Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Man, if the hobby is as slow as this forum, its in trouble.

Or maybe there is another site that has more activity? Cheers

Facebook and other forums are more popular today than the KS forums.
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Hognose, Sand Boa & Ball Python Morphs

Greg Bennett | www.hognose.com

Frank,
I can not speek for every breeder but I am sure most will agree. Judging by sales, the hognose snake as a captive species, is taking off like a rocket. I bred the species back in the early 90's and it took me over a year to sell off one clutch of offspring. These days, I can honestly say that I can not produce enough of them to keep up with sales.

They are becoming very popular. Breeders have figured out ways to get them started off well and the indroduction of all these cool new morphs has helped to make them popular as well. Many people are realizing how different they are from other North American colubrids and they are very rewarding to keep.

Thanks again, Since I started looking at this forum, theres been hardly any activity. Is there a better place to learn about hogs? Thanks

lol.

What are the forums that we should be reading to learn
about Western Hognose, Greg?
Thank you,
James Holloway

by the prices these guys ask for their snakes, i'd say the hobby is alive and well.

i hear what you're saying, i've been luking for a while...to see if I can gain some insight into this very interesting morph.

but i've been disapointed...too many "hog" people seem to keep any information to themself.

it seems more like people trying to make money, than reptile folks working with a neat species.

oh well, i can see this forum getting more active when more people can afford these high priced hog morphs.

if these things can breed in a year or two...it's only a matter of time before the prices drop to a realistic level...time will tell...

i've been luking for a while...but i've been disapointed...too many "hog" people seem to keep any information to themself.

It's disappointing that you've come to this conclusion because this is simply not the case at all, at least not when you understand the history of this forum going back 6-7 years when it was far more active and a lot of information was shared freely. Back then, there were basically only 4 major morphs, classic Amelanistics "Albinos", Pink Pastels, Axanthics and Evan's Amelanistics "Hypos" and very shortly after, the Anaconda morph. Back then, "Albinos" were going for around $800, Pink Pastels $1200, "Hypos" $1200-1600 and Axanthics for $4000. There were many that had been working with hogs for many years and were eager to share their knowledge to the rest of us that were just getting into them and we also discovered and shared new things with them. It was a prosperous time for all of us.

Now to your next statement...

it seems more like people trying to make money, than reptile folks working with a neat species.

This is both true and false depending on who you are talking about. The bottom line is, it's the greed of specific individuals that have ripped this once energetic and friendly community apart. These greedy few were considered friends by many until they found it in their own monetary interest to screw people who trusted them over. Over time, many of us become very jaded over all of this drama caused by these greedy few and that's when people overall seemed to quit posting on the forums and instead chose to focus on the hobby they love and not get caught up in the drama of these greedy people. I've been on the receiving end of this greed crap and because of it, I even disappeared for about a year because it was sucking my enjoyment out of the hobby.

Trust me, there are still a lot of us out there, we're just more fragmented and cautiously leery now but we're still going strong as ever as is the hobby of keeping hognose!
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Troy Rexroth
Rextiles

I am not sure I agree with you. One thing thats seems common is the anti commerical aspect thats seen. I find that odd.

First off, your country is all about being commerical. Theres nothing wrong with that. If folks can make money doing something like this, then great. That should not get in the way or hinder anyone. If those are the folks that you do not want to have conversations with, then don't.

But there has to be many folks that love reptiles and hogs, just because they are what they are. I am sure there are lots of those.

About sharing information, what is there to share? If what I read these days is whats being done, well there is no fun in keeping hogs, the only reward is what morphs are produced.

I outlook on hogs stems from them in the field. In the field, they are very interesting in their behavior. Its intriquing to study their movements and behavior. In otherwords, what they do.

In a shoebox, they do nothing, in nature, every minute they make decisions on what to do. In captivity, everything is done for them, and they must fit what they are told to do. Not much to share there.

This recipe keeping is what takes the fun out of snakes, and makes them collectables. Like collecting baseball cards, you know, I have one of those, its in this drawer, wait, not that drawer, this one over here. Hmmmmmmm dang it, where did I put anaconda. oh well, I will find it later.

