Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just to see the reasons we buy a certain snake.
1) Do you buy a certain snake due to locale/purity
2) Do you buy because of what species it is
3) Do you buy it because of its looks
4) Any other reason
Look forward to hearing some of the reasons:
I think my leading reason would be it's looks even though I have quite a few that are gene specific.
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www.Wood-N-Snakes.com

Toby,
i look at the Species/Ssp can the way they look, for example Fl. Kings i look for head patterns, aberrance, band width, color, etc...

Honduran Milks i look for minimal tipping in normals

Hypos ruby eyes/light bands

Amels, solid-thick snout ring, very little white/yellow,wide red/orange bands

i like crosses and few hybrids as well in those the way they look is most important to me

so for me it's the look and the Species/Ssp/Combination of Species/Ssp.

~Z
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Royal Blue ReptileZ
Home of Bklyn's Finest Brooksi

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signature file edited 4/22/06; contact an admin.

I was really looking for. What make each of us determine if this is a snake we really want to buy. And with a different species do we look for different things. This gal below I got for a different reason. This snake my wife wanted and it was a troublesome feeder. She has taken the time with it and it now never misses a meal.I just thought it would be interesting to hear the reasons why we end up with the snakes we do.

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www.Wood-N-Snakes.com

that's a nice shot... i can see carbet fibers... lol... what's that pairing? i see some Pueblan... Pueblan X Thayeri ?

~Z
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Royal Blue ReptileZ
Home of Bklyn's Finest Brooksi

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signature file edited 4/22/06; contact an admin.

I buy a certain snake because of the look. I like cal kings because of the crazy patterns not so much color. Cal kings eyes set forward more than others so to me they look cool for that reason.
Thayeri-color and pattern mostly the head pattern
locale/purity - mean nothing to me yeah it is nice to know locale. but I am not going to knock some snake or not buy it because the person does not know what county or road it is from. Purity to me means nothing. How can a snake be pure if people have only documented them for a few generations. Speak with me about this in say….65,000,000 years.
I only breed kings and do not even look at other snakes. They are just what I like.

I buy a certain snake that is hard to kill. Because I am an idiot when it comes to keeping them I need tough captives.

Thats why I specialize in brooksi morphs and piddle with hybrids.

Me too. I always tell people that nigrita are "bullet-proof and will always have some around.
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

www.crimsonking.funtigo.com

I would say with gray bands i look for locality animals.. but looks are most important.. for many years i was only into light Blairs, then i got into alterna phase... now i have been adding dark phase animals to my group... i guess i like them all at this point...

~ Mike Russo

in shed

With Pyros i like oddballs (applegates/Baubles) but i have and like wild types as well... but i really like clean bands. not 100% sure why???

~ Mike

And i like lots of head parttern on Knobs..

others...

I buy the snakes I buy for many reasons.

First, of course, it has to be if I like the looks of it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and what is awesome to one person may be quite different to others. My favorite types of snakes are pits, so that is most of my collection. If visions of the snake keep popping in my head, if I can't stand the thought of not having it in my collection, then it will get the best of me and I will do whatever I can to buy that perfect specimen with the best looks of that kind.

Then, if I am buying a certain type of snake, for instance, with kings, my faves are gray bands, I want to be buying A GRAYBAND, not a hybrid. I want to be getting what I am supposed to be buying. The purity issue then comes into play, as I want a pure specimen of whatever I am buying. This is also when buying from trusted sources comes into play as well.

Locality is cool, especially with locality morphs. But, it also goes back to whether or not the snake is attractive to me or not.

In all, I can wrap up my reasons for snake buying with this: I want the best looking, pure specimens of that certain kind I can find.

Take care!
Billy

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Genesis 1:1

> Just to see the reasons we buy a certain snake.
> 1) Do you buy a certain snake due to locale/purity
> 2) Do you buy because of what species it is
> 3) Do you buy it because of its looks
> 4) Any other reason

I'm not a locality freak.
I do plan on buying a couple S. Ga kings next season (either 1.1 or 2.2, haven't decided) - but I may get specimens of different locales or non locales.

I'm interested in S. Ga easterns because of what they look like. I've never been terribly attracted to L g getula, but the S Ga easterns I've seen posted here, some of them take my breath away.

I'm interested in getting some Splendida's next year as well - because I think they are very good looking snakes. I prefer the normals, but I might buy albino (or something else) HETs simply to make it easier to sell some of the young.

I'm interested in some Brooksi kings as well - they are my favorite L g variety that occurs east of the rockies. I want normals though, I think that the coloration they possess as adults is far more beautiful than any of the brooksi morphs I've ever seen.

I think Jetzen posted a picture of an adult "normal" brooksi awhile back (I think it was Jetzen). I still haven't investigated who breeds them though, I would prefer captive hatched from a WC gravid female.

So I guess for me - it primarily is what the species looks like, particularly in their "normal" phases, though the S Ga kings may be pretty because of selective breeding.

My most recent purchase - it had to be breeding size female Cal King, it had to be albino, it had to be banded (thin bands, not 50/50 bands), and it had to have visual zipper in the banding.

