Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just do not understand why there are not more posts here? With all the retics that are sold JSUT here on KS, where do all the people go. It is not like people do not know KS exists, this is probably where they got the snake.

I used to be VERY active on the boa forum a year or two ago. I was bashed from time to time and I always have been an outspoken person, but really do try not to hurt peoples feelings. I remember one lady asked, and I quote (cause I will never forget this post), "does my boa need help shedding?"
I responded by simply saying, "what makes you think she needs help?" Now I will say I could have been a bit more specific like saying, what is happening, etc. I got MANY repsonses like "that was rude", "Why are you being such an ass", she responded by saying something along the lines of, if I cannot be nice do not reply. Since then I have posted here and there, but not on any regular basis. I have been reading alot, email people privately, etc. All in all, I have been on or around KS for 5 years.
I remember it because it truely sent me for a loop. I was baffled how people could respond that way and what they took out of context.
These forums have become nothing more than a breeding ground for egos. We ALL love snakes, we ALL have different tastes in types. We all have different levels of knowledge/experience when it comes to snakes. Bottom line is we ALL ave something to share or say and should not bash others for their thought, opinions, likes, or dislikes.
With that said, and this might seem a bit "weird", but I suggest we all post a bit about ourselves. Kind of start the forum over so to speak and see what we can do to get it going. Find common likes or even common dislikes, that is ok too.
I have been keeping and/or caring for snakes for 15 years. Prior to that, I grew up in Colorado where I used to catch various frogs, lizards, salamanders, Garter Snakes, water snakes of sorts, etc. Like most, my first snake was a ball python I had for 5 years. The only reason I donot have it any more is that a guy here in Arizona I sold a pair of Jungle Carpet Pythons to had a wife that REALLY liked this male ball I had. I decided to throw it in for free, just to make her happy as well.
Anyway, I have had JCP, Irian Juyas, chondros, emeralds (for a short period of time), burms, retics (the only pythons I currently have), Amazon Tree Boas/Cooks, guyanans, common boas (Albinos, Hypos/Salmons, Anerys), Brazilian Rainbow Boas, abbarant boas, Cornsanery, striped motleys, normal, motley, snow, creamsicle, candy canes.......and others), Anery and Albino Hondurans, Sinaloans, Albino Nelsoni, Tangerine Hondurans, (I am strating to forget the rest), rattlers, and who knows what else.
3 years ago, I started selling off MOST of what I mentioned above. THis was when I had more snakes than I have had before. I wanted to get a house (for both my snakes and family), so away it ALL went except my breeder colubrids and the eggs I had on the ground at the time of the move.
Since then (26 months ago) I have been slowly building my collection. I have been very specific and picky about what and who I buy from. I have been looking for the best of what I wanted. I currrently have a pair of Tiger Retics, pair of Granite back Retics, pair of 100% het for albino boas/poss. het Anery, pair of genetic stripe boas (male stripe/100% het female) BOTH possible het for albino, female Hypo boa, female normal ball (bought it for my son, but now in my care, will breed it to a co/dom trait male ball of some sort), and my rattlers (Mojave, Sidewinder, Blacktail).
I have decided to keep it small, get my favorites, and go from there.
Anyway, this could go on forever, but that is me in brief. Hope to hear some about everyone else, and like Brian Smith said, let's get this forum moving again.
Below is a pic of one of my granites, sure you all have seen it before, but I thought after all that reading you all deserved some eye candy!
Best to all!!!
Brian Oakley
Phoenix, Arizona

Female Hypo Boa

THis is my female Tiger. Looks smaller than she is, but she is right at 14', I was standing a bit away form the cage when I took it.......she is a bit "jumpy", but baby tame when holding her.

Wow, she looks so much like my first tiger. Almost as if they were twins. Where did you get her from?
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Marcia Pimentel
Tango River Reptiles
GiantFeeders

I got both my male and female form a guy here in Arizona. Just did not want them anymore. Got a great deal, they are 6 and 5 years old respectively. This year (I HOPE) will be the first time they produced anything. I forget which came from where, but one from Bob C. and the other from Al and Cindy Baldago.

I'm thinking this one came from Bob Clark.
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Marcia Pimentel
Tango River Reptiles
GiantFeeders

As am I.

>>I'm thinking this one came from Bob Clark.
>>-----
>>Marcia Pimentel
>>Tango River Reptiles
>>GiantFeeders
-----
It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

I am in agreement with all that you said here. All too often information and or responses to posts are misinterpreted and then a negative chain reaction occurs. I have learned in the last few months how to better word my posts so that they are not taken in the wrong manner. It still happens occasionally, unfortunately,. but not anywhere near as often as a year ago when I was using less tact.

