Ball python morph standards? Shows?

[Rhasputin]

I don't think there would be a 60 day quarantine, that sounds like an awful long time. Is that the standard for snakes?

It wold be just like any other event where snakes and other reptiles are brought into the venue. Do they require QT for reptile conventions?

[RobNJ]

I don't think there would be a 60 day quarantine, that sounds like an awful long time. Is that the standard for snakes?

It wold be just like any other event where snakes and other reptiles are brought into the venue. Do they require QT for reptile conventions?

Lol, no qt required for trade shows...you can actually bring your snakes in, sell them to a vendor, and those snakes will be right out on the vendor's table within minutes. That is not SOP at shows from what I've seen, but it happens. Which is why I don't understand why people make such a big deal over it at just the idea of an exhibition style show.

[snake lab]

animal shows such as dogs for example are judged based on a certain breed standards recognized by whatever kennel club thats putting the show on or that the dog represents. With snakes their isnt a specific morph standard. Its all based off interpretation. Therefore if a pastel for example judges well at one show it may not judge well at another cause it would be judged by whatever the particular judges at each show likes. So what would be the point? Even bragging rights would hold much water. Also if you had big name breeders going up against just some guy im sure politics would be involved a great deal. Then you have the issues of classes. Do you think people would be willing to bring super high end animals out to just show em off for a ribbon? And what would they get out of that other then a ribbon? Noone is gonna risk their animals health over ribbons in my oppinion. Plus you have to consider demographics. Our industry was made huge because of the internet. We are a global industry. Where would these shows be held? Are people gonna go through all the travel hassle for bragging rights when all they have to do right now is post a pic of a killer animal on sites like this and get all the braggin rights they want. i just dont see it as a reality.

[Rhasputin]

The reason there are no standards, is because nobody has written them. Even the AKC one day just wrote up some standards for dogs. It's not like they're set in stone somewhere, someone made them up out of thin air. I'm sure when the AKC was founded, TONS of people were up in arms about different breeds not being to THEIR standards. But eventually those that were interested in showing did, and those that weren't didn't. That's why we have things like labradoodles and designer breeds like those which still cost a fortune but would never be allowed in a show arena.

It would be almost no different than a regular trade show, but that people would enter their snakes into a competitive contest which is judged to a made-up set of standards, which may win them bragging rights. It's exactly like any other show, if you want to exhibit, you do, if you don't, you don't.

It's not like everyone will be forced into breeding to the standards of the club. Just that people who do want to show, will.

[snake lab]

What we are doing with breeding snakes is worlds apart from what dog breeders do. We twist the genetics to produce crazy lookin animals. Dog breeders selectively breed for a specific standard. Each snake morph has a hundred different ways it can look. Blushings, colors, patterns etc. There would be no way to write a specific morph standard that anyone would agree on. Then how would you set up a morph class on snakes? There are so many morphs. If this was done you would so many entries of certain morphs mainly lower end stuff and not enough animals being entered in other categories or classes. Thats if you could even convince people of showing up. The reason these animals go to trade shows are for one reason and one reason only. To sell them. I used to show akc and ukc dogs and the politics involved in them are horrible. The politics in the snake industry would be far worse. Big name breeders would either win out every time or animals they sold from their lines would win. Now lets say little jimmy bought a pastel from nerd and put it in a show. Now how would anyone know it was a nerd animal unless he said anything? Nerd should get the credit but how would we know? Now we open the argument for papers. Do we put papers on the animals? How would this be tracked? Whos paying for all this? It just isnt feasable. The snake industry has been around long enough to where if this was doable it would have been done already.

[Rhasputin]

Papers are just papers. Unless they're directly tracked by the club, anyone can make their own.

There are hundreds of ways dogs can look too, so I don't see your argument there.

