New to forum... so are my snakes.

Hi all,

New to the forum, just thought I would take a second and introduce myself and my snakes.

I am Bruce, I live in Montreal Quebec, and have 11 snakes... which I think are all listed below? (first post so not sure what it'll look like).

Apologizing in advance, as anyone that knows me has seen all of these pics... but I did get a new camera recently, so hopefully will get some new pics as the crew sheds.

I see a lot of familiar nicks from other forums, and have been recommended by a few members that this was a good space to hang and talk about snakes. :)

Bruce

PS:

If this doesn't work, or the pics don't show up... I guess I'll just repost it. Navigating new forums always takes a few crap shots.

Magda: 5-6 year old female. The pics do not do her justice. Just locked with my het blue ghost. Hoping to prove her out as a burgundy. Came as a rescue. Scarring from her neck to her vent and was very underweight. She is absolutely thriving now. Was 1500g and is now 2300g (on a 40g rat a week).
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...magdaandb1.jpg

Olive: Normal female. Five years old. Just had her first lock with my pastel male. She is just under 5 feet and just under 2500g. Very sweet snake, probably my most even-tempered snake.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...veJuly2007.jpg

Markus: Olive's sibling and clutch mate. Another absolute gem of a snake. A complete "lap snake" this one. I absolutely love his markings, but he has "lumps" so I am not breeding him till I get something conclusive. He has a home for life, so no worries there.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...sjune22006.jpg

Ash: 3 year old normal male. My first BP. What can I say. Very sweet this one. He taught me everything I need to know about snake husbandry and paved the way for the rest of the collection.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...une1st2007.jpg

Jules: 3 year old normal male. I think of him as being a bit "retro" looking. But I love his colors and markings. He also came as a rescue that is thriving how. Has a few scars from unattended feedings, and was a mess of stuck shed, hadn't eaten in months, etc... etc... etc... the usual story. My most accomplished escape artist.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p.../JulesandK.jpg

Linda: 3 year old normal female. She tags, she hisses, and she wants to eat my face. But we have days where she resigns herself to my presence. She is paired with my het orange ghost.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...shelovesme.jpg

Zoltan: Pastel male. 850 g. He is paired with Olive. Very nice boy this one.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...omJuly2007.jpg

Yvon: Het blue ghost. 850g. He is paired with Magda. Again, a pretty groovy snake.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...njune12007.jpg

Kevin: Het orange ghost. 850g. He is paired with Linda. I tend to think of him and Yvon as "the twins". Same age, same weight, etc. another stellar snake.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...vinpreshed.jpg

Violaine: My snow corn. Morbid and macabre, she is my goth child.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...eviolaine1.jpg

Olga: Peublan milksnake. Got her at a year or so of age, and was never handled. She is shifty and dodgy. Hobbies include darting and musking.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...lbum/OlgaJ.jpg

Buddy!
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...uddyeating.jpg

I have too many rats, this is just one. Adelle. Cute and sweet.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...delleandb1.jpg

Yeah, so I think that is it.

Welcome to BP.net!! :handshake

Fabulous looking collection of balls and critters you have there!! :clap:

:hug: Bruuuuuuuccccceeeee!!! :hug:

I'm soooo glad you're here! You'll love it here, I'm sure, as will your snakes! I hope you stick around!

Bruce is awesome folks! I absolutely love his posts and stories about his babies!

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Jules: 3 year old normal male. I think of him as being a bit "retro" looking. But I love his colors and markings. He also came as a rescue that is thriving how. Has a few scars from unattended feedings, and was a mess of stuck shed, hadn't eaten in months, etc... etc... etc... the usual story. My most accomplished escape artist.

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You have to tell that story, Bruce - was funny indeed!

Welcome, I love Yvon and Buddy is simply adorable, beardies are the bomb.

What a nice intro post. :-)

Yvon is hot, as is Zoltan!

I'm curious about blue ghosts...haven't heard of those before. What do they look like?