You had and still have very nice animals. I would love to see more pictures if you don't mind taking the time to post them. I will be needing some emeralds and chondros soon if you feel up to some trading. I have most of the larger morphs, but won't have the bulk of my babies until early next year. Let me know what you think.

>>I just do not understand why there are not more posts here? With all the retics that are sold JSUT here on KS, where do all the people go. It is not like people do not know KS exists, this is probably where they got the snake.
>>
>>I used to be VERY active on the boa forum a year or two ago. I was bashed from time to time and I always have been an outspoken person, but really do try not to hurt peoples feelings. I remember one lady asked, and I quote (cause I will never forget this post), "does my boa need help shedding?"
>>I responded by simply saying, "what makes you think she needs help?" Now I will say I could have been a bit more specific like saying, what is happening, etc. I got MANY repsonses like "that was rude", "Why are you being such an ass", she responded by saying something along the lines of, if I cannot be nice do not reply. Since then I have posted here and there, but not on any regular basis. I have been reading alot, email people privately, etc. All in all, I have been on or around KS for 5 years.
>>I remember it because it truely sent me for a loop. I was baffled how people could respond that way and what they took out of context.
>>These forums have become nothing more than a breeding ground for egos. We ALL love snakes, we ALL have different tastes in types. We all have different levels of knowledge/experience when it comes to snakes. Bottom line is we ALL ave something to share or say and should not bash others for their thought, opinions, likes, or dislikes.
>>With that said, and this might seem a bit "weird", but I suggest we all post a bit about ourselves. Kind of start the forum over so to speak and see what we can do to get it going. Find common likes or even common dislikes, that is ok too.
>>I have been keeping and/or caring for snakes for 15 years. Prior to that, I grew up in Colorado where I used to catch various frogs, lizards, salamanders, Garter Snakes, water snakes of sorts, etc. Like most, my first snake was a ball python I had for 5 years. The only reason I donot have it any more is that a guy here in Arizona I sold a pair of Jungle Carpet Pythons to had a wife that REALLY liked this male ball I had. I decided to throw it in for free, just to make her happy as well.
>>Anyway, I have had JCP, Irian Juyas, chondros, emeralds (for a short period of time), burms, retics (the only pythons I currently have), Amazon Tree Boas/Cooks, guyanans, common boas (Albinos, Hypos/Salmons, Anerys), Brazilian Rainbow Boas, abbarant boas, Cornsanery, striped motleys, normal, motley, snow, creamsicle, candy canes.......and others), Anery and Albino Hondurans, Sinaloans, Albino Nelsoni, Tangerine Hondurans, (I am strating to forget the rest), rattlers, and who knows what else.
>>3 years ago, I started selling off MOST of what I mentioned above. THis was when I had more snakes than I have had before. I wanted to get a house (for both my snakes and family), so away it ALL went except my breeder colubrids and the eggs I had on the ground at the time of the move.
>>Since then (26 months ago) I have been slowly building my collection. I have been very specific and picky about what and who I buy from. I have been looking for the best of what I wanted. I currrently have a pair of Tiger Retics, pair of Granite back Retics, pair of 100% het for albino boas/poss. het Anery, pair of genetic stripe boas (male stripe/100% het female) BOTH possible het for albino, female Hypo boa, female normal ball (bought it for my son, but now in my care, will breed it to a co/dom trait male ball of some sort), and my rattlers (Mojave, Sidewinder, Blacktail).
>>I have decided to keep it small, get my favorites, and go from there.
>>Anyway, this could go on forever, but that is me in brief. Hope to hear some about everyone else, and like Brian Smith said, let's get this forum moving again.
>>Below is a pic of one of my granites, sure you all have seen it before, but I thought after all that reading you all deserved some eye candy!
>>Best to all!!!
>>Brian Oakley
>>Phoenix, Arizona
>>
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It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

