Any amateur herpetologist here? Reptiles and Amphibians.

[Mr_Tomahawk]

I am surprised with the number of Saltwater people here...just curious if there were any creepy reptile people like me?

I have kept one of everything it seems since growing up from Timber Rattlers to Panther Chameleons.

Now I just focus on breeding Ball Pythons. I have around 40ish snakes now.
Here are some random pics of some of my animals...

I use to breed Jungle Carpet Pythons too...but reduced my collection size a few years ago prior to moving for graduate school.

[Sorter]

Originally Posted by Mr_Tomahawk

Yes CB animals ARE better feeders than WC animals.

But.

I am a mod at one of the larger fauna sites so I am familiar with 'Checking the internet to verify'.

If either of your friends are having trouble feeding their animals, I know most of the 'big' breeders across the country, and I am sure I know one near them that would be willing to help...

Tomahawk, you post over at FHF/do any field herping in KS?

[Mr_Tomahawk]

Originally Posted by Sorter

Tomahawk, you post over at FHF/do any field herping in KS?

Naw I dont post there.

I use to field herp here. Haven't for a couple of years now...

Use to go out to the Flint Hills all the time. Chad Whittney ring a bell by any chance?

[Sorter]

Originally Posted by Mr_Tomahawk

Naw I dont post there.

I use to field herp here. Haven't for a couple of years now...

Use to go out to the Flint Hills all the time. Chad Whittney ring a bell by any chance?

Nope, sorry. I go field herping a lot in MO or CO for the main part of my summers/spring. Lurk a ton, post a little on FHF. Have you just bred ball pythons/j. carpets? (Those carpets looked great, was really thinking about getting a pair for a while. Kinda looking at a .dendrophila but doubt I'll shell out the money for one right now)

[MOhillbilly]

I knew a guy that kept a gator in his bathtub. It would scratch on the shower glass if it heard you walk in.

[Mr_Tomahawk]

Originally Posted by Sorter

Nope, sorry. I go field herping a lot in MO or CO for the main part of my summers/spring. Lurk a ton, post a little on FHF. Have you just bred ball pythons/j. carpets? (Those carpets looked great, was really thinking about getting a pair for a while. Kinda looking at a .dendrophila but doubt I'll shell out the money for one right now)

Yeah, I wish I had time to get out to field herp more.

I just breed BPs now. Have around 40 animals total ranging from breeders to last seasons hatchlings.

I have kept a lot of various reptiles over the past 25 years...bred a few.

I use to have a 2.5 group of Jungle Carpets, but got rid of them before leaving for grad school. They just took up more space than BPs...tended to be pickier eaters...and the market just kind of sucked. Females can throw 20-30 egg clutches, and I would have trouble selling 5-10 to the public during the year. Most of the time I would just dump them off to petstores or wholesalers.

In terms of breeding, I have bred Ball Pythons, Carpet Pythons, Blood Pythons, Spotted Pythons, Bearded Dragons, Leopard Geckos, panther geckos, standings day geckos, madagascar giant green day geckos, african fat tailed geckos and Jacksons Chameleons.

I have a slowed down since becoming a father a couple years ago. It is easier to keep one species as I am not messing with calibrating different environments for housing and offering a wide variety of food items. I have a room of racks that are all wired to a thermostat and my pythons eat F/T rats weekly. I can feed/clean 40 snake cages in about 90 minutes a week. Which is nothing...

I could talk about this stuff forever...

[alnorth]

Looking at the pics again, your animals are cool. Ball Pythons are cool for many reasons, too: when they grow up and are no longer "cute", they usually stay small enough to be manageable. You'll never hear about someone getting hurt by a Ball Python, they are among the smallest of constricting snakes, even at adult size. The only mammals who should fear them are small furry rodents.

Also, Ball Pythons are shy, almost adorably so. There can always be a bad egg or an angry animal here and there, but generally, they are almost never mean, and if something startles it, it balls up and hides. They are very gentle, chill, timid snakes.

[Lumpy]

"...snakes on this mother #$%^& thread!"

[Holladay]

40 snakes??? Wow. Do they play fetch? Roll over? Play dead? What about keep your feet warm? Kill mice?

Not to poke fun at you and trying to understand the desire for snakes: yes I have a 125 gal fresh fish tank. And the fishies can't do any of the above. But at least they swim around and are a wall of color. Snakes just still there til you toss in a mouse. Guess they have nice color while trying to blend in with the logg they're sitting on.

