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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
 Posted - 26/08/2012 : 11:59:34
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It's my Birthday next week and I'll be 23 years old, I got my first royal python at the age of 21 so today I sat down and looked back at the last 2 years of my life and what an effect snakes have had on it. I hope you guys enjoy the read.
A little about me and my snakes
It’ll be my 23rd birthday in just under 2 weeks and that means I’ve been a snake keeper for 2 years. Not a long time compared to most but for me despite some of the worst experiences of my life happening in those two years I wouldn’t change a thing because getting into reptiles was the best decision of my life.
My first snake was a royal python, we named her Valhalla. I got her mostly because the word “Python” was in her species name and that made me pretty proud, I did my research before buying her and I knew that she would be a fairly small snake but to me she was as cool as any retic! She came at a bad time in my life, before reptiles there were gaming and I was sorely addicted to my MMO’s. There were times when I would go to sleep at 4am after gaming for 12 hours straight stopping only to eat, times when I would turn down job opportunity or socialising with my friends because it was a raid night, I was the leader of a guild called Brutality on a game called World of Warcraft, we were very good and I had a lot of fun with the people there but to stay good there was a lot of hard work so the early morning bedtimes started to get longer, would spend no time out the house and just put all my effort into the game. I don’t want to preach about gaming as this diary is about reptiles and myself but I have to lay emphasis on how my life was and how it was changed.
Anyway returning to the original point, after I got Valhalla I was forced to just occasionally do a few tasks off of my PC, water changing, handling sessions, feeding. Eventually I would find myself alt-tabbing during raids to browse the reptile classifieds and forums and it wasn’t long before I found myself at The Royal Python Forum. Here I discovered that Valhalla’s colours and patterns weren’t the only ones of her species, there were Spiders and Piebalds too (and about a billion others I didn’t even know about) so off I went one day to the local pet shop to buy a Piebald, I almost fainted when I heard it would cost me about a grand! I remember once asking in TRP if I could buy a het spider, I had no idea about morphs then and had no idea one day I’d own snakes that cost more than that Piebald.
Over time my addiction to gaming started to slow and I’d spend all day reading up on different snakes and morphs, I can’t remember exactly when I stopped gaming but the transition was sudden and created a lot of friction between myself and my girlfriend as she was a huge gamer herself. I found myself with a lot of free time living with somebody who had none, would have to watch her destroying her life like I used to, it was the beginning of the end of my relationship when I quit that game.
Back then I was living at my parents with my girlfriend of about 3 years, our room was cramped and the house was full of family members so room to expand my collection was non-existant, however I’d managed to persuade my mother to let me keep another royal and about a month after Valhalla I went to the PRAS show in Havant and ended up buying a het piebald named Diablo (We named him Diablo on the basis that we really wanted a boa called one due to their moustache, but I was afraid of Boa’s and my girlfriend was afraid of larger snakes) this was where I first started to think about breeding. We took Diablo home and we made him a RUB from a lunchbox and a heat mat. He stayed on the table next to my PC for a while and he was brilliant, he would come out whenever the lid was opened and was just naturally friendly and curious.
It was around this time that Valhalla started to show a nasty side, she had struck for me and my confidence was shaken. I look back at that time and remember myself sitting in front of her vivarium having pulled her hide off and just not having the courage to put my hand in. I sat on the floor for 45 minutes trying to do it and eventually she ended up coming out of the viv into my hands, I was incredibly relieved but felt so stupid to have been so scared and having her come along as if to tell me everything was okay, that’s one of those moments I look back on and always remember for having actually bonded with a snake, naturally she felt no such bond but to me it meant a lot.