that's a good idea you have. I don't really know many people that post here (well, when anyone is posting here). My fascination with snakes also goes back to my childhood. Growing up in Florida I used to try to bandage together the snakes my mother hacked apart with a machete. My mother was terrified of snakes- a fear that is still with her, though she stopped killing snakes many years ago, thank goodness. I love animals and surround myself with animals on a daily basis. I moved out to the sticks to be closer to nature. We have gopher tortoises wandering around, Eastern diamondbacks, pygmy rattlers, yellow and black rat snakes, corn snakes, legless lizards, skinks of all sorts, huge Cuban tree frogs, leopard frogs, green and brown tree frogs, oak toads, peepers, anoles, cooters, snapping turtles, and of course- alligators (to mention a few of the reptiles and amphibians). My reptile family has decreased from a high of over 50 snakes to a low of 14 snakes plus two iguanas. A severe asthma developed in part to rats forced me out of a majority of rat feeders but I had been scaling back to avoid burn out as well. I'm more focused now but I find that the snakes that I truly enjoy are the giant ones and I couldn't start out with them. My baby super tiger is now over 120 pounds and about 16 feet long, she is still my friend. It is a very unique relationship that no one in my family understands and living so far away from civilization, I depend on like-minded people on line to share with. That's been hard since many of the people I've grown used to chatting with are busy with family, careers, and relationships in the real world.
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Marcia Pimentel
Tango River Reptiles
GiantFeeders

Wow,.. how cool it must be to live there. I would LOVE to live in a place with such diversity of wild animals/reptiles. I was going to move out South around there at one point, but then several factors caused a change of plans and now I am staying here in California at least for a number of years. In case you are curious as tto what the main factors are, it is the irony of the ever increasing reptile collection that I wanted to move to a more humid region, got so big as to make such a move very difficult.

>>that's a good idea you have. I don't really know many people that post here (well, when anyone is posting here). My fascination with snakes also goes back to my childhood. Growing up in Florida I used to try to bandage together the snakes my mother hacked apart with a machete. My mother was terrified of snakes- a fear that is still with her, though she stopped killing snakes many years ago, thank goodness. I love animals and surround myself with animals on a daily basis. I moved out to the sticks to be closer to nature. We have gopher tortoises wandering around, Eastern diamondbacks, pygmy rattlers, yellow and black rat snakes, corn snakes, legless lizards, skinks of all sorts, huge Cuban tree frogs, leopard frogs, green and brown tree frogs, oak toads, peepers, anoles, cooters, snapping turtles, and of course- alligators (to mention a few of the reptiles and amphibians). My reptile family has decreased from a high of over 50 snakes to a low of 14 snakes plus two iguanas. A severe asthma developed in part to rats forced me out of a majority of rat feeders but I had been scaling back to avoid burn out as well. I'm more focused now but I find that the snakes that I truly enjoy are the giant ones and I couldn't start out with them. My baby super tiger is now over 120 pounds and about 16 feet long, she is still my friend. It is a very unique relationship that no one in my family understands and living so far away from civilization, I depend on like-minded people on line to share with. That's been hard since many of the people I've grown used to chatting with are busy with family, careers, and relationships in the real world.
>>-----
>>Marcia Pimentel
>>Tango River Reptiles
>>GiantFeeders
-----
It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

What part of Cali Brian? I get out to San Diego a few times a year. Try to avoid L.A., can't STAND the congestion. My wife wants to move back (she is originally form Santa Barbara area), but I want to go east for the same reasons you were speaking. Who kows though.
Brian Oakley

Just outside of L.A. (30 mins) I love Santa Barbara, it's beautiful there.

>>What part of Cali Brian? I get out to San Diego a few times a year. Try to avoid L.A., can't STAND the congestion. My wife wants to move back (she is originally form Santa Barbara area), but I want to go east for the same reasons you were speaking. Who kows though.
>>Brian Oakley
-----
It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

I grew up in Palm Beach county and moved to Texas -lived there for almost ten years but first chance I got I moved back to Florida, Imissed the flora and fauna. In all my time in Texas I saw only a couple of lizards and snakes. Summer there was like being inside an over for two months- here it is like being in a sauna I moved 40 plus snakes along with my children when we came back.
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Marcia Pimentel
Tango River Reptiles
GiantFeeders

Well,... there's more to it than just the snakes. But all in all I have serious tonage of reptile to move. I have to wait until I can afford a fleet of 5th wheels.

>>I grew up in Palm Beach county and moved to Texas -lived there for almost ten years but first chance I got I moved back to Florida, Imissed the flora and fauna. In all my time in Texas I saw only a couple of lizards and snakes. Summer there was like being inside an over for two months- here it is like being in a sauna I moved 40 plus snakes along with my children when we came back.
>>-----
>>Marcia Pimentel
>>Tango River Reptiles
>>GiantFeeders
-----
It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

Do I spot a Dead Milkmen fan?? Or is that just a coinky?

>>Do I spot a Dead Milkmen fan?? Or is that just a coinky?
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It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

Do I spot a Dead Milkmen fan?? Or is that just a coinky?

