BHB Trip

What a day! Our first visit to a major snake breeder and what a visit it was. A few of us went to visit Brian at BHB today and I just can't thank him enough. He took hours out of his day to show a bunch of drooling, babbling, gasping snake fanatics around his impressive facility in Michigan.

I got to hold my personal dream ball python, the morph that first hooked me into moving beyond a pet BP owner into a person dreaming of possibilities and sharing that dream with my husband and family. Brian, I hope you read this thread. You have no idea how much that meant to me to get to hold that gorgeous Caramel Glow - to hold my dream - thank you so very much for that and for the wonderful time you gave all of us in the group.

I took some pictures but I still need to resize them and try to remember what each morph is LOL. Talk about a starstruck snake dweeb, I was so busy snapping away with my ancient old camera I never thought to note down what each picture was!

Anyways, we couldn't come home empty handed and after Brian shared some ideas with us about what we wanted in our next male morph, and after having a great selection to go through, we picked this little guy. Please meet Liam, our new Cinnamon Pastel male! Thanks Brian for taking the time to help us guide us in this purchase.

Liam still at BHB before heading home....

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2.../LiamatBHB.jpg

Some quick pictures I snapped of him before tucking him away in his warm tub. I just peeked in and he's out of his tight ball and checking out the new digs.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...hons/Liam1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...hons/Liam2.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...hons/Liam3.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...hons/Liam4.jpg

Awesome little dude Jo, I bet that was a blast!!

Cant wait to see pictures :hint: :hint: :hint:

Nice pick up Jo, sounds like you had a great time....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Patrick Long

Awesome little dude Jo, I bet that was a blast!!

Cant wait to see pictures :hint: :hint: :hint:

---

The worst part, Pat, is know I have to remember what each morph was....ARRRGH. I was so fixated on snapping away I didn't note them down and now I've got pictures and an overtired brain trying to remember what each one is LOL.

I'm working on it...... :rolleye2:

hey Jo did you ask to see the viper. and why didn't you let me know you were going there i still have your hides.

Congrats on your new boy Jo. I'm looking forward to the other pics as well!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gncz73

hey Jo did you ask to see the viper. and why didn't you let me know you were going there i still have your hides.

---

Oh I never thought to ask Gene and heck don't worry about those old hides LOL. Next time we get down that way we'll get hold of you and get you over with us for a visit. It was a blast!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tigerlily

Congrats on your new boy Jo. I'm looking forward to the other pics as well!

---

Well here's some Christie. Still have a few more to go through but that can wait until tomorrow. I'm morphed, fuzzy brained out! LOL

Pastel Clown BP....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...astelClown.jpg

Albino Pinstripe (a snake so yellow I should have had sunglasses on!)....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...peAlbinoBP.jpg

Gotta have a Pied pic!....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...rip/PiedBP.jpg

Champagne anyone?.....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2.../Champagne.jpg

A Caramel to drool over!.....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2.../CaramelBP.jpg

Another crazy gorgeous looking Pastel Clown....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...astelClown.jpg

Everyone always told me Lavendar Albino's really just glow. Now I know they do!.....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ndarAlbino.jpg

My dream morph, I could have stared at this Caramel Glow all day....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...aramelGlow.jpg

Now for some non-BP's.....

Brian and one of his amazing Lavendar Albino Retics....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...lbinoRetic.jpg

My husband, Mike and Brian wrangling the same Retic....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...lbinoRetic.jpg

I have never in my life heard a snake hiss like this one could! :O
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ngUpAStorm.jpg

The scaleless cornsnake (and no Pat, that is NOT my hairy arm :P). What an absolutely amazing experience it was to touch this snake. I can't even begin to describe the strange sensations of a snake with no scales but still...a pattern! Thank you so much Brian for the opportunity you gave us to interact with these lovely and rare colubrids....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...lelessCorn.jpg

The funniest experience of the day. This big female was NOT impressed with the visitors or Brian for that matter. Just after I snapped this picture she fired up about 4 feet straight up and attempted to eat Brian's face off LMAO! I of course squeeled like a true girl and froze! Brian is amazing. He just danced out of her reach and laughed. Our new nickname for Brian is now "The Mongoose". Very impressive let me tell you.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...atYourFace.jpg

Okay that's all the pics I have done for now. More tomorrow hopefully.