Don't get me wrong, i love morphs, if I was to find one of those candy snakes in the field, I would grab it and run, sometimes in circles, then strait for a while, then back to circles, just run. Why, got me! but I would.

There just so dang pretty. So I ask, why keep pretty things that you don't see? thats my question.

So I can see not having much to talk about. But you could show pics. Pics are always good. Thanks

FR wrote:
***"I am not sure I agree with you. One thing thats seems common is the anti commerical aspect thats seen. I find that odd."***

I am not sure what you are finding odd. I am not sure me or anyone else understands what you mean. What anit commercial aspect ae you seeing?

FR wrote:
***"First off, your country is all about being commerical. Theres nothing wrong with that. If folks can make money doing something like this, then great. That should not get in the way or hinder anyone. If those are the folks that you do not want to have conversations with, then don't."***

First off, Troy is a United States citizen just like you and me. In fact Troy served OUR Country. It is not about not wanting to deal with people who want to make money at this. All of breeding hogs are making money doing it. Obviously, if we are breeding them successfully and keeping then alive and healthy we are doing it for more than just the money. We obviously love the species. In fact, anyone can keep a hognose alive in captivity but it does take a level of commitment to breed them and raise the hatchlings. So, I am not sure where you are going with that last paragraph.

FR wrote:
***"But there has to be many folks that love reptiles and hogs, just because they are what they are. I am sure there are lots of those."***

Indeed, and you happen to be conversing with a few in this very thread.

FR wrote:
***"About sharing information, what is there to share? If what I read these days is whats being done, well there is no fun in keeping hogs, the only reward is what morphs are produced."***

There is a lot of inforation to be shared. These are not corn snakes or king snakes. Their care is different. Their behavior is different. They are unlike all other North American colubrids.

FR wrote:
***"I outlook on hogs stems from them in the field. In the field, they are very interesting in their behavior. Its intriquing to study their movements and behavior. In otherwords, what they do."***

It is great that you get to see what they do "in the field" but this is CAPTIVITY and we are talk about captive bred animals for the most part.

FR wrote:
***"In a shoebox, they do nothing, in nature, every minute they make decisions on what to do. In captivity, everything is done for them, and they must fit what they are told to do. Not much to share there."***

What are you basing this on exactly? Is it your extensive experience keeping these snakes PROPERLY in captivity? If you keep hognose snakes in same manner as you would a corn or king, you might not see much activity. However, if you keep them the way hogs are supposed to be kept, they do much more than nothing. They will constantly thermoregulate and actively hunt when hungry. Sure, their lives are much easier in captivity because they do not have to capture struggling prey or avoid predators but surely that does not mean they do nothing.

As far as them doing what they are "told" to do, it is not different in the wild than it is in captivity. It is not about them making decisions. It is about them reacting ot external pressures.

FR wrote:
***"This recipe keeping is what takes the fun out of snakes, and makes them collectables. Like collecting baseball cards, you know, I have one of those, its in this drawer, wait, not that drawer, this one over here. Hmmmmmmm dang it, where did I put anaconda. oh well, I will find it later."***

What, you mean like your recipe for keeping varanids? Lets face it Frank, what you do with varanids is no different from what snake keepers do. Sure, there are things that varanids need in captivity that many keepers are incapable of providing or are just too lazy to do so. The husbandry might be more in depth but they have a recipe or recipes all the same. Hognose snakes need a bit more attention than most other commonly kept snake species.

FR wrote:
***"Don't get me wrong, i love morphs, if I was to find one of those candy snakes in the field, I would grab it and run, sometimes in circles, then strait for a while, then back to circles, just run. Why, got me! but I would."***

Morphs are just a bonus and a way to kick start a species propagation in captivity. That is no secret.

FR wrote:
***"There just so dang pretty. So I ask, why keep pretty things that you don't see? thats my question."***

Who says we do not see them? I for one see my snakes every day. I spend an hour or 2 each day in the snake room and even longer on feeding and cleaning days. I think your "question" is more of an assumption and not an actual question at all. Seems like you already have your own idea on the hognose hobby.