That sounds like alot of fun living out there. I have always lived in a big city, butone day I can see my wife and I moving out to a less populated area.
You sound like me, I had around 40 animals 3 years ago, and now have 14. I love looking at lizards, but do not own any. I do have 2 dogs though. A Pomeranian (hope I spelled that right) and the love of my life (second to my wife) is our female English Mastiff.
Brian Oakley

This is my childhood dream out here. I am very lucky to be where I am. When I read your post about scaling down I thought the same thing- "like me!" A lot of people have fits when they hear that but I went to great pains to find good homes for my snakes and unless some people deliberately deceived me I think they went to good homes. You have a very large dog and a very small dog, LOL- I do too. I have a Great Dane and a Chinese Crested (plus a Catahoula and a Rottie).
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Marcia Pimentel
Tango River Reptiles
GiantFeeders

I read these forums virtually everyday, and since there seems to be a call to get more folks to post, I decided I might as well give it a whirl. My name is Brian Ott, and I am a graduate student at the University of Alabama. I am working on my master's-I am studying the feeding ecology and digestive physiology of pythons. I could write for hours about what we have found and what is on the near horizon with our work, but that would probably take too long for this post. But, here at school, I currently care for approx 100 pythons (retics, burms, rocks, balls, bloods- all from the Python genus) as well as a mess of N. rhombifer and some very disgruntled Tokay geckos. At home I have my Columbian boa, JCP, .1 normal, 1.1 tiger hets, and .1 albino retics. I will do my best to be more active and hopefully we can get some good discussions going. Have a good one!
~Brian

They have a college in Alabama? Just kidding man. Hey, that sounds REALLY interesting. Seriously. Would you please post some info, findings and facts on the digestive physiology?? It won't be lost on me, I will hang on every word and will beg you for more. I love to learn all I can about snakes. I would like to take classes myself one day, but there are so many prerequisite classes just to get to basics, and I am an 8th grade dropout. So I'm kinda screwed. At least last time I looked into it in 1989 that's how it was. I'm sure it's still like that, right?

Can you also describe the 100 retics, burms and other pythons? That is a tremendous amount of pythons (trust me, I know personally). Does the school take in donated rescue snakes or something? Or did they actually purchase these? And what are the oldest snakes there? Do you know?

When you say 1.1 tiger hets you are referring to tigers het albino, right? If so, who are they from and what year?

Your name seems familiar to me. Have we spoken or done business before?

Thanks for coming to the forums,... we need more activity here. By the way, could you go vote for the giant constrictors forum over in the burm forum? I'd appreciate it.

>>I read these forums virtually everyday, and since there seems to be a call to get more folks to post, I decided I might as well give it a whirl. My name is Brian Ott, and I am a graduate student at the University of Alabama. I am working on my master's-I am studying the feeding ecology and digestive physiology of pythons. I could write for hours about what we have found and what is on the near horizon with our work, but that would probably take too long for this post. But, here at school, I currently care for approx 100 pythons (retics, burms, rocks, balls, bloods- all from the Python genus) as well as a mess of N. rhombifer and some very disgruntled Tokay geckos. At home I have my Columbian boa, JCP, .1 normal, 1.1 tiger hets, and .1 albino retics. I will do my best to be more active and hopefully we can get some good discussions going. Have a good one!
>>~Brian
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It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

Well, I contacted you earlier about cage building and your hopefull super tigers. I am the one building cages from sheets of pvc... My tigers are het for albino and they are '02s.

The oldest snakes we have are Burmese pythons around 10 yrs old. We have a couple around 15', a couple around 13', and about 10 in the the 6-10' range that are housed in neodesha and wooden cages. We have about 36 yearling retics, rocks, and burmese. After that we have around 55 '03 ball, bloods, and burms. These are all housed in individual rubbermaid containers. All of these snakes were purchased from various breeders and resellers.

For my project, I am basically doing comparative physiology work with the 5 Python species I listed above. It will include metabolic rates for fasted and fed snakes (25% of their body mass), nutrient uptake rates for fasted and fed snakes, gut morphology for fasted and fed snakes, and a molecular phylogeny to round everything out.

There has already been numerous papers published in refereed journals on the results for the earlier work on the burmese pythons-but this is the first time we have ever used anything besides the burmese. There was just so much work to be done on them that we are just finally finishing up 10 yrs of research. There is so much great data, that I am not going to waste my time trying to remember exact figures and measurments-I'll just wait until I have paper in hand to give you the exact numbers. I am actually preparing the retics and rocks for fasted metabolic rates right now, which isn't a whole lot of fun at 3am...

