I have always been fascinated by reptiles. My family likes to remind myself and others about how I would refuse to leave the reptile house at the zoo when I was a child. Reluctantly I would finally lumber from the dark reptile house disgruntled. I would leave only after looking into every single terrarium, including the high terrariums my father would have to pick me up to see into. Some terrariums I would have to look in twice. Each trip to the zoo kindled a small flame in my young mind.
Thanksgiving day around 14 years ago, my cousin had bought a young captive hatched ball python from a local pet store and it was feeding time. My cousin tossed in the helpless mouse which was quickly dispatched by the coils of the young serpent. On that Thanksgiving day my family saw a fire ignite in my mind that had only been a small smolder until that day. I was very young; only 13 at the time, but I knew I was watching something that would change my life.
During the weeks and months following the experience at my cousin's home I could not quench my thirst for information about ball pythons. I bought books, read magazines, and became a fixture in the animals section at our local library. After months of mowing the lawn and washing dishes I finally had convinced my understanding and loving mother and father to let me purchase a snake.
I remember the experience more than any other early event in my young life. My father and I entered into the trashy and smelly trailer. The people I was purchasing the animal from took much better care of their animals than they did themselves. I took the juvenile male imported ball python in my hands and despite the ticks and obvious imperfections, I fell helplessly in love with him. The daughter of the family burst into tears when I paid for the snake and left with him. She was not much older than I was.
My pet ball python soon earned the name 'Marble'. Marble became my best friend. In the hands of someone else Marble may have not been as successful. I was not willing to give up on my best friend. I had read every single English article written on ball pythons. I knew what I was getting myself into yet I had no idea where it would ultimately take me.
Weeks turned into months and eventually I had picked every single tick from Marble's body. On the eighth month Marble decided to eat a small rat pup. What a glorious day it was and a day that solidified my passion for reptiles.
My passion grew to obsession when I purchased a gravid female import ball python with money I earned mowing lawns and raising rats. I named her 'Cleopatra' and she produced 3 young that year. I bred her in subsequent years and she produced many babies.
After high school, I made education my priority. My snakes, my love, became an afterthought. I eventually had to find other homes for my entire collection. My path was no longer one filled with reptiles. My path was filled with books and all nighter study sessions. During my senior year of college a remarkable thing happened. I was about to achieve a degree in Biology, no doubt aided by my hobbies as a child. I enrolled into a Genetics course and Herpetology during the same semester. The courses fueled the same small fire that continued to burn in my adult brain. Armed with a degree, a good paying job, and a bonfire of passion in my head I began to collect reptiles again. Today, I came home to my first clutch of ball python eggs in over a decade and it feels really good. Thanks for reading my story.
Brad Ratliff