Bruce!!!! http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...gHugSmiley.gif So glad to see you here! http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...iley/Cheer.gif

I love all your pics especially that amazing Beardie of yours. His face always just slays me! LOL

Welcome!
I love that Pastel of yours!
More pics of him PLEASE :D
Nice to meet you :)

Welcome! nice snakes, that first female looks like a cinny to me.:)

what is a blue ghost? do you have one?

I remember when Bruce got this het, I had not heard of blue ghost either. I forget the breeder in Canada who's working with them, but Greg Graziani acknowledges NERD as having them under 1994:

http://www.grazianireptiles.com/mutations.htm

Well now I have another morph to bug Kara for pictures of. LOL

Hello http://planetsmilies.net/happy-smiley-8553.gif and welcomehttp://planetsmilies.net/party-smiley-551.gif

You have a collection of beautiful animals there!!! Thanks for sharing pics!!

Now that is an introduction! welcome aboard looks like you'll fit it just fine!

welcome and nice critters. that beardie makes me miss mine. Red Beard, may you rest in piece.

:D Hi and welcome! You have some really nice snakies there!

Thanks for the welcome. The new and the familiar. :)

Still blithely clicking random buttons and finding my way around. Although I have seen things that I didn't know existed. Like the Cinnamon Albino and the Banana Carrot Mamba. Those two things alone were worth the log in!

I will post Jules' escape attempt... (tomorrow - I am wordy and it is late), although I admit Rab, the boy has gotten out 4X now. Each one eventful. So you may get a brief synopsis of his whole history. And to anyone reading... I am not a noob that has escaped snakes... but this boy has superpowers that I cannot quite master. He currenly is in a latch tote with an additional 4 binder clips and a weighted bag on top.

Thanks for compliments on the snakes. I am pretty crazy about all of them, so biased to say the least. :)

I got my het blue ghost from Marc Bouchard of Regius Co in Montreal. Below are pics of Yvon's portfolio shot and a pic of his mother. When I saw her she absolutely took my breath away. I thought Yvon was stunning as a normal and would have acquired him based on that, but to have the additional genetics was just a "too good to be true" moment. I have high hopes for him, even his normal offspring I think will be beautiful snakes. But don't tell him how hot he is or he'll ditch me for a better collection!
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...oy-hetblue.jpg
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...r_female-1.jpg

The pastel came from the same breeder. He is a nice snake and has matured exactly as I had hoped (for what my future plans were). This is a pretty accurate representation of his coloring, etc. I find they are a pain to photo, but got lucky on this one.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...anandolive.jpg

As far as the beardie goes... *ugh*... I tell him everyday. "YOU are breaking my heart." They do crack me up. All bluff and bravado. We have to remind ourselves to reward his displays on occasion but giving him the odd "EEEEEK!" when he blackens his beard and puffs up. He likes to go behind the rat wall and patrol. He runs from one end to the other. I think he thinks he is herding rats.

Bruce

Oh yeah... and shortly after the above pic of Zoltan and Olive was taken they had their first lock.

When I first posted the pic GA and FK noted that Zoltan had "his eye on the prize" and just needed to figure out how to get there. :)

My snakes are all grown up and locking... I may have to shed a tear or something.

Bruce.

Great collection!

Welcome to the site and good looking collection of reptiles! :) The pastel is hot! :O

All I have to say Bruce is it's about time you are coming here! :D http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...ticons/Hug.gif

Welcome Bruce!

Good choice with going blue ghosts, I love the looks of them. Good luck with that project!

I'm a little late in saying HI. But I'll say it anyway! HEY, Welcome to the site!
I think your the first person I've seen from Quebec here! Vous parle francais ou anglais? I'm gonna guess English only because your spelling like your english!?!?
Thanks for sharing some pictures too! We LOVE pictures as I'm sure you are already aware of! Hope to here more from you soon!!

Welcome to the crew bruce:gj: nice collection....

