JSI

I agree with Pro_bug_catcher, reading this thread is fun. Reptile forums are so dull without people like D.Pogue. We had a void of a few months that is now filled with great photos and thought provoking opinions from intelligent people that really enjoy reptiles. Whether we keep them as so called "pets" or just have an interest in them. We can all be happy that a place like this is open to us. Jeremy P.S. It's nice knowing none of this stuff will magically disappear or become "locked" and we won't get some dumb ass excuse that it was taken down because the pictures were removed.

alterna are great snakes, very nice pair you have. Jeremy

Steven (LD/50) has once again got a very good point. We should try and keep this about the snakes we enjoy. I was hoping the lack of activity over the weekend in this thread would lead to some great field shots of Ontario herps that people were seeing??? Jeremy P.S. $225!!!! for a corky? It must be het for Red Axanthic or something

This is very insightful...................who could this "beekeeper" possibly be? Jeremy P.S. http://www.ilovebees.com P.S……………it must be someone else.

That made me smile Baron Von Corkenheimer I have to write that one down. Why does someone that keeps insects and arachnids care about people keeping snake, especially the lowley Thamnophis? Furthermore who cares about british petroleum morphs??? Jeremy

Don't worry I know S. c. catenatus just don't forget the "a" in Massasauga. Jeremy

Oh my now this is interesting and very inteligent. Sure if you like talking about farts in a can, or where Bin Laden is hiding. What the hell is a Missassaga rattlesnake??? Maybe that is the locality form around Mississauga I have not heard of? As for the garter snake crap, not everyone keeps snake to make a fortune and have a multi million dollar house that their parents actually paid for. Some people keep and breed snakes because they..................wait for.............ACTUALLY LIKE SNAKES!!!! Wow sounds strange doesn't it. Jeremy P.S. You don't have a 7 series, you're not intelligent enough to figure out idrive. P.S.S. pioneers? of being a douche.

Thanks, but you know who really has to be thanked for their beauty, the Drymarchon master himself. I'm going to attempt to breed them throughout the year. The previous owner(how many people can figure out where they came from ) had the pair together for some time before they came here to me. I do have another female that has just entered ecdysis so once that is done I will put them together and see what happens. Will see, I'm not experienced with breeding these wonderful Drymarchons but hopefully I can get some good advice. Jeremy

Here are a couple nice shots I took last night of one particularly grumpy yet very attractive female “snake eater”. Jeremy P.S. I'd like to go herping too

I'll add one last picture to continue the deformity trend. Jeremy

I have a few snakes that would love to have a little deformed snack once in a while. They are almost begging, "Give me that albino!!!" Jeremy P.S. I like Black Tails!!!

Here are a couple more ugly brown snakes. I guess you guys like them. I miss summer Jeremy

I do have one dirty little secret here in my home. One little amelanistic Pituophis catenifer annectens A picture just for you _rancor Jeremy

I would definitely be up for some field herping and cold beers with the members of the VIP lounge. Hopefully I can learn some better techniques and improve on my herp photography skills. Jeremy That is a really interesting posture.

That pretty much says it all. Jeremy

Excellent field shots as always Don. I don't have much luck, or skill when it comes to field herping. Not that I don't have desire, I'm just not very good at it. I am however unlike other people very happy to "just find garters". Here is one I like from September 2008. I think it's called in situ: These two were happy basking together until I got too close and the water snake Nerodia sipedon bolted for the water. Jeremy P.S. Note to self: don't handle Cribos when your hands are covered in Garter snake musk......... P.S.S.He seems happy in his new home.

There is a lot of "venom" in here, it's a little scary. How about some "cute snakes" Jeremy

That is one beautiful Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix. Agkistrodon is one of my favorites of the venomous clan, but I do have a passion for the Naja group also. Not that I would keep any because I value being alive. Jeremy

Oh, we could start a huge debate over the wild caught vs. captive bred pink mittens. I think the next big thing in mittens will be this morph. Over time though it would lead to this: But then you know some idiot is going to try and cross breed them with a sock and get these stupid "hybrids" Jeremy

Nice little Copperhead Don. Jeremy

That doesn't look like a rat tail hanging out of that couperi's mouth? Jeremy P.S. Pituophis is a great genus, so much diversity.

Interesting stuff Nir. Maybe you could help me with something. Thanks to Mr.Pogue I’ve become increasingly interested in the Drymarchon genus and have been looking for any information on their evolution. I’ve tried getting information from various sources but have come up dry (pun intended). There seems to be some link to elapids but nothing other than hearsay that I’ve found. Could you, or Jon or anyone else shed some light on this subject? It would be greatly appreciated. Jeremy

Mother nature comes up with the best stuff doesn't she? I haven't kept Corns in a while, I think I might need to again. Jeremy

So when did these experts decide that a plastic storage bin was the best designed reptile enclosure? We all use them, but I would say they are far from perfect. The only positive aspect of them is they’re cheap. I use “fish tanks”. For species that are bright, colourful and active why would I want them stuffed in a bin and I can only see them through the haze of foggy plastic. They work perfectly for Thamnophis. I prefer the plastic enclosures with sliding glass doors but those wont work with small snake as the gap between the glass is a bit to tempting for a young garter and they will try and wedge themselves between it in a effort to escape. The plastic ones are also pretty damn expensive. Another thing I’m not to fond of on other sites is the preaching that snakes don’t need light so you shouldn’t use light to heat snake “tanks”. I use lights to heat most of mine. It’s a great sight in the morning to turn on the lights and have some brightly coloured Amazon Tree Boas hanging down looking at you, have some Garters heads poking out from under pieces of bark, and a Cribo looking at you from under her hide. Just because sand boas and ball pythons live under rocks doesn’t mean that the care for them is universal in reptile keeping. The industrial breeders really have started to preach that their way is the only way. No way can a Ball python live in a fish tank right? It will go off food in anything larger than a (insert whatever model number Rubbermaid they all use, it’s got a 2 in it or something). Back when I got my first Ball Python, in the 90s when there wasn’t things like kingsnake.com to tell me how to do everything. So I figured most of it out on my own. Raised that snake in a big “fish tank” I’m not sure the actual size but I would say it was a 55gallon (208 liters, you know this is Canada we’re supposed to be using the metric system). Snake ate well, was active and never had any issues with shedding or really anything. If I was to say post pictures of that setup now I would me mocked and laughed at. The notion of encouraging inbreeding is totally ridiculous. Ok fine, Rosy boa’s live in piles of rocks and breed with their parents and siblings? If you say so. That logic shouldn’t be applied to all snakes. I’ve seen first had what inbreeding can do to Pitouphis. Guys like Andy Beleny and Don Pogue produce top quality animals. I don’t know if they’ve done any line breeding but I would doubt it, and if so it would be minimal. Some of the crap that breeders in the US and even here in Canada do really degrades the animals. We have terms like “star gazing” and “wobble head” and they become almost acceptable. These are just the obvious physical signs of genetic degradation. Jeremy P.S. Coyote Whisperer P.S.S. Garter snake breeding program? P.S.S.S I don’t have to prove anything to you by showing you pictures!!!! You mean nothing to me!!!!!

If only I could take a decent picture Nice Spilotes Nir, a snake I have always admired but never kept so far. Jeremy