Yeah - I buy for looks.
I only wanted albino because I've never had albino anything except for rodents. She's gorgeous though. Adult albino cal kings look a lot better than babies do.
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3.0 WC; 0.2 CB L. getula californiae
0.1 WC; 10 eggs (7/11) Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

Toby, I love all snakes, but when I look at certain one, I kind of see art. I started out years ago with a red tail boa, but gave it to a friend that had one die. About 5 years ago, I was walking in a local pet store, and a GBK Blairs phase caught my eye. I had to have her. Up to that point, she was the most beautiful snake I had ever seen. I went to a reptile show, and saw a Scarlet Kingsnake. In the beginning, It was all about looks, but after awhile, I decided to get into breeding them. Now I look for a pair that will hopefully pop out some pretty babies someday. I was really into snakes that have a lot of red in them, but after seeing an Eastern King a few years ago, I can't get over their face patterns. It is the art thing again. I like all sorts of Eastern Kingsnakes, such as all FL kings, alss Eastern Kings up and down the coast, especially OBK, all sorts of Hondos, MTN. Kings, Graybands, and Hog Island Boas. This is what I keep. Thanks for starting this post. I really enjoyed reading it. Derek

Derek, those red eyes are haunting! Nice scarlet!
Todd Hughes

Thats a great looking scarlet I love those small very colorful but I read they hide 24/7 truly a secretive snake rarely comes out.
I looked into them but since they just hide wsnt for me my other snakes come out every other day or so and explore the tank plus I handle them but wouldnt with the scarlet but again just hides

As far as why kingsnakes -

I had lots of WC kingsnakes as a kid, they were far less likely to go on feeding strikes than my WC gopher snakes, far more likely to tame down than my WC gopher snakes, took to handling much better than my WC garter snakes and are easier to house and keep than garter snakes (don't need water to swim in with feeder fish etc.), they young are easier to deal with (don't need to catch small tadpoles or buy feeder guppies), and there is something manly about having snakes that can feed on rattlers.

Oh - it was so difficult to find qualified keepers of my large burmese pythons when circumstances demanded it that I will never keep a "large" species again.

Some people will boo and hiss at this, but I'm of the opinion that such large snakes should require a permit to keep in order to discourage people from keeping them. Smaller species of boas/pythons - no permit should be required, but the species that grow exceptionally large should only be kept by zoos and similar facilities, or by adults who truly have the ability to keep them for their entire lifespan.

We paid I think around $500 for their caging when they were big - and it was hard to find homes for them when I went off to college even with the free caging. Ther person who finally took them took them only because we asked him several times, and kept telling him we had been trying and just could not find anyone else who could properly care for them.

Kingsnakes get to be a decent size, but are not huge snakes that are difficult to find homes for.
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3.0 WC; 0.2 CB L. getula californiae
0.1 WC; 10 eggs (7/11) Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

Toby, you know me I am first and foremost a locality nut, but I gotta admit the looks turn my head more and more every year. I guess I want to be sure of what i will be selling, and the only way I'LL know is if I procured the snake myself. I trust some people but people make mistakes. I can represent my snake as this or that but at least I can live with myself knowing that I caught this kingsnake at this location. When a customer asks, they may not know for sure but I do.Then as the relationship grows they can make their own decision about what I stand for. But later on I suspect I will be breeding non locale stuff and will represent them as such. There are way too many cool morphs out there now and more to be discovered. But for now, locality does it for me, as far as what I will be breeding for the next few years.
Todd Hughes

Local specific will always be my first choice, but that won't stop me at all from making a purchase. If I like something I'm going to get it, local specific or not, LOL. It also depends on what species of snake it is. Eastern Kings I usually want local specific. Years ago I didn't care so long as it was a nice eastern, but now that you have many excellent breeders like Peter, Zee, Keith, etc. that work with local specific Eastern kings, then there's no doubt I'm going with the locality animal. Also many of the other types of snakes I like and admire are not as popular with many people. Prairie Kings, Emoryi Rats, black kings (nigra) to name a few. All in all I'd say about half of my collection are locality animals. Great topic.
Steve

My L.g. holbrooki I bought because the more I read about them the more I thought that they were an intersting snake. I like their looks and they are not offered very often out here on the West Coast,--- at least I don't see them.

reako45

I buy only expensive snakes $5,ooo and up or I wont even look at them as not worth my time .

Lol I was kidding. I buy because I think they are pretty and hopefully wont bite me . I have a Ruthven and an Arizona mt king and so far so good never bitten.

I wear a winter mitt to remove them from their tanks and than they are calm once out so remove the glove . however they never tried to bite the mitt but my ruthven sometimes rattles his tale .

I also dont like big snakes so prefer under 4ft with 2 to 3 feet being ideal.

I handle my snakes like 3 or 4 times a week so like snakes that calm down as adults. I also have small native snakes in woodland set ups but they arent handled .

There are a few factors I think about. I mostly work with milks for the following reasons: size of adults, temperment and looks.

For example, I love all the Pituophis, but have kept only a few over the years just because many ssp attain such a large size (a 5ft pine snake is a much different animal than a 5 foot milk).

Temperment is important too. Who wants a collection of animals they can't pick up without being bit? I have a small collection and I like to handle the animals frequently.

Then, I would have to say looks are the main thing I look for once I've identified a species that meets the above criteria. Let's face it, when you're at a show and your looking for a snake, you'll flip through multiple hatchings to find the one that looks the best, right?

Oh, did I mention I like RED snakes?

Interesting question.

Dave

DNS Reptiles

I get my snakes only from good dealers that give me good deals/trades. Good looks are not that important to me, i like the psycho eaters.

>>Just to see the reasons we buy a certain snake.
>>1) Do you buy a certain snake due to locale/purity
>>2) Do you buy because of what species it is
>>3) Do you buy it because of its looks
>>4) Any other reason
>> Look forward to hearing some of the reasons:
>>I think my leading reason would be it's looks even though I have quite a few that are gene specific.
>>-----
>>www.Wood-N-Snakes.com

LOL!, me too! PLUG!
Todd Hughes