Hey Bruce, Welcome to BP.net, the very best ball python site, lots of great people and expertise on here! :)

The herd of regius is looking good, hope you get a buch of eggs from your girls :D

Have you been getting my e-mails, I sent you two and have not heard back from you, perhaps PM me on this site.

A bit of history behind the Blue Ghost, N.E.R.D and Graziani both proved out their line, our particular girl was imported as a yearling in 02, that picture just does not show her true blue color, she gets more and more intensely blue with every shed. She was bred in 2006 to our F3 Pastel and produced 4.0 Pastel and 4.1 Hets, she took the year off in 07 and is now 2,900 gr. she will be bred back to her Pastel son's in hope of getting a different looking Pastel Blue Ghost.

Best of luck to all for the 08 breeding season.

Marc

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Originally Posted by Loft Lizard

Markus: Olive's sibling and clutch mate. Another absolute gem of a snake. A complete "lap snake" this one. I absolutely love his markings, but he has "lumps" so I am not breeding him till I get something conclusive. He has a home for life, so no worries there.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...sjune22006.jpg

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Great intro and pics! Nice to have you on board and congratulations on all those rescues. Good work! :gj:

I had a question about the "lumps" you mentioned on Markus, can you tell me more about that. I am pretty new to this "sport," with our first BP just over 2 months ago. But we have noticed little tiny bumps (2, I think) on him. He has one near his spine a little over half way down and one on his side further down than that. They are very small and I hadn't thought much of them. I gave him a few massages on them, gently, but they are still there. Could they be from inuries (falls or such) or a genetic defect or an illness (I sure hope not!)?

Thanks for any info on that.

Welcome to the site! :)

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Originally Posted by GA_Ball_Pythons

All I have to say Bruce is it's about time you are coming here! :D http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...ticons/Hug.gif

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The internet is a big place... it sometimes takes awhile to find one's way around. :)

For Rab:

Below is a cut and paste of Jules' "FIRST" escape. He has gotten out 4X in total. I say with absolute humility as I am not so tolerant of loose snakes.

[QUOTE] I tend to be pretty intolerant of people that lose snakes. So I have been saying for a year now that I will no doubt lose one in the worse manner. It is all about evening out the universe and teaching humility.

Well the other day Jerome was doing laundry and I hear him say "who are you?"

He calls me into the laundry room, and there on the top shelf of supplies is a ball python, hovering and wavering, and S shaped.

I froze.

Said snake was tangled through a bunch of crap. So I say "make like food and don’t move. I need to find out who it is before we starting trying to grab this snake". A quick rummage through the rack and I realize it is Jules. He has managed to squeeze between his binder clips, WITHOUT popping them and has escaped. He is one of four that is on top of the rack in what I assumed were secure enclosures.

We wrestle with him, for a good five minutes, and finally get him off the shelf. He chills in my arms for a bit before going back into his enclosure. Although he did give a good jab and nice low hiss while we were trying to get him off this storage shelf. Attaboy.

Walking in there and seeing a snake in the most bizarre of places. My heart just sank. But at the same time it was such a bizarre thing to wrap my head around. For a moment I almost thought "wow... free ball python!"

And yes, his enclosure is now weighted down by the impenetrable wieght of classical sociological theory (Foucault, Freud, Baudrillard, and Bourdieau are keeping him in his house - if I misspelled... so be it).

I’ll be tearing apart the rack this week and adding new sides, and more shelves, so couldn’t have come at a better time.

And what does he have to show for it? Two perfectly lifted scales around his nostrils that look surprisingly like horns.

When I think about all the things that could have gone wrong I feel positively ill.[\QUOTE]

Bruce

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Originally Posted by Jonny2184

I'm a little late in saying HI. But I'll say it anyway! HEY, Welcome to the site!
I think your the first person I've seen from Quebec here! Vous parle francais ou anglais? I'm gonna guess English only because your spelling like your english!?!?

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Yeah, Alberta Anglo Transplant here. While the rest of the world flocks to AB we couldn't get out fast enough. I haven't met alot of people from Quebec or Montreal online either. A few here and there.