FR wrote:
***"So I can see not having much to talk about. But you could show pics. Pics are always good. Thanks"***

If that is how you feel, why are you postin here? Maybe you can share some pics and info from "the field" and we can share our info on captive husbandry with you so you can properly and successfully keep and breed them. Sounds like a good trade off to me. What do ya say?

Dude, I now understand why no one posts.

First off, I have a right to my opinions, as does everyone else.

If you were a lawyer, I would throw you out of court, hahahahahahahahahaha

You do understand the approach you take, seperating each paragraph is non-sense, How about addressing my post as a whole, as thats how it was meant to be addressed. Or breaking it down to two or three key points, What you just did loses all meaning.

But if you want to break it down to key points, how about a nice discussion on RECIPE keeping(shoeboxes) vs. How we keep varanids,

ALso, I did not attribute that to any one person, just to the hobby as a whole. By looking at forums and such, plus

If I were to use a hard example, it would be the book I just read, Designer Morphs, by John Berry. The husbandry is just plain torture. Your turn

Actually Frank, I wasn't responding to you or your trollish thread starting post, nor did I intend to. I was simply responding to StevieB12's post, mainly because I've never seen them post here before and if they are new to our community and have this unfortunate view of us, then I wanted to shed some light on it.

So you can disagree all you want with me, I personally don't care as I wasn't talking to you nor at this point do I care what you have to offer because all I see coming from you is trollish drama trying to rouse up some kind of disturbance here when it's not welcome nor warranted. I could easily rake you over the coals for every misconceived passive-aggressive thing you've foolishly spouted off about here, but you are just not worth the time.

With that said Frank, I wash my hands of you!
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Troy Rexroth
Rextiles

should be like Troy...I always appreciated your insight and conversations we've had, you've help me out a bunch over the past year or so...

Don't let drama taint you...

-Rusty

Thank you Rusty, sincerely, for your kind words; I am deeply humbled by them!

I will honestly admit that 2 years ago I was deeply frustrated with the drama surrounding some of the "members" of our community, but I am over that now. This doesn't mean that I'm impervious to still being burned by people, because I've definitely had my share of that this year. But I've learned to find solace and strength in the good, honest and hard working people in our community, people that I'm proud to know and call my friends.

I just want to say "thank you" to all of you who share the same passion for this hobby and community and that would still be doing this if there wasn't any more money to be made but simply did it for the love and fascination of it all, you know who you are!
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Troy Rexroth
Rextiles

I wasn't talking to you either. And that wash your hands of me, Thats plain stupid. Good luck with your clean handed life.

Dude just bounce from here already. There is a reason people don't post here anymore including myself and that is because of people like u.
Is this fun? its not even entertaining just annoying as hell to have some dude just flapping at the mouth likethis back and forth back and forth. What are we 12?when I was a kid my parents called this diareah of the mouth,, it just keeps running and running - So please Man U got some pics dip and take your bs elsewhere.
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**Joe Schmidt-
3rdroomreptiles.com

Yea your right. So let me see, no one posts, and I never posted here, yet somehow its my fault or people like me's fault.

This forums dead as a doornail, an its everyone elses fault.

Sir you have great logic. Go with that it will serve you well.

Do you have any idea what causes interest in something? Do you think if everyone agreed and had the same animals, that would be a good thing?

These sites are called discussion forums, and normally discussion takes place when people have different viewpoints(and we all do)

There is nothing wrong with discussion and having different views. No one is going to climb into their computer and come out on your end and make you do anything other then THINK. Which must be real painful to you.

I still have one question, why would a person have some of the most beautiful snakes on earth(some of these morphs are) and keep them where you cannot SEE them. Remember, its just a question, No more, no less. Cheers

Insult my intelagance again you and i will unexpectadly have a cup of coffee.
I don't play so watch you mouth.
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**Joe Schmidt-
3rdroomreptiles.com

Wow getting all worked up over such a simple question. I keep them in shoe boxes because it makes my life more simple. I just open the box and pow there they are I look at them and then put them away.With a collection of my size I dont have the space to keep them in realistic enclosures, wish I did. Good luck too you Frank, hope you have some interesting info in the future mabey for all of us to ponder and add to our captive husbandry knowlege. Ted Williams House of Scales.