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  1. #1
    Registered User B.P.'s 4me's Avatar
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    Looking for Blood python breeders

    Still doing my research, but am considering adding a Blood python to my collection. Problem is, I'm not finding many breeders or sources in Canada. Can anybody suggest a reputable breeder - preferably in Ontario, but I'd consider anywhere in Canada. Thanks in advance.:-)

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    I unfortunately can't give you any feedback on breeders in Canada, but I wanted to chime in and say that Bloods/STPs are awesome snakes.

  3. #3
    Registered User B.P.'s 4me's Avatar
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    Re: Looking for Blood python breeders

    Quote Originally Posted by Craiga 01453 View Post
    I unfortunately can't give you any feedback on breeders in Canada, but I wanted to chime in and say that Bloods/STPs are awesome snakes.
    Thank you Craiga, the more research I do, the more I hear exactly that. It seems that all the things I worried about most ie. providing a large enough habitat, sourcing bigger prey items, heat and humidity requirements, temperament issues are all going to be less cumbersome than I'd anticipated. My ball pythons have taught me a lot, and although the two species are very different, the contacts I've made, enable me to acquire the habitat and equipment I need and much of the body language and basic behaviors in the two species would be similar I think. :-)

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    Re: Looking for Blood python breeders

    Quote Originally Posted by B.P.'s 4me View Post
    Thank you Craiga, the more research I do, the more I hear exactly that. It seems that all the things I worried about most ie. providing a large enough habitat, sourcing bigger prey items, heat and humidity requirements, temperament issues are all going to be less cumbersome than I'd anticipated. My ball pythons have taught me a lot, and although the two species are very different, the contacts I've made, enable me to acquire the habitat and equipment I need and much of the body language and basic behaviors in the two species would be similar I think. :-)
    They are really fun snakes. They've definitely moved beyond their "reputation" thanks to generations of captive breeding.
    They do handle VERY differently than BPs. Being more heavy bodied they are pretty much 100% terrestrial. I don't even have anything in his enclosure for him to climb, cause there's basically a 0% chance he'll use it.

    So when handling, they don't ever wrap their tail around your wrist or anything the way every other species I've ever kept or handled does to anchor themselves and support their own weight. So it's important to support at least half of their body while handling them.

    I will say this too, but this is based solely on my one Borneo STP, he's my only snake that I am not 100% confident handing over to somebody else. He's never once struck, but his demeanor is just a little quirky. Just enough to keep me on my toes. He'll make sudden moves, jerk or thrash a little here and there.
    With all my other snakes, as well as almost every other snake I've ever kept, I feel 100% confident while handling them. It's probably almost to a fault. I still respect every one of my snakes and handle properly, but with the others I can tend to be a bit more lax with my hands and kinda let them do their thing.
    With my Borneo, I'm just a bit more focused. Kinda like I was when I first got into snakes. I pay attention to his every move.

    Now it's important that I stress it's not due to fear. He's never given me a single reason to fear him or even worry about anything. But with all the others I feel I could handle them blindfolded (not that I ever would, just trying to make a point). I feel like I can basically predict their every movement.
    With Juice, I've just got to pay attention. The others, I let roam without worry. If they're on the back of the couch and I feel them against my neck or face I don't worry at all. With Juice, I don't allow that.

    Sorry if I rambled here, just wanted to share my experience.

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    sur3fir3 (06-20-2019)

  6. #5
    Registered User B.P.'s 4me's Avatar
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    Re: Looking for Blood python breeders

    I really appreciate your willingness to share your experience with me. :-) It's good to know the "quirkiness" you experience with Juice. I suspect it may take some getting used to that Blood Pythons don't "cling", but am careful about supporting my ball pythons with both hands anyhow. If I'm sitting down I'll let them crawl around on me etc. but tend to keep my handling periods fairly short, maybe 10 minutes per snake, and would have to be VERY comfortable with a snake to permit it near my face. I groom dogs for a living and have learned how quickly things can go south, so am probably more conscious of face safety than some. :-)
    I hope other Blood (or short tail) owners will chime in, it's always helpful to hear from those with first hand experience.