[h00blah]

animal shows such as dogs for example are judged based on a certain breed standards recognized by whatever kennel club thats putting the show on or that the dog represents. With snakes their isnt a specific morph standard. Its all based off interpretation. Therefore if a pastel for example judges well at one show it may not judge well at another cause it would be judged by whatever the particular judges at each show likes. So what would be the point? Even bragging rights would hold much water. Also if you had big name breeders going up against just some guy im sure politics would be involved a great deal. Then you have the issues of classes. Do you think people would be willing to bring super high end animals out to just show em off for a ribbon? And what would they get out of that other then a ribbon? Noone is gonna risk their animals health over ribbons in my oppinion. Plus you have to consider demographics. Our industry was made huge because of the internet. We are a global industry. Where would these shows be held? Are people gonna go through all the travel hassle for bragging rights when all they have to do right now is post a pic of a killer animal on sites like this and get all the braggin rights they want. i just dont see it as a reality.

You're taking this way farther than it needs to go lol.


animal shows such as dogs for example are judged based on a certain breed standards recognized by whatever kennel club thats putting the show on or that the dog represents. With snakes their isnt a specific morph standard. Its all based off interpretation.
Exactly. So why not let the people attending the reptile expo vote! They will vote based on what THEY like! Someone who thinks they have a unique looking morph can put that up as a contestant, and let the people decide if it's a great example or not! Simple as that! The snake that best exemplifies that morph will be voted by all the attendees =].

Therefore if a pastel for example judges well at one show it may not judge well at another cause it would be judged by whatever the particular judges at each show likes.
Having a panel of judges is not a good idea. It should be left to voters. Majority rules.

So what would be the point? Even bragging rights would hold much water.
How about for fun? LOL. Just like we have BPOM, POTM, and HOTM... Everyone will vote on what they think is the coolest!

Also if you had big name breeders going up against just some guy im sure politics would be involved a great deal. Then you have the issues of classes.
I know personally that if there was an okay looking pastel from NERD, and a SWEET looking one from some person I've never heard of, I would definitely vote for the sweet looking one... How would politics come into play? You're not winning a million dollars here.... You would probably win a ribbon or something stupid like that.. It's for fun... Not to claim that you're the best breeder in the world....

Do you think people would be willing to bring super high end animals out to just show em off for a ribbon?
People bring super high end morphs to show off... They don't even put them up for sale! I see some of the best in show with the dreaded "NFS" in red marker written on it!! Why not earn a ribbon for "best in show"???? go to a reptile expo, look for one of the "NFS" and ask the breeder "WHOA! WHY DID YOU BRING THAT PRICELESS MORPH TO THIS EXPO?! lmao

And what would they get out of that other then a ribbon? Noone is gonna risk their animals health over ribbons in my oppinion.
Read the statement above... They will bring their awesome animals to the show just to show off.. with or without a ribbon lmao.

Plus you have to consider demographics. Our industry was made huge because of the internet. We are a global industry. Where would these shows be held?
They can be held at a reptile expo! The way I suggested it! Whatever vendor wants to participate can let the organizer know! Then the organizer adds it to the list of the other contestants, and passes this list out to each person who enters the reptile expo! The people who get these passes can either throw them away, or play for fun!

Are people gonna go through all the travel hassle for bragging rights when all they have to do right now is post a pic of a killer animal on sites like this and get all the braggin rights they want.
Nope! It can remain local, as it normally is.. And some big breeders travel state-wide to vend and show off their animals! What's the harm in giving an organizer a form saying what animal they want to compete for a ribbon...

i just dont see it as a reality
Think outside your box



Also.. if there's only 1 clown pied at the show, and that guy wants to put that snake up to compete, he can enter the "best in show" contest i mentioned. If anyone has a dinker that they brought to show off, they can enter them in a "dinker" contest if enough people have volunteered

[LotsaBalls]

Granted photography skills are a big part of it but this site has contests where people vote on pictures each month. Maybe a good way to start something like this is to do it online.

[Royal Hijinx]

Granted photography skills are a big part of it but this site has contests where people vote on pictures each month. Maybe a good way to start something like this is to do it online.

That's not a bad idea, but you are right that photo skills/equipment come in to play. Also, some morphs like Ghost just do not photo as well as they look in person.

[Jabberwocky Dragons]

I like the idea Rhasputin. The industry as a whole is still evolving and I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't reach this point in the not too distant future. Such shows would help give reptiles badly needed positive publicity and to show the public and media that it is a serious business and people do care about their reptiles very much. A papers database run by such an organization could also help reduce the number of scammers plaguing the online trade.