Snakes and Sh!t

I have started a product review section on the main site.

The first product I have reviewed is a new design of radiant heat panels manufactured by Reptile Basics.
I have been very impressed with the panels in both features and function.

You can see the entire review including my tests of the heat panels here:
http://www.arbreptiles.com/products/rbi_heatpanels.shtml

I plan to include reviews of other herp related products in the future.

Clay :: Jan.20.2008 :: Product reviews :: 1 Comment »

I know I’m about three weeks behind schedule, but the new birthing rack for the rats is finally done. The final parts I’ve been waiting on for the watering system came in this week and I finished coding the HTML for the How To page today.

Check out the new plans here:

http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/rat_rack2/birthing_rack.shtml

Clay :: Jan.13.2008 :: The Collection :: No Comments »

Snakebytes.tv is a new site being launched soon by Brian Barczyk of BHB Reptiles.
It will be a weekly show about the world of a large scale reptile breeder. Word has it this may be the forerunner of an actual television show.
I’m really looking forward to the official launch of the site.

The website for Snakebytes.tv is http://www.snakebytes.tv/
Snakebytes YouTube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/SnakeBytesTV

I think a show like this, especially should it make it to television, has enormous potential for our hobby. It would help bring us more into the mainstream and legitimize our hobby if you will.
The great expansion of the reptile hobby over the last decade and a half is a double edged sword to me, but now that we have grown to the point we are, I feel it is important to bring the hobby to the forefront.

Many years ago we were basically ignored by lawmakers and the public in general due to our small numbers and general preference to operate “under the radar” so to speak. We have now reached a point that we are large enough to draw the attention of the public and the lawmakers, and all too often that attention is negative. We will now have to expand further to gain the strength to avoid being legislated out of existence.

Watch for the launch of Snakebytes.TV and support it. Tell your friends about it. Get the number of viewers as high as we can so show the interest is there.
We are at a precarious point in the development of the hobby, and the next few years will determine whether we will be the last generation to enjoy keeping reptiles like we do today.

Clay :: Jan.09.2008 :: Herp News, Reptile Related :: 2 Comments »

Today I discovered that there are some problems with some of the photos on the site. In particular quite a few of the pics on the Alligator Adventure page are damaged.
This occurred during the move to the new server. Apparently due to the large volume of data that was being transferred some of the larger picture files became corrupted. The result is some have odd colors in them, are blocky looking, or are just cut off at the bottom.
That was a few months ago now, but there’s just so many pictures and stuff on the site I haven’t loaded them all myself.

I will be uploading the Alligator Adventure pics again today, and making sure they are all there. However, if anyone should come across a photograph anywhere on the site that is damaged or otherwise doesn’t appear to display properly, I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know so I can fix it.

Clay :: Jan.05.2008 :: Site News and Updates :: No Comments »

Apparently the parts I’ve been waiting on to finish the watering system on the new rat rack have been out of stock.
I got an email today saying that they had finally shipped them.

They should be here in a few days, so hopefully by next weekend the new rack will be in use.
I’ll have the plans posted as soon as I can get the page coded.

Clay :: Jan.05.2008 :: The Collection :: No Comments »

The male spider is a breeding machine. He’s mated with 5 girls so far, so hopefully I’ll get at least a few clutches from him this season.

The male albino has decided he’s ready this year and has been breeding with two het girls.  I struck out with the albino gene this season, so with him as the breeder male hopefully I’ll have better lick this year.

The pastel male has bred a female or two, but he’s not nearly as enthusiastic as the spider male. It’s hard to beat a spider for either feeding or breeding interest though.

The het clowns have copulated a couple of times. I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll get another clutch from them this season.

The womas are of course breeding heavy, but they’ve skunked me in the past, so I’ve learned not to count those eggs until I have babies roaming the incubator.

The bredli are being a little stubborn. I’ve seen some mild interest from the male, but no copulation as of yet. I’m going to tweak their temperatures a little more and see if I can’t get something started with them.

I’m beginning to think the Savus are going to need another year before they’re ready. I thought, judging by their size, that they were ready to breed, but I’ve seen no interest from them at all so far.

I’ll make regular updates here on the blog when anything of interest happens. Until then it’s just the waiting game as usual, keep them breeding and wait on ovulation.

Clay :: Jan.04.2008 :: The Collection :: No Comments »

 Here’s a new pic of the little clown girl I held back this season I thought I’d share.

She’s coming along nicely if I do say so myself. I hope to produce some more like her this year.
Her parents have copulated a couple of times so far, but in the past I’ve found that I have a smaller degree of success getting a given female to reproduce two consecutive seasons, especially when she’s a young female.
We’ll see what happens though.

Click the thumbnail for a larger pic.

I’m proud of this girl, and am very glad I was able to start with good genes and was able to produce her to add to my breeding colony.  Her grandfather was also a very nice reduced patterned male, and that was the main factor in my deciding to start my clown project with his offspring.
Despite the claims of some, you can see the benefit of starting a project with good stock. Clowns are indeed variable, but not to the point some  (mainly the ones producing the lowest quality) would like you to believe.

I’m not saying that to promote my animals. There are many breeders producing high quality clowns. There’s a good number producing low quality animals too that look more like blackback normals than clowns too.
I’d like to see this gene refined and improved on, and to that end I’d like to see people interested in the clowns make the effort to acquire high quality founding stock, regardless of who they buy it from. With careful breeding, aimed at improving the look as opposed to just producing more to sell, I’m anxious to see what will be produced in years to come.

Clay :: Jan.04.2008 :: The Collection :: No Comments »