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    Craiga 01453 (06-19-2019),sur3fir3 (06-20-2019)

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    I've debated on whether to reply to this post, but I don't want the past to keep me from posting. So here it goes.

    These are a few things I learned about my Blood. If you use a herpstat with a CHE make sure u enable Basking Assist. Feeding F/T can be an issue. So far my Blood has eaten live twice, and F/T 2 times. I was told by a good snake guy that sometimes when they go off F/T its good to try and alternate live and F/T until you get him on F/T again. I plan on trying live for 4 more feedings, just to get some weight on him, and then I will go back to F/T for a bit. I want to alternate F/T, but in 4 months he has only eaten 4 times. So I want to get him eating live for a bit. At least 1 month worth of weanling rats.

    Uhmm lets see what else did I learn. Ok if you want a snake that will be visible in their enclosure don't get a Blood. (I am not sure if this changes when they are adults) I NEVER see my Blood Python, granted I'm not always up at 2am. When I am up that late the most movement I see is him sticking his nose out from the substrate to do what looks like hunting, or burrowing through the substrate. He uses the substrate as a hide, more than his hides. So I recommend a nice amount of substrate so they can burrow. I have about 2 and 1/2 inches of Cypress Mulch.

    Also if you are in a spot with low humidity, 40% or less, use Cypress Mulch it holds the humidity better than aspen, and it doesn't mold. When holding your Blood make sure you support its body, granted this is MUCH easier to do when they are young. Also make sure you tap train. Personally tap training is an area I need to work on. This Blood Python is the first large snake that I have kept, that was mine, so I am not used to tap training. I never tap trained my Corns or Kings. I just wasn't worried about being bit by one of those. I did care for a 16 ft Retic that belonged to a museum, but it wasn't mine.

    When buying your first Blood the colors of the Juvie will not be the same colors it has when it gets older. The Red comes in later. This is why it is a good idea to see both parents. Another thing is a decent normal can cost as much as your basic morphs. I bought my Blood from a pet store. A decent pet store that specializes in pythons and boas. They have been really helpful, and have supported my purchase. To get a decent blood you might have to import the animal. have you looked at what the cost might be to do this? If you need help shipping to Canada, I would have no issue helping you out. I could buy the animal, and then ship it to you if you find one you like here in the states.

    As far as enclosures, for a Juvie you want something small. A 5 gal would be decent, or a shoebox Tub. If you plan on buying multiple snakes, and you need room for them you might want to look at the rack systems from Reptile Basics.

    There has to be something I am missing. Well Ill post this for now. If I remember anything to add I will post again.

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    Craiga 01453 (06-20-2019)

  10. #7
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    Re: Looking for Blood python breeders

    Quote Originally Posted by B.P.'s 4me View Post
    Thank you Craiga, the more research I do, the more I hear exactly that. It seems that all the things I worried about most ie. providing a large enough habitat, sourcing bigger prey items, heat and humidity requirements, temperament issues are all going to be less cumbersome than I'd anticipated. My ball pythons have taught me a lot, and although the two species are very different, the contacts I've made, enable me to acquire the habitat and equipment I need and much of the body language and basic behaviors in the two species would be similar I think. :-)
    I would have to say that the temperment and behavior between Bloods and Balls is COMPLETEY(not yelling) different IMO.

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    Craiga 01453 (06-20-2019)

  12. #8
    Registered User B.P.'s 4me's Avatar
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    Re: Looking for Blood python breeders

    Quote Originally Posted by sur3fir3 View Post
    I've debated on whether to reply to this post, but I don't want the past to keep me from posting. So here it goes.

