New member from West Virginia

I've been lurking for a couple weeks but thought I should introduce myself.

My name is Norm, I'm from Parkersburg, WV. I had a ball python 20 years ago until my mom and dad got a male and wanted to try and breed them. They never returned her and she died about a year ago after her mate did. They had clutches but my dad never incubated them properly so no babies.

Anyway, my wife, Becky, adopted one of our friend Shannon's BPs (a boy named Sidney) and she now has caught the bug. Sid was given to our friend from a pet store as a non-eater, took him home and got him eating. Becky and I help on feeding days at Shannon's house and was the first to git Sid to eat something besides a pinky and fell in love with the little guy. We took him home a few weeks ago and since he's eaten a rat pup every 5 days for us and last night I gave him a fuzzy afterward because he was looking for more. He seems eager to make up for lost time.

We also have a female Pinstripe named Ziva we bought at the All-Ohio Reptile expo last weekend. Got an amazing deal on a beautiful animal. We're going to try and feed her this evening.

We also have a pastel male delivered today from a Ben Siegel auction (I got a hypo male boa) and I bought an enchi male from Ben too as a Christmas present for Becky. None of the new guys have names yet. I'm picking them up at Shannon's house (where they were delivered) after work.

I also have a jungle carpet python named jerome who has shed for me but has yet to eat. Every collection has a problem child I suppose and Jerome is mine.

We're interested in breeding BPs someday but by buying juvies we're going about it slowly. My plan is to buy single morphs that we like the look of and will enjoy as pets in their own right rather than worry too much about possible combinations. When the time comes we'll make some more decisions. One thing I don't want to do is produce a bunch of snakes that there is no market for. I insist on doing everything the right way and it being about the animals, not just breeding two snakes because we can.

Anyway I look forward to participating here and of course, learning all I can. Thanks for having me.

Norm

Sounds like you have quite the collection! Welcome and I hope to see some pictures soon!

Welcome to BP.net

Pictures would be great of all your snakes.

:)

Welcome to the forum!

OK, here we go. Pictures!

Sidney, my wife's first snake. A normal boy.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-V...282%252529.JPG

This is Ziva, our Pinstripe girl.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-b...0/Untitled.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O...0/Untitled.jpg

This is our little enchi boy. He's new enough not to have a name yet.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r...A/s512/010.JPG
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-u...c/s512/011.JPG

Here's our pastel. Also without a name as yet.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-v...8/s512/024.JPG

Jerome, my jungle carpet python.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-j...s/s512/002.JPG

And finally my Columbian hypo boa Mario.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V...Q/s640/023.JPG
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7...U/s640/015.JPG

Thanks for looking.

Hello Norm, and :welcome: to BP.net.
If you haven't tried it yet, offer your JCP a mouse. It is not uncommon for young JCP's to be notorious mousers.
I would also recommend using something like a cigarette lighter to melt around the entrance holes of the hides. This will smooth it out and reduce the chances of snags or scratches...:gj:

Welcome to the site but I have to say I'm jealous. I want the bp in the pink bowl. hehe

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

I would also recommend using something like a cigarette lighter to melt around the entrance holes of the hides. This will smooth it out and reduce the chances of snags or scratches...:gj:

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I was going to say the same thing... maybe even duct tape?? Beautiful collection though, Norm :) I want an Enchi sooo bad, but my husband doesn't think it'll fit into our long-term plan :/

Thanks folks. I actually filed down the rough spots on the hide. It's temporary until tonight anyway when I can get to the pet store for some new hides.

I'm building my rack tonight and I want everything to start off new and pretty. LOL.

The enchi was kind of an impulse buy. We had discussed what we wanted and what we coudl afford. The enchi fit the former but not the latter. But then I happened upon a really good deal and since it was Christmas.... Anyway, Becky was ecstatic with the little guy. He really is a sweet looking little guy.

(edited to add) I'm a little hesitant to offer a mouse to the JCP because the breeder told me he was eating rat pups already and I don't want to regress with him. Still I'm close to the point of offering a mouse just to see if it's that. But part of me wonders if he wants live food too. Next time I think I will defrost a mouse along with the rat pup and see if scenting the rat pup will help. If not, I'll try live as a last resort.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Norm66

Thanks folks. I actually filed down the rough spots on the hide. It's temporary until tonight anyway when I can get to the pet store for some new hides.

I'm building my rack tonight and I want everything to start off new and pretty. LOL.

The enchi was kind of an impulse buy. We had discussed what we wanted and what we coudl afford. The enchi fit the former but not the latter. But then I happened upon a really good deal and since it was Christmas.... Anyway, Becky was ecstatic with the little guy. He really is a sweet looking little guy.

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Good luck with the rack! My husband & I just built ours over the weekend. Took us about 10 hrs because he's a complete perfectionist with things like that.

& yes, you're enchi is absolutely gorgeous :) I'm gonna find a way to get one...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Norm66

(edited to add) I'm a little hesitant to offer a mouse to the JCP because the breeder told me he was eating rat pups already and I don't want to regress with him. Still I'm close to the point of offering a mouse just to see if it's that. But part of me wonders if he wants live food too. Next time I think I will defrost a mouse along with the rat pup and see if scenting the rat pup will help. If not, I'll try live as a last resort.

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I can agree with that. If the breeder already had him started on rats, I would suggest trying a live rat pup before offering a mouse. If he refuses the rat, you can always feed it off to one of the other snakes, and then try mice.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LovelyMomma

I was going to say the same thing... maybe even duct tape??

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Please don't ever put duct tape inside a reptile enclosure. They are notorious for finding a way to detach it from it's purpose and attaching to themselves instead!

To the OP - Very pretty babies you have there! Welcome!

Thanks again everybody.

Vypyrz, if I can find an appropriately sized rat pup I'll definitely do that. Might be tough though around here.