

The main hub between Los Angeles and most of the East Coast is Memphis. If the temps are not good in Memphis, I don't ship.

Please keep in mind, although it may be more of a pain in waiting for an animal, it's much better to play it safe than be sorry about it.

When it is colder than 70 degrees, or hotter than 85 degrees, I put in temperature packs.

Heat packs (40 hr) for the cold, cold packs for the heat.

Simple, eh?

In cold weather, it is very important to use heat packs, as cold can cause your snake to get sick in transit, and possibly freeze.

Either too hot or too cold can kill an animal in transit.

You have to also remember that evening temps get much colder than what the weather predicts most of the time around this time of year.

Plan accordingly, and see if you get below the range even at night.

Cold weather (snow, rain, etc) and the time of year basically prevent me from shipping out until the first of the year, and even then, most places on the East Coast are covered in snow.

So what do we do?

We wait.

The ease for me is knowing that the snakes are safe, and can be fed and taken care of until the weather breaks.

It's kinda nice, actually.

So I get to sit back, enjoy the season, and play with my snakes a little more.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

The Cost of Doing Business

I see frequently that people that are new to the industry are coming in with champagne wishes and caviar dreams... "I am going to buy a few female morphs, a male morph and I will make a TON of money in this, because look at the prices of those combinations out there!"

And the most glaring thing I see is that people do NOT account for the cost of doing business with animals as your "stock" item.
So let's go over it, shall we?

First off:

Housing: Rack Systems are a valuable resource, but recall that they need Thermostats to control temperature, they need electricity to run said temperatures, as well as the need for tubs, a source of bedding, be it wood or paper, as well as hides, water bowls, and cleaning supplies for the housing. I am adding Incubators here because that is housing of the eggs...

Rack System: $100 (homemade) up to $2-3k+
Thermostats: $25 (cheap) to $300+
Electricity: $Variable dependant on the amount used, monthly expense
Tubs: $1-$15+ each, dependant
Bedding: $0-$30+, dependant, monthly expense
Hides: $1-$5+ each, dependant
Cleaning Supplies: $5-$50+, dependant (Chlorhexidine is cheap to expensive depending on the % purity)
Incubators: $50-$300+, dependant

Food: Rats are not cheap, and although mice are cheaper, an adult animal can eat more than one at one feeding, so the costs tend to be equivalent. If you intend to breed your own rodents, the cost also needs to be factored in.

Rats: $1-$5+ each, per week per animal (possibly more)

Mice: $0.50-$2+ each, per week per animal (possibly more)
Rodent Food: $10-$20+ a bag, dependant, monthly expense
Rodent Racks: $75-$200, dependant
Water/Utilities: $10-$50+, (air conditioning for seasonal changes) dependant monthly expense

Space: This is rather arbitrary, but if you are doing business, this is an important thing to think about. Where are you keeping these animals? Renting a location is one thing, but most people do it out of their homes or a facility on their property. This means that you have to consider the utilities again for the location in which you are keeping your animals.

Water: $10-$50+, monthly expense
Electricity: $10-$50+, monthly expense

Space Cost: $TBD dependant on your location
Environmental Controls: $20-$100+ dependant on your location, monthly expense
(NOTE: Seasonal changes will make things more expensive)

Miscellaneous: This falls under Vet visits, Reptile Vending costs, etc... These can vary depending on your animal number, and your intent for your business, but keep in mind that these are all costs to pay attention to.

These include but is not limited to: Website design and upkeep, internet costs, advertising costs on forums and otherwise, reptile shows and vending costs, veterinarian costs and medications, shipping costs including boxes and heating/cooling packs, and other items.

And last but not least....

Animal Cost: This should be the final factor in your decisions to purchase an animal. This cost should be dependant upon your ability to cover the costs that were addressed previous to this point.

IF YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY MORE THAN JUST FOR THE ANIMAL, YOU SHOULD RE-EVALUATE YOUR PLANS.
And note, the more animals you have, the more expensive the overhead to keep them.
 
So keep a cool head, calm and collected.. Look over everything you WANT to do, and then look over what you CAN.
 
Then, I say "Go for it!"
 
Have a great day, 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!

How to Ship

A Customer had asked me to show him how I ship snakes, and I realized that this was a past question that was requested, and I apologize for not getting to it sooner. 

Here is how I ship.  

First, the customer picks out his or her snake... I am going to send this awesome super kick-ass Axanthic Red Eye Shatter Pattern Ball Python with an incredibly infected tounge. 

And don't you LOVE my Futon Cover? Yeah... Classy! 

 Then, I get all of the shipping supplies for the box that I need. I go thru Superior Shipping Supplies, and they have great product in a timely manner.

So I pick a box that is appropriate for the size of the snake. In this case, this is the smallest box I ship with, which is 7x7x6. This is ONLY for a single or pair of Ball Python babies. 

If you have something larger, go with a larger box. If you are unsure, larger is always better. 

And then, I put it together. The insulated portion of the box works very well, and fits exactly the box that you purchased.

And then, you add some filler. I use old newspaper crumpled up. You can also use paper shreds (which are kinda annoying, cause they get EVERYWHERE) or something else cushy. My friend uses the cotton that they sell to fill pillows. 

The box is ready for a snake. BUT WAIT!?!?!

How am I going to get that snake in there?

Snake bag. Or Snake cup. I usually use snake bags, as it is easier and cheaper.

Also, depending on the weather, you may need a heat pack or a cold pack, both shown. Heat packs are much more useful, as you ship overnight, and nights tend to be cold. 

ONLY USE 40hr (or MORE) Heat Packs. 

DO NOT USE 20-30 Hr PACKS. They get too hot too quickly, and can cook your animal.

I use a Heat Pack in shipments where the animal will be subjected to temperatures under 60 degrees F, and Cold Packs in shipments where the animal will be subjected to temperatures over 95 degrees F.

In shipping, you MUST, and I cannot stress this enough, PAY ATTENTION TO THE WEATHER OF THE LOCATION YOU ARE SENDING THE ANIMAL TO. 

Pack accordingly. 

Pack up your snake, get your temp things prepared. Freeze your cold pack the night before, and wait to open your heat pack until 30 mins before.

Tie up the bag. Bye bye, Snakie! 

Place the bag in a safe, cushy area of the box, where nothing can jostle it around.

If you are using a heat pack or cold pack, the question remains, where do you put it?

Well, you can do it the easy way, and put it on the bottom of the package, way underneath all of your beautiful filler paper. Both Heat and Cold packs can be placed this way. 

BUT! If it is not going to be super hot or super cold, but you want to be careful, what I do is I tape the pack to the top of the inside of the box, like so... (kinda).

Take it out of the packaging, and tape it to the top. Flip the top over so that the heat pack is INSIDE the box, and seal it up! 

Make sure the animal does not have direct contact with the temperature source.

Seal up the box, make sure you have it all set, and tape up the shipping label. 

Then, off to the shipping service hub you go!

I use Fedex primarily, and you can drop off the animals as late as 6PM. Some places you can do as late as 8PM. I like to wait until an hour or two before the cut off time to prevent the animal from sitting in the box longer than it has to.

Get home, box up, ship out! That's the way we roll around here...

And of course, I ask for a signature upon arrival to insure that the animal has been received, as well as a confirmation e-mail from the customer to make sure that the animal arrived safely.

So there you go, my friends. 

I hope this tutorial has been helpful. 

Maybe I'm missing something? 

Let me know in the comments section if you have any questions!

Have a great day!