I first contacted 8ball in the early spring of 2006 in search of het albino ball pythons. He had a great website, flawless reputation and just the animals I was looking for. My first point of contact with Adam with awesome, he responded to my email promptly and with lots of content. We wrapped up the deal right away and I was blown away with his customer service, packing and quality of animals. After the sale he continued to offer excellent advice and we soon became pals. Over the next months we talked on and off about me coming to MD to visit the shop. When the chance came up that there happened to be a NARBC show in VA we decided that would be a perfect opportunity. I flew into BWI and was greeted by Adam holding up a CUEBALL sign. What a great way to start off a fantastic weekend! We proceeded to the shop. My first impression was it was very clean, smelled nice and was well organized. Once I got to looking around I realized just how much work Adam has and was shocked he had time for anything else. There was a real sense of focus and everything had it's place. We looked at some key animals, very impressive, and then proceeded to the NARBC show in VA. Adam was a gracious host the whole weekend of the show and it was really fun seeing all the 8ball shirts scattered in the crowds. It was amazing, we couldn't walk 10 feet without somebody dashing up to talk to him, I felt like I was walking around with Joey Fatone or something! After the show on Sunday we headed back to the shop. This is when I got a chance to really look around. One of the things I really was impressed by was the attention to detail. Every single tub was marked with an easy to understand inventory system that included the type, birth and sex of the animal all in just a few characters. As we looked at animals I could see the sparkle in Adam's eyes as he recalled the day it hatched or it's future plans. This guys really is all about the animals! It was getting late in the evening and we headed back to Adam's house. I was welcomed at the door by a great 8ball jackolantern. Right away Adam fired up the grill and we shared a great meal together. I was not sure what to expect about my accommodations but certainly could not have imagined a jacuzzi tub and huge soft bed! Early Monday we headed back to the shop for feeding day. I have been really curious about this as Adam is an advocater of feeding live safely and responsibly. His method is simple and effective. He places a tub of live rodents in the room with the ball pythons for an hour and by that time they are all waiting at the edge of the tub to eat. He offers the food with tongs and the snakes accept right away. Not once did I see any risk. The shop is setup with several rooms. Each room has it own stage all the way from current hatchling to holdbacks to breeders. I finally got to see the walk in incubator, that has got to be one exciting place in the summer time! There where so many cool snakes to see that my mind was spinning. Each tub we opened reveled a clean environment and a healthy beautiful ball python. If there was so much as a spilled drop of water Adam was right on it with pre folded paper and sanitizer. I tried to get a good sampling of some of the ones I liked the best but only really just barely touched on the vast collection. I hope you all enjoy the story and pictures. I had such a great time and it just confirmed my stance that it's always about time for 8ball! Chris
Adam and Cue with some really amazing albinos!
Some of the 2007 babies.
More 2007 babies.
Some of the 2006 holdbacks.
Some breeders.
Some more breeders.
Even more breeders.
Endless breeders.
Adam with a genetic stripe, spider and axanthic.
Adam and Cue with breeders.
Adam with some killer holdback spiders.
Adam with prize floating cinnamon.
Feeding day hazard!
Awesome hypo.
Mojave het hypo.
Amazing pewter.
Lesser het hypo and lesser.
Incredible cinnamon.
Paradox lesser.
Hyper melanistic.
Blurry.
Clown(in shed).
Albino, pinstripe and albino pinstripe.
My guest accomodations.
Art in the shop.
Isn't it about time?
Adam Wysocki!
www.8ballpythons.com
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