    These are a few things I learned about my Blood. If you use a herpstat with a CHE make sure u enable Basking Assist. Feeding F/T can be an issue. So far my Blood has eaten live twice, and F/T 2 times. I was told by a good snake guy that sometimes when they go off F/T its good to try and alternate live and F/T until you get him on F/T again. I plan on trying live for 4 more feedings, just to get some weight on him, and then I will go back to F/T for a bit. I want to alternate F/T, but in 4 months he has only eaten 4 times. So I want to get him eating live for a bit. At least 1 month worth of weanling rats.

    Uhmm lets see what else did I learn. Ok if you want a snake that will be visible in their enclosure don't get a Blood. (I am not sure if this changes when they are adults) I NEVER see my Blood Python, granted I'm not always up at 2am. When I am up that late the most movement I see is him sticking his nose out from the substrate to do what looks like hunting, or burrowing through the substrate. He uses the substrate as a hide, more than his hides. So I recommend a nice amount of substrate so they can burrow. I have about 2 and 1/2 inches of Cypress Mulch.

    Also if you are in a spot with low humidity, 40% or less, use Cypress Mulch it holds the humidity better than aspen, and it doesn't mold. When holding your Blood make sure you support its body, granted this is MUCH easier to do when they are young. Also make sure you tap train. Personally tap training is an area I need to work on. This Blood Python is the first large snake that I have kept, that was mine, so I am not used to tap training. I never tap trained my Corns or Kings. I just wasn't worried about being bit by one of those. I did care for a 16 ft Retic that belonged to a museum, but it wasn't mine.

    When buying your first Blood the colors of the Juvie will not be the same colors it has when it gets older. The Red comes in later. This is why it is a good idea to see both parents. Another thing is a decent normal can cost as much as your basic morphs. I bought my Blood from a pet store. A decent pet store that specializes in pythons and boas. They have been really helpful, and have supported my purchase. To get a decent blood you might have to import the animal. have you looked at what the cost might be to do this? If you need help shipping to Canada, I would have no issue helping you out. I could buy the animal, and then ship it to you if you find one you like here in the states.

    As far as enclosures, for a Juvie you want something small. A 5 gal would be decent, or a shoebox Tub. If you plan on buying multiple snakes, and you need room for them you might want to look at the rack systems from Reptile Basics.

    There has to be something I am missing. Well Ill post this for now. If I remember anything to add I will post again.
    Thank you so much for your very helpful response sur3fir3. You addressed some questions I've been curious about. Hadn't even thought about "tap training", so a great suggestion! I've been going cross eyed looking at images, talking to breeders, following forums etc. and have reached some conclusions. There IS an abundance of breeders, and beautiful bloods in the U.S., BUT I'm getting the feeling that shipping over the border would require a lot of paperwork, brokerage fees etc., not to mention the exchange on the dollar, so I'm hesitant on that front. I HAVE been in touch with some breeders I've discovered in Western Canada - which is about the only place in Canada (thus far) that I can find breeders. Shipping would be involved, so I'd need to add about $100.00 (perhaps a bit more) to the cost of the animal, but that's not unexpected and isn't that much more than what I've paid shipping within my own province.
    After looking at a multitude of images I understand that I prefer T+ to T- and reds/oranges to the cream/brown/yellow based morphs. So far, what I understand is the Matrix morph has my vote. :-) I've found a breeder that has some yearlings that I'm interested in, they are normal, het t-, possible het hypo. I do like them, and breeder assures me they'll get red, but I've read other information that seems to indicate normals generally don't get very bright. I'm conflicted. :-)
    As far as maintenance goes, I'd be keeping it in a stand alone bin at first, (in a quarantine room) but have 2 pvc. racks, one 28 qrt., one 41 qrt., once the blood has some size I could move him into a rack. I would plan on getting a 2 x 4 x 2 pvc unit for him as an adult. I already use cyprus mulch for my ball pythons so that wouldn't be an issue.

    I'm probably being a bit picky, but want to make sure I get the "right" animal as I only plan on doing this once. I have no interest in breeding bloods or in having more than just one. LOL (Mind you, I said the same about Ball pythons and things changed dramatically)

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