Reptile & Amphibian Forums

j/k

I, as a geezer, remember when "subbing" a more "valuable" herp was a common practice with dealers. All the herps were imported at that time, mid 70's.
I wanted a ball python, bad. My Mom got ahold of a local guy who placed a couple orders a year from a place in Ohio. We ordered a ball python. I was thrilled. The shipment came in, and instead of a BP, I received 2 columbian rainbows. One was DOA, the other almost. We took the 1/2 dead snake home and treated it with antibiotics from a eyedropper. Needless to say, my Mom lost her FEAR of snakes pretty quickly, as she had to hold "Snakey" as I gave him his daily dose of medicine.

Long story short, Snakey recovered and was a healthy, happy snake till I sold him, and yes, I did eventually get a BP!

I am interested in hearing storys from the *old days*, if the forum is a bit slow.

Thanks

BT

BT,
....I grew up in central Florida in the 50s and 60s and snakes were extremely plentiful there at that time. My brother and I began catching and keeping snakes in the early 60s. We caught and kept some snakes and also sold many of them. We did not keep accurate records until 1969 when we captured just over 1000 local snakes. We also did some captive breeding starting in the mid 60s. We got most of our boids by trading WC local snakes for them. By the mid 70s there were quite a few people breeding Ratsnakes and Kingsnakes and so CB ones were availbale on the market. Boids were not successfullly bred in large enough numbers to make an impact on the market until the mid 80s.
Jeff

>>j/k
>>
>> I, as a geezer, remember when "subbing" a more "valuable" herp was a common practice with dealers. All the herps were imported at that time, mid 70's.
>> I wanted a ball python, bad. My Mom got ahold of a local guy who placed a couple orders a year from a place in Ohio. We ordered a ball python. I was thrilled. The shipment came in, and instead of a BP, I received 2 columbian rainbows. One was DOA, the other almost. We took the 1/2 dead snake home and treated it with antibiotics from a eyedropper. Needless to say, my Mom lost her FEAR of snakes pretty quickly, as she had to hold "Snakey" as I gave him his daily dose of medicine.
>>
>> Long story short, Snakey recovered and was a healthy, happy snake till I sold him, and yes, I did eventually get a BP!
>>
>>I am interested in hearing storys from the *old days*, if the forum is a bit slow.
>>
>>Thanks
>>
>>BT

Aha!

Jeff, I grew up in Manitoba Canada. We had Garter snakes < and the famous "pits" >, so every snake was an import!, pretty well. I was just relating how different it was "in the day". I still remember being 14 and going to "The Shed" and "Chases" in Miami and flipping out!

Thanks.

BT

BT,
...If you have never been to the show in Daytona you should go. You will see people there who were in the business in Florida back in the 60s and 70s.
Jeff

>>Aha!
>>
>> Jeff, I grew up in Manitoba Canada. We had Garter snakes < and the famous "pits" >, so every snake was an import!, pretty well. I was just relating how different it was "in the day". I still remember being 14 and going to "The Shed" and "Chases" in Miami and flipping out!
>>
>>Thanks.
>>
>>BT

I brought my first snake home when I was 3 or 4. That is the extent of my Herping the Seventies, with the exception of handfulls of horned toads. I don't ever remember one living. The next snake I got was an amel corn...which I had for about 13 years. Then came some WC BP's (died, IBD?) and a few more corns (died, death by cat) and now I have the BRB's. My only "Must Have" are some PRB's, but I could be convinced in less than than 30 seconds for some Hogs.

Linda

Strange thing...not one snake has ever escaped (knock on wood) since I no longer have any roommate people.