I kept an eye out for a female het piebald to eventually get the Piebald I had been dreaming of since I saw the first and in only another month I found one advertised online, I had stumbled across RFUK at this point and my first encounter on it was in an attempt to buy a het-piebald. I won’t name the member as she/he is still around today and quite popular but I was stunned by (lets just say his because typing she/he is going to get annoying) his arrogance and rudeness and what seemed like literal contempt for beginners, it made me avoid RFUK for a very long time but didn’t stop my search for a het-pied so when another advert popped up I jumped at the chance to buy it. This was where I got Cleopatra (I thought I was being original with that name )
Cleopatra came from a good friend of mine named Hugo, he lives in London so it was quite a journey to collect but unfortunately for me I was working on the days Hugo was available, I managed to enlist the help of my parents to collect the animal for me. Apparently they were stunned by Hugo’s great collection of inverts and reptiles and how he had turned regular house-hold items into his vivariums saving lots of money, Hugo was young then so it was very impressive for a kid to have a collection like his. I remember waiting at work to hear they’d picked her up and I made them stop by my workplace so I could see her before she was taken home, she was small but beautiful and seemed like she handled the car journey just perfectly! In another lunch box she went and sat on the other half of Diablo’s heat mat, was going to have to do something about this slapdash arrangement at some point!
Valhalla, Diablo and Cleo were great for a while but eventually the hunger for another snake started again, back when I first started I was averaging 1 snake per month, in fact I think for the first 6 months I did actually get 1 every month. This time I saw an adult for sale, I’d never seen an adult royal before- Valhalla was getting chunky but she was still only about 800g and to boost this one was an Axanthic, I looked it up and they were beautiful! Although I definitely didn’t have room for him, I made a decision here that to this day I regret. I sold Valhalla to make room for the Axanthic. Which proved a pointless decision as not long after I commissioned Dave from Dave’s Viv’s to build me a 5 story viv-stack.
My favourite morph to this day is the Axanthic Pinstripe so having an Axanthic in my collection would be brilliant! He was a wild-caught royal python which was different, I remember putting down a deposit over the phone to Crystal Palace Reptiles and stumbling across a large thread on RFUK (pointed out to me by my good friend Con) about the snake, some were saying it was too cheap (at only £200, although previously I had only spent £50 on Diablo, £100 on Cleo and £50 on Valhalla, this was a jump in price) and that there would be something wrong, it probably wouldn’t eat being wild caught and was probably mega-aggressive. All the usual stuff. Fortunately when I arrived to Crystal Palace and Dean showed me the snake all the myths were dispelled, he was amazing and friendly and MASSIVE! To me this was a beast of a snake, while at the store Dean asked if I wanted to see anything and previously on their pricelist I noticed a snake that was for sale at £30’000! I had to see that, Dean brought out a little Soulsucker royal python and I felt honoured to have held it in my hands, apparently it was one of only two in the UK. When I held that snake I knew I wanted to get into this as a business not just a hobby, I wanted to claim one day that I had a snake which nobody else did. I took Scar home and took about a million pictures of him next to various objects to show his size. Scar proved difficult to feed but he didn’t seem to lose weight and I’d been assured that this was okay, I finally got a feed into him but no more came for a while (In fact in the year and a bit since I got him he’s only fed four times, his biggest fast was over 12 months!)
It was around this time I started doing the YouTube videos which now have become quite popular! I originally started them showing off my pets but over time it turned into more of an educational video showing my experiences and giving people a look at how it is to look after snakes, though I aim the show at people who don’t have snakes 99% of my viewers are snake keepers themselves which made the channel warp into kind of a beginners bible.
I cannot exactly remember which order the next three snakes came in but I think Pandora was next. I can’t remember who it was but a TRP member put up a post showing a classifieds advert of a large 8ft female boa constrictor, eventually he decided against buying it and with his permission I asked if I could, he had no problem so I set about persuading my family and girlfriend to let me have it, to my parents I gave a story about how having a big snake was like a right of passage for a snake keeper, it’s something that has to happen for us to advance (funnily enough the same story I’m feeding them now trying to buy a rattlesnake (which isn’t working)) and after a few weeks I managed to persuade them, my girlfriend was easier and I remember her saying “I knew from the moment you looked at the advert we’d end up buying it” says all you need to know about me!