Wow, Jo......just WOW! :O :gj: :D

Thanks for sharing the pics :gj:.A scaleless corn snake wow :O :cool:

AfRocks can surely hiss, Jo ;)

Looks like you had a blast. I can't wait to get up there!

Thanks for taking all those great pictures, looks like a lot if fun. Congrats on Liam, he is a looker.

Wow Jo, what an awesome trip! I love cinnies and yours is a cutie:gj: Brian is the nicest guy and his collection must just be overwhelming. Glad to hear you didn't go home empy handed. Thanks for sharing the pics:salute:

Nice! That pastel clown is INSANE! :O And is that cinny really that washed out!? He is a nice one congrats on the pick up :gj:

Congrats on the pickup Jo!
I was supposed to be there but do to some unfortunate circumstances I had to ask if there was a time I could re-schedule... Now I wish I'd have just dragged the old lady out of bed and went anyways!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ajeff

Nice! That pastel clown is INSANE! :O And is that cinny really that washed out!? He is a nice one congrats on the pick up :gj:

---

Well part of it is my horrible camera skills and old digital camera but he does have the most amazing light flames. He's got a wonderful back too with incredible blushing with dark outlining but he declined to come out of his tight ball for pictures of that last night LOL.

It was a fantastic visit. We're certainly hoping to go back again.

What impressed us most actually wasn't even the snakes (though they are mind blowing). It was how Brian took his time to answer every single question, from some silly little question one of the kids asked about a decorative sword hanging on his wall to the most complex genetics question from one of the adults. He's just so passionate about his snakes! Every tub he opened it was "now what I love about this snake is....". We started joking with him that he loves them all but it is a blessing to see spend time around someone that is doing EXACTLY what he loves and should be doing. I think my husband wants to run away and join the BHB staff LOL.

He literally let us wander and look at anything we wanted. No rooms were off limits, no question went unanswered, we could peek into any tub we wanted. It was like snake Disneyland - heck better because you don't have to put up with terminally cheerful strangers in mouse costumes! :)

Jo,
It looks like you had a great time and got to see some amazing animals. Your new Cinny looks great. I personally like the BHB line cinnies the best.

p.s. I am envious that you got to take a trip that I have wanted to take for a long time. I'll make it to Brian's place one day.

Congrats Jo! That looked like way too much fun:) Great pickup with the Cinny, I love the male I just got from Brian.

Awesome pictures! I love your new little guy...:gj:

Congrats on your new addition, glad to see you had such a great time, I can only imagine what it was like, you must have felt like a kid in a candy store.

Thanks for sharing!

PS: That is nice and I am looking forward to the day I produce one of those.

Quote:

---

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...peAlbinoBP.jpg

---

wow.. reptile disney.. my kind of place. looks like you had a great time and all those snakes just look gorgeous. I really like the look of that champagne, but the scaleless cornsnake intrigues me. congrarts on your new cinnie boy, he looks gorgeous. I gotta figure a way to get to visit a big breeders facility one day...

Brian is certainly a gracious host to his all his visitors and puts a lot of his time and attention into the visit and his animals are of high quality.

Thanks so much for the kind words!!! It was a blast having you all out to visit. The funny thing is I probably had more fun then you guys did. It's like I said when you were out, I don't get to share my passion for the animals with very many people during my normal days. When I go to my crew and show them something that just is so cool, they look at me like, it's just another cage to clean:) So it was really my pleasure having you out. I wish I could have company everyday, that would be a blast!!! Probably wouldn't get much work done though:) If anyone ever wants to visit I'm always up for the company! Thanks again! Brian(BHB)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BHB

Thanks so much for the kind words!!! It was a blast having you all out to visit. The funny thing is I probably had more fun then you guys did. It's like I said when you were out, I don't get to share my passion for the animals with very many people during my normal days. When I go to my crew and show them something that just is so cool, they look at me like, it's just another cage to clean:) So it was really my pleasure having you out. I wish I could have company everyday, that would be a blast!!! Probably wouldn't get much work done though:) If anyone ever wants to visit I'm always up for the company! Thanks again! Brian(BHB)

---

Well we'll certainly be back Brian. Mike and I are still babbling at each other and listing all the snakes we want to see again at your place (or missed seeing since we were on morph overload LOL).

