The Snake Keeper Blog

Things are going good on the building in Utah. Just got back again from being there checking on it all. You can see from the pictures it is moving along really fast. We are really up against the clock. Our kids start school on the 22nd of this month in Utah. So we are trying to get everything done that needs to be done to keep the family together. The real trick is getting to Daytona and back in time for school to start.

Inside the rodent building.

We hope to have it all together but we may wind up in Daytona missing something. Who knows it will be interesting. All of our supplies ship out this week for the show.

Dual incubators

I am taking pictures today of new balls that have hatched out and getting them up on the pages for sale so if you are interested in balls or boas before the show now would be the time to get them. We are having an open house right now trying to sell the place. So I keep getting distracted so I better end this now.

insulated walls

You may remember a year or so back Jack Briggs had some Nic’s that were really cool looking, one black and one red well at least that is how we differentiated them here. So we were given the opportunity to purchase them from him last year. So we did and here is one of the offspring from them.

Motley Red Nic.

This is from the red one. Just shed today, we have been waiting for days so we could take good pics. Any ways the gene has proven out and we now have Red Motley Nicaraguan Boas. The black one proved out as well. Still waiting for those to shed but we will show pics of them once they do. Yes, these are Motley Nics. I had Jeremy Stone take a look at them before calling them Motley to be sure. Actually he has only seen pics of the black one but he agreed that they really are Motley. So we are real excited with the potential of this new Nic morph.

The building is going up great right now. These are pics form last week when I was there over seeing the project.

Here you can see both buildings. Rodent building at rear.

If you know anything about construction you are probably wondering why the slab was poured last. It is just the way these buildings are designed. You can see in the pics all the plumbing is installed and ready for the last slab to cover it up.

Before insulation laid on ground.

We decided to go with a dual island design that we came up with for the room. We will show you more of that as we begin to finish the inside of the building. You can also see the new rodent building going up now as well. I just can not wait to get into this place.

Rodent building behind.

This new rodent building is going to be a dream. Spent a lot of time figuring out how to set it all up and I think we have a great set up here for producing all the rodents we need and then some. Everything has a back up and if you have been a breeder you know how important back up is when keeping animals. You really can see it here the slab was insulated to help stop the heat from escaping in the winter time.

Insulation on ground waiting for last pour.

It is really cool how it works as a vapor barrier but also is about R19+ rating. Things are on schedule so far so we will see how this next week goes. I am heading back on Monday and a lot has been done. We have the electrician and security crews there today. Outer walls and windows are all done as well. Here is the expensive part, getting utilities to the buildings. I had no idea it would be so much money for digging a trench in the ground. Hey if you happen to be an excavator in the area of Utah give me a call.

Another view

So moving day is fast approaching. Well at least the heat has broke here today. We were as high a 112 a few days ago. Put the test to the coolers but they handled it and all the rodents are doing fine. Thankful for that having a cooler go down is no fun. The other day I put new pads and pumps in them so that helped with all new parts to keep it cool.

We just updated or are still updating the available pages. So if you are looking for some new balls or boas check it out as we are adding more to it daily. Still moving snakes out to aid in the move. Looking forward to Daytona and seeing you there as well.

This is the pure Nic litter that we were waiting for yesterday that arrived early this morning.

Pure nic litter born today.

Colette goes to check on them first thing in the morning and comes back in with a smile on her face and says you want to come out and help? I know that means good news. So shot a few pics before we cleaned them up. This is the best pic. Thought you would like to see how this project turned out. Soon as they shed we will have pics of more of them. Needless to say we were pleased.

This is more of a boa post than a ball python one but it is an update to what is happening at the Snake Keeper today.

Het leopard babies

Well they were a little early but Colette was smiling this morning. She has been watching several boas now for days waiting for the moment. This morning one she was not expecting for another week or so gave birth. These are het leopards. 16 live and 2 slugs not bad. We are just happy to get live babies Thanks for looking maybe later today we will have another litter to share.

No building update today. I am back in California for a few days packing up another load for a trip back to the new place. So soon as I get there we will see how things are progressing. Oh almost forgot. Got a clutch of genetic stripe to possible het stripe today. So there was some ball python news after all.

Well it has been a while since I wrote anything here. Been real busy trying to get things going so we can move. Here is the picture of the new snake building going up.

The new snake facility.