We will sort out the Brian- I was thinking Brian S. and Brian O. but now two Brian O.'s- hmmm. BUT what about that information. This is exactly what some of us have been waiting to find. Please share!
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Marcia Pimentel
Tango River Reptiles
GiantFeeders

Sounds very interesting. I think we take some things for granted, but I bet there is some great info in the studies you have done.
100 pythons? Quite a few mouths to feed.......alot of BIG mouths. Does the school breed it own food or bring it in?

What is it with the Brian's all of a sudden?

Look forward to talking with you and hearing your stories/ideas/questions etc.

Brian Oakley

I still waiting for some one to ask if they need to cut their retics rabbit up before the retic eats it. It is about as bad as asking if an animal will bite. I always say if it has a mouth and teeth it will or can bite.

>>I just do not understand why there are not more posts here? With all the retics that are sold JSUT here on KS, where do all the people go. It is not like people do not know KS exists, this is probably where they got the snake.
>>
>>I used to be VERY active on the boa forum a year or two ago. I was bashed from time to time and I always have been an outspoken person, but really do try not to hurt peoples feelings. I remember one lady asked, and I quote (cause I will never forget this post), "does my boa need help shedding?"
>>I responded by simply saying, "what makes you think she needs help?" Now I will say I could have been a bit more specific like saying, what is happening, etc. I got MANY repsonses like "that was rude", "Why are you being such an ass", she responded by saying something along the lines of, if I cannot be nice do not reply. Since then I have posted here and there, but not on any regular basis. I have been reading alot, email people privately, etc. All in all, I have been on or around KS for 5 years.
>>I remember it because it truely sent me for a loop. I was baffled how people could respond that way and what they took out of context.
>>These forums have become nothing more than a breeding ground for egos. We ALL love snakes, we ALL have different tastes in types. We all have different levels of knowledge/experience when it comes to snakes. Bottom line is we ALL ave something to share or say and should not bash others for their thought, opinions, likes, or dislikes.
>>With that said, and this might seem a bit "weird", but I suggest we all post a bit about ourselves. Kind of start the forum over so to speak and see what we can do to get it going. Find common likes or even common dislikes, that is ok too.
>>I have been keeping and/or caring for snakes for 15 years. Prior to that, I grew up in Colorado where I used to catch various frogs, lizards, salamanders, Garter Snakes, water snakes of sorts, etc. Like most, my first snake was a ball python I had for 5 years. The only reason I donot have it any more is that a guy here in Arizona I sold a pair of Jungle Carpet Pythons to had a wife that REALLY liked this male ball I had. I decided to throw it in for free, just to make her happy as well.
>>Anyway, I have had JCP, Irian Juyas, chondros, emeralds (for a short period of time), burms, retics (the only pythons I currently have), Amazon Tree Boas/Cooks, guyanans, common boas (Albinos, Hypos/Salmons, Anerys), Brazilian Rainbow Boas, abbarant boas, Cornsanery, striped motleys, normal, motley, snow, creamsicle, candy canes.......and others), Anery and Albino Hondurans, Sinaloans, Albino Nelsoni, Tangerine Hondurans, (I am strating to forget the rest), rattlers, and who knows what else.
>>3 years ago, I started selling off MOST of what I mentioned above. THis was when I had more snakes than I have had before. I wanted to get a house (for both my snakes and family), so away it ALL went except my breeder colubrids and the eggs I had on the ground at the time of the move.
>>Since then (26 months ago) I have been slowly building my collection. I have been very specific and picky about what and who I buy from. I have been looking for the best of what I wanted. I currrently have a pair of Tiger Retics, pair of Granite back Retics, pair of 100% het for albino boas/poss. het Anery, pair of genetic stripe boas (male stripe/100% het female) BOTH possible het for albino, female Hypo boa, female normal ball (bought it for my son, but now in my care, will breed it to a co/dom trait male ball of some sort), and my rattlers (Mojave, Sidewinder, Blacktail).
>>I have decided to keep it small, get my favorites, and go from there.
>>Anyway, this could go on forever, but that is me in brief. Hope to hear some about everyone else, and like Brian Smith said, let's get this forum moving again.
>>Below is a pic of one of my granites, sure you all have seen it before, but I thought after all that reading you all deserved some eye candy!
>>Best to all!!!
>>Brian Oakley
>>Phoenix, Arizona
>>
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Thomas Jones
aligatorhunter@earthlink.net

The impossible is often the untried!!!