Oh and thanks Brian, I am now completely smitten with Albino Pacman frogs. It will be completely your fault if I'm one day caring for a chubby, bumpy critter that does something between a waddle and a hop! :P

I would have thought that was your arm, had it not beed specified ;);) LOL

Man I wish I was in Michigan!!!

Damn you west coast!!!!!!!

So awesome Jo :bow:

This is my favorite pic :clap:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...atYourFace.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Patrick Long

...Damn you west coast!!!!!!!

---

Yeah, totally. What the heck is up with that????? At least you're in SoCal; there's no one in Oregon.

Sounds like I need to make a road trip up to See BHB. Where are you located Brian?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Patrick Long

I would have thought that was your arm, had it not beed specified ;);) LOL

Man I wish I was in Michigan!!!

Damn you west coast!!!!!!!

---

Awww well Pat if you ever get over this way you can come visit the craziness known as the Franchino home LOL. I figured I better mention that wasn't my arm because if anyone was going to post "hey Jo is that your hairy arm", it would be you Pat! :P

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cueball

So awesome Jo :bow:

This is my favorite pic :clap:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...atYourFace.jpg

---

Like I said Chris, Brian's new nickname is "The Mongoose". I've never seen anything like how he is with those big snakes. No fear, no upset with the animal for going after him - just this incredibly fast dance out of it's range and a laugh. The man even loves his snakes while they are acting up. :)

I on the other hand, being unused to really large snakes pretty much tossed my 6 year old a couple of feet backwards and squeeled loudly. I am NOT a brave woman apparently LOL.

One of the other people there said everytime I opened a tub with yet another gorgeous ball python morph I gasped so loud and long he thought the air was going to be sucked out of the room. I am quite pleased I didn't lock myself in the BHB bathroom and totally refuse to ever leave (had there been a coffee pot in there, I just might have!). :D

Okay now we are going to play a new game here at BPNet called "Help Jo Remember the Morph!". I swear I should know most of these but I'm still morph-shocked today LOL. So help me name them or correct me on any I have wrong in these pics please people (Brian, Kara, Adam, Tim...where are you???? :D) Some I'm pretty sure on, some not so sure and some....I just cannot remember what they are called. :oops:

Blue Eyed Leucy....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...eEyedLeucy.jpg

Oh how pretty!....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...Trip/Ummmm.jpg

Camo maybe....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2.../Camomaybe.jpg

And two of these made one of those or the other way around :rolleye2:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2.../Twoofthem.jpg

Super Cinnamon (and yes my husband likely would have sold me to buy this snake!)
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...erCinnamon.jpg

Pastel Pinstripe (I think)....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ripePastel.jpg

HoneyBee - this snake was the most incredible color - words simply fail me when it comes to trying to verbalize how incredible this particular morph truly is.....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...p/HoneyBee.jpg

Errr....umm.....a yellow snake (help).....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...tquitesure.jpg

Oh babble, drool, gasp, drool, babble - snap a picture and open another tub (pretty much describes my day at BHB)....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...rangeGhost.jpg

Oh lookee! It's another yellow snake!.....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...p/P4190023.jpg

Who knows? I just drooled....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...p/P4190015.jpg

Hello there and who are you?.....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...p/P4190034.jpg

Oh and before I forget, kudo's to Chuck from RepticZone who arranged this trip for us. He did all the leg work to set this up with Brian and co-ordinate people from a two States and Canada plus treated us all to lunch on him. Chuck - you ROCK!

Some awesome snakes there! :D :banana:
Sounds like a really fun trip. The cinny you got is a looker too!

Great pictures Jo! Congrats on your new addition. Cinnys are great.

Wow Jo! Congratulations on the new Cinnie! I guess it won out over the Black Pastel after all! Had I more money to spend, I might have come home with something cool too from B'ham. Looks like you guys had a blast!