Guess the question comes down to, why do people like snakes? Have some out in the barn, which I do truely like to whack the above mentioned mice.

Reptiles, while kinda cool = cold, no intellect, dont move, dont kiss, dont fetch, dont eat the scraps off the table (maybe they do...pythons...but not just the scraps)

Like to watch them eat?? Guess I could have an alligator then too.

Guess I dont get it...

[Mr_Tomahawk]

Originally Posted by Holladay

40 snakes??? Wow. Do they play fetch? Roll over? Play dead? What about keep your feet warm? Kill mice?

Not to poke fun at you and trying to understand the desire for snakes: yes I have a 125 gal fresh fish tank. And the fishies can't do any of the above. But at least they swim around and are a wall of color. Snakes just still there til you toss in a mouse. Guess they have nice color while trying to blend in with the logg they're sitting on.

Guess the question comes down to, why do people like snakes? Have some out in the barn, which I do truely like to whack the above mentioned mice.

Reptiles, while kinda cool = cold, no intellect, dont move, dont kiss, dont fetch, dont eat the scraps off the table (maybe they do...pythons...but not just the scraps)

Like to watch them eat?? Guess I could have an alligator then too.

Guess I dont get it...

You are right...one can interact more with a snake than a fish.

As for colors...here is ONE species, I am guessing there are are 200 different color/pattern combos. http://www.worldofballpythons.com/morphs/

Minimal husbandry requirements. I have seen everything one has to do keep a saltwater aquarium setup correctly...no thank you.

I have taken animals to elementary schools to talk about snakes etc. Good luck with doing that with a fish...let alone keep their interest showing, a fish.

And lastly I am interested in the whole genetics side of it. When you have recessive, dominant, and codominant trait animals...the color/pattern combos are endless.

[El Jefe]

Originally Posted by Toadkiller

Years ago I had a pacman and some whites tree frogs. Always enjoyed feeding them pinkies. Dart frogs are so much more fun to raise, especially the egg feeders. The female dart frogs put an unfertilized egg in with the tadpole so it can eat it. Raising fruit flies is a bit of a pain but doesnt take much work.

Can you expound on how you raise fruit flies? I have heard it's a huge pain, and one of the reasons I haven't ventured into the dart frogs.

[Toadkiller]

It really is not that hard to raise fruit flies, http://www.doylesdartden.com/fruitfly.html has a handy dandy page on how to raise them. You can buy already made mix from somewhere like ed's fly meat or you can make your own from the recipes on that first page. After you get the cultures going it doesnt take much at all to keep them going. You can also sign up for monthly flies from places like Ed's that will just ship you some so you don't even have to raise them but it honestly is very easy to culture them yourself.
If the reason why you havent tried darts is because of the fruit flies then Id say don't worry, it isn't that big of a deal.

[Holladay]

You are right...one can interact more with a snake than a fish.

Touche.

Minimal husbandry requirements. I have seen everything one has to do keep a saltwater aquarium setup correctly...no thank you.

yes I have a 125 gal FRESH fish tank

The way I have it setup I don't have to do ANYTHING for a month...not even feed them. I have an auto feeder. Just still and watch

I have taken animals to elementary schools to talk about snakes etc. Good luck with doing that with a fish...let alone keep their interest showing, a fish.

And lastly I am interested in the whole genetics side of it. When you have recessive, dominant, and codominant trait animals...the color/pattern combos are endless.

Both good points.

I still would prefer dogs/cats. They do take more space/time/money though.

[tooge]

Originally Posted by Donger

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I have no idea how snakes copulate. Well, maybe I'm not embarrassed.

when one snake is too high to decide, the other snake rapes it.

[mr. tegu]

I have been keeping reptiles and amphibians basically my whole life. I recall housing my first wild caught frogs as early as 5 years old and have never stopped since. Though years ago I learned to let the native species mostly be happy in their natural environments. That basically coincided with when I began to finally earn money and could afford other reptiles.

Right now I have a big male Argentine black and white tegu. He has a really cool enclosure. I will post some pics soon. And to the post above about the friendliness of reptiles, it just depends. I have had my tegu since he was 6 weeks old and he is over 4 years old now. When you pet him on the back he arches it like any cat or dog and that is not a joke. That is what finally turned my fiancé into thinking he was cute. He also has a leash for going on walks in the backyard. Basically if you have just a few larger species they can be very trained and friendly.

Pretty sure Hootie was a herpestologist.