Pandora was for sale up in Wolverhampton, furthest I’ve ever travelled for a snake. Fortunately we have access to a mini-bus so we could transport her and the huge vivarium back home so my dad and I went across the country to buy the snake, when we arrived I was less than impressed with the state of the vivarium- he had apparently just added new substrate for me but on closer inspection it seems that was just added to hide the bottom of the cage which was encrusted with old shed skin and dirty, it took a blade and a long time to pry it all off. Apparently he had previously been keeping her with his Burmese python as well which was my first experience with monumental stupidity from a snake keeper, I wasn’t keen. But I was keen on the snake, she was beautiful and I was absolutely impressed when he demonstrated how tame she was by holding his hand around her head without her reacting, personally if he put his hand near my mouth he’d have lost it. Aside from the shabby vivarium and poor keeping of the boa the chap seemed okay so I paid him £200 for the lot and we brought Pandora home. Upon returning on the 4 hour drive Pandora was naturally quite upset, and due to bad luck there happened to be a family gathering at my house when we got back. I had to take her from the duvet cover she was in and place her into her vivarium which proved to be insanely difficult, it was surprising how hurt I was by the comments my family made about how it was a stupid decision, how big snakes shouldn’t be legal, how it was dangerous. To me she was just upset about a long car journey and wanted time to chill out. On the drive home I had noticed her breathing was off and thought it might be a respiratory infection, so the next day I organized a vet visit for her in a few days. I met my local reptiles vet Mr. David Vawyer and he gave Pandora a few injections to help clear up the infection, I was ridiculously proud of myself for managing to diagnose it.
It took a long, long time to get Pandora to eat. I was really worried about her and naturally as it was a new species and size of snake I was really hoping to see her strike and eat. It became a natural occurrence to throw these giant rats away every week. I assumed it was just the infection clearing up that was the problem, I would find out in a few weeks I was wrong and my whole world was about to turn upside down.
T’was a normal day like any other I woke up to my alarm clock and pulled my dressing gown on, took a look down at Pandora’s vivarium to make sure the rat had not been eaten, removed it and went for a shower. Few moments later I was sat at my PC playing a video game when my girlfriend woke up and walked in looking rather startled. “I think I know why Pandora wasn’t eating” she said, I looked up at her. “She’s had babies” I thought she was joking, I even laughed. I actually turned back to my game. “No, I’m serious” she said, and I frowned going into the bedroom to take a look, holy hell she was right. There was a pool of liquid in the cool side and inside dozens of baby boa constrictors were squirming around. I almost fainted! Panic set in as it always does with me and I completely had no idea what to do. I got on the phone to Jim my local reptile store manager and he told me to separate the babies and all kinds of other stuff, I didn’t take much in I was still in shock. We had no containers for these babies, we had no idea what to do! We drove down to the shop and Jim hooked us up with a dozen cricket tubs, he was kind enough to accompany us back to our house to help out as I couldn’t get anywhere near Pandora hissing over her babies, Jim removed her and she looked tiny in his arms, no longer the 8ft monster we had but now a medium boa that could be easily handled by a full grown man. We picked through the babies and counted as we went, one, two, three, four… thirty four in total with 2 stillborn and 3 unfertilized eggs. Was a huge yield! We had a spare vivarium free on our viv-stack which we loaded up with the cricket boxes of boa’s until the whole viv was covered and turned up the heat. This was going to be a challenge. By this point I had gotten a fair few connections in the reptile world so I had a well of information on how to take care of the babies and so started the most difficult few weeks, every night we would take out 34 cricket boxes, lay them on the bed and one by one change the paper and spray them down as well as individually check them all, the cricket boxes were useless containers but the best we had and unfortunately it meant every night at least 3 of them would escape and be somewhere different. We started work immediately on a 12 RUB rack to keep them in – some would have to cohabit but at a young age I wasn’t too worried. We ended up naming a few of our favourites. I remember Lucifer who had the most perfect upside down Crucifix on his head. Steve McQueen escaped from his cricket tub every night and was always found perched on the top of the stack like a tree boa. Bronson was a fierce little hisser and always liked to strike. Kinky was born with a kink in her tail which fortunately didn’t cause her any trouble. And Dopey was my favourite; he was the runt of the litter. He was very pale and tiny with a big blue bulging eye – the first night we assumed he would die but he managed to keep fighting on. We ended up going to the vets with Kinky and Dopey and the vet told us that Dopey was born without a spectacle