It was an awesome trip.
My b/f and I got to go along. I am the super curly headed one in Jo's pictures.
I took almost 70 pictures and I dont think that I will be able to remember them all either. So when I get to posting pictures I will need some help as well.

It was a great learning experince for me. Jo was teaching a few things. What to look for in a snake and what things were called.

I came home with three new females.
A 100% Het Albino and two normals.

Jo helped me pick out these two pretty normals.
One was named before we even left the snake room.

I took this sweet looking little lady out of her tub. Jo and I was looking over her markings and thought that she was just awesome. The next thing I know, she tagged me on a knuckle. I thought to myself..you little burger(well the word I used started with a "B"). Then she really tagged me on the back of my hand. Coiled up and wrapped her body around my hand.
I just stuck my hand out to Jo and she said lets head for water.
Jo put a little bit a water on her to get her to let go and all she done was CHEW on me more. So we added MORE water and she actually was CHEWING and shaking her head. Was not letting go.
I had to go find Brian and asked him to get her off my hand.
I think Brian was afraid to hurt me but needed to get her to let go. I didnt mind the little prickly pain, but I didnt want her on my hand any longer. lol
Well her name is CHEWY!!!!
Even after I got home and took pictures of her today...she STILL tried nailing me again. As soon as my camera works with me and I figure out how to post pictures on here..I will.

It was a great trip though.
We went into so many rooms and so many times, I was starting to get dizzy.

Brian was an awesome person. He did answer every question even when I thought that I was asking something stupid.
When we would ask if he had a certain snake and it was in a different room, he just stopped what he was doing and off we went to go see it.

It was nice to meet all the people that went with us.
Made some new cool friends. Cant beat that.
Thanks again everyone!!!
Jan

Sounds like an awesome trip!!! :cool:

Awesome, awesome awesome!

I would love to visit BHB one of these days!

that looks funner than disneyland

LOL Jan that little female was absolutely determined to go home with you. I've never seen a baby chew down like that. I think the poor thing nailed you and then thought "uh oh I can't eat this!" but she was sure set on trying! :rofl: It was great finally meeting you and your husband Mike!

IT WAS PURE HEAVEN!!! I really had so much fun Brian!! I think I personally said hello to every snake in every tub you had!! lol...Although the experience was worth it's weight in gold...I sooo wanted to go home with a new baby!..My daughter and I Loved spending the day with the gang and really look forward to another 'Field Trip'!!
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...Picture111.jpg

Bet Brian has spent his share of time with his arms in that sink!Imagine cleaning that many tubs...Times 30000?
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...Picture072.jpg

Cool Painting in the lobby
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...Picture071.jpg

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...Picture257.jpg

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...cture239-1.jpg

Happy Snakes...
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...Picture294.jpg
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...Picture295.jpg

It was the most memorable thing I can remember enjoying this much!!!...Thanks again Brian!!
And Jo it was so nice to meet another Ball Python legend..Frankykeno!!

..Travis

God I want that BEL!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by frankykeno

Camo maybe.... You are correct
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2.../Camomaybe.jpg

And two of these made one of those or the other way around :rolleye2: That is a Super Chocolate next to a Camo(which is a Super Chocolate Pin)http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2.../Twoofthem.jpg
Errr....umm.....a yellow snake (help).....It looks like a Super Pastel Pin
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...tquitesure.jpg

Who knows? I just drooled....Not sure on that one
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...p/P4190015.jpg

---

I hope that helped at all.

WHAT A BLAST!!!!!! :)


I'm so glad that you guys got to see Brian's (AKA The Mongoose)
facility! Great pics everyone! Jo... I agree, that strike pose is priceless! :D

Thanks Tim! I swear on my next BHB trip I'm going to note down each picture as I take it, or snap a pic of the tub label or something. I literally got so overwhelmed with drooling over morphs (and the heat/humidity of the snake rooms) that I think I dehydrated and shorted out my brain LOL.

Trav, it was wonderful meeting you and your daughter! You have got to come down here next time and we'll do a Zoo trip. My 2nd oldest daughter is the same age as yours, so I know they'd have a blast there together!