Bruce

PS: I speak bad French to my snakes, because they do not know the difference. :)

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Originally Posted by RegiusCo.com

Hey Bruce, Welcome to BP.net, the very best ball python site, lots of great people and expertise on here! :)

The herd of regius is looking good, hope you get a buch of eggs from your girls :D

Have you been getting my e-mails, I sent you two and have not heard back from you, perhaps PM me on this site.

A bit of history behind the Blue Ghost, N.E.R.D and Graziani both proved out their line, our particular girl was imported as a yearling in 02, that picture just does not show her true blue color, she gets more and more intensely blue with every shed. She was bred in 2006 to our F3 Pastel... she took the year off in 07 and is now 2,900 gr. she will be bred back to her Pastel son's in hope of getting a different looking Pastel Blue Ghost.
Marc

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Hey Marc, I never got the mails. I'll PM you when I am done reading and catching up.

I was wondering if you had bred her (the blue ghost) again or not. She is just a stunner. I have really high hopes for my het blue, he only gets better looking.

Dying to see what else she produces over the years. Just reproducing herself would be amazing.

The whole Regius crew is doing great. The pastel just locked with his second female (the adult female I got from you). She is paired with the het-orange and the pastel.

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Originally Posted by MelissaFlipski

Great intro and pics! Nice to have you on board and congratulations on all those rescues. Good work! :gj:

I had a question about the "lumps" you mentioned on Markus, can you tell me more about that. I am pretty new to this "sport," with our first BP just over 2 months ago. But we have noticed little tiny bumps (2, I think) on him. He has one near his spine a little over half way down and one on his side further down than that. They are very small and I hadn't thought much of them. I gave him a few massages on them, gently, but they are still there. Could they be from inuries (falls or such) or a genetic defect or an illness (I sure hope not!)?

Thanks for any info on that.

Welcome to the site! :)

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Hey there. Lumps can be either tumours or abcesses. Markus has one quite noticeable one on his side, just to the side of his belly scales.

You'll have to forgive me I can't locate any of my links right now.

When I got him he had developed it a few years prior, without any noticeable injuries. So I have always assumed it was a tumour. I haven't been able to locate a vet with a lab to have it biopsied.

He recently developed, or rather I found, two additional lumps further down. Both on his side. Very small, and feel like "grains" under the skin. His larger lump is also quite soft.

With the two newer ones... I did wonder if it may be some form of calcium deposit... but I need to do some more research and get him properly checked out.

If it is a tumour and benign, then he could be fine. But until I get something conclusive I would not breed him.

Sorry I do not have much conclusive info. If I can dig up some links I try and post them soon.

Bruce

Welcome! Great pics and great stories! Keep'em comin'!

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Originally Posted by Loft Lizard

PS: I speak bad French to my snakes, because they do not know the difference. :)

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LOL! I never thought to harass the slithery ones with bad French...how do you say "Carmen, quit peeing in your hide!"?

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Originally Posted by Loft Lizard

PS: I speak bad French to my snakes, because they do not know the difference. :)

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I guess I'll have to come over someday so they know better and you too :8:

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Originally Posted by GA_Ball_Pythons

I guess I'll have to come over someday so they know better and you too :8:

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I guess my general rule that houseguests don`t stay long when they are housed in the snake room wouldn`t work in this case. ;)

You are welcome anytime... even without snakes. Although if you brought a bag or two I wouldn`t turn you away.

But I am not sure much French would happen, when we could be talking about other things.

LIKE SNAKES!!!!

Bruce

PS: I could use some help taming out the Milksnake... she is still crazed.

Btw GA... I loooooove that avatar. Slick! :)
Bruce

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I guess my general rule that houseguests don`t stay long when they are housed in the snake room wouldn`t work in this case. ;)

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No actually I might stay longer :rofl:

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Btw GA... I loooooove that avatar. Slick!

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Fitting isn't it? ;)