Believe it or not this is just after three days of work. These guys are fast. I will not get there for another week to see how it is going but I suspect the slab will be in by then and should be getting to some rooms framed in by then as well. The place is huge I do not think we will ever fill it all but I said that last time. Do not even want to fill it as that would be way too much work to do. But it should give us some nice breathing room to stretch out while working with the animals.

Just added some more snakes for sale to the webpage. So you should check it out and see what’s available. Were moving stuff so we can cut down on the amount of snakes we have to transport. So if you see something you like let us know. Also drop me an email if you like seeing up dates on the building that is going on at the new facility. If you like it I will try to explain things as it goes along.

The rodent room spot.

The rodent room begins on Monday. That is a big place as well. Can not wait to start producing tons of rodents. Seems you never have enough of them. Have some good clutches in the incubator right now so we should have something to show off soon. We will keep you posted as best as we can. Moving is a pain and I am gone a lot on the road. Going to take at least 5 trips to get all the animals to the new place once completed. Looks like the I-15 and I are going to become good friends.

Well the weather warmed up and summer is upon us here in California. I am ready to head back to the beach. There is so much going on right now. We did get back in our house now that the remodel is done. That was a bear living in the motor home for three weeks. But the house is done now and it is nice. So now we are considering moving. Actually we have done a lot to prepare for a move we just have to build a new rodent facility and a new reptile facility. That takes time and money. So that brings me to snakes for sale. I need to add some more to the list and I will over the next week. I added a few this morning. When we move we will be crossing the desert during the heat of the summer. I would like to reduce the amount of snakes I have to make this trek. So if we have something for sale on the site or if you know we have something you want send me an email with your reasonable offer and we will see what we can do. I plan on moving out a good number of these 2005 offspring to make the move much easier. I will also be selling some sub adult and adult females as well. I was also just informed some adult males will be going too. We have a lot that is not listed. Maybe I can get a list together over this next week. Moving the adults will be a large task. Not looking forward to traveling when it is over 100 outside. But that is the way it will turn out if all goes as we would like it to. Have to go now kids have games today.

The forums are off line right now. The software that runs them had been hacked and taken over. It was not a good thing. So we pulled them off so we could find a fix for the problem. We should have them back up this week if all goes well. If not we may have to find a new software for the forums.
Do you know what Monday is???? The first day of spring! I can not wait for the weather to warm up. Winter is way too long even in California. Any ways lots going on right now maybe I will write more about it later.

Well took a little longer than I thought to post on here again. Got all involved on the kitchen and now I am in real deep. Looks like I am just going to go ahead and rip everything out. All the way down to the studs. Sure makes it easier that way not having to worry about saving anything. Scraped the ceiling clean in the eating area already. That was not as bad as you would think. Went really fast except when Colette made me answer the phone. All in all it is going good.

Was able to get up some great snakes for sale these past few days. Those possible het pieds and het caramels got a lot of attention. Sold some of them but still have a few more. I need to get those up on the site now. I posted a pic of the pastel clown on kingsnake and did it get the hits. I think everyone went and looked at it. That snake is just really awesome. It is just getting better the older it gets. I lowered the price of the pastels possible het clowns on the site. I think they are priced now so people will take advantage of them. Cheap way to produce pastel clowns.

Not sure yet what I am going to put up for sale today. Need to go look and see if I have more adults that need to go up. I think I may just work on the babies today. I guess we will have to decide that soon. If you see something you like give me a call.

I lowered the price on the adult ghost I put up a day or two ago as well. You may want to check them out.

Well took a little longer than I thought to post on here again. Got all involved on the kitchen and now I am in real deep. Looks like I am just going to go ahead and rip everything out. All the way down to the studs. Sure makes it easier that way not having to worry about saving anything. Scraped the ceiling clean in the eating area already. That was not as bad as you would think. Went really fast except when Colette made me answer the phone. All in all it is going good.

Was able to get up some great snakes for sale these past few days. Those possible het pieds and het caramels got a lot of attention. Sold some of them but still have a few more. I need to get those up on the site now. I posted a pic of the pastel clown on kingsnake and did it get the hits. I think everyone went and looked at it. That snake is just really awesome. It is just getting better the older it gets. I lowered the price of the pastels possible het clowns on the site. I think they are priced now so people will take advantage of them. Cheap way to produce pastel clowns.

Not sure yet what I am going to put up for sale today. Need to go look and see if I have more adults that need to go up. I think I may just work on the babies today. I guess we will have to decide that soon. If you see something you like give me a call.

I lowered the price on the adult ghost I put up a day or two ago as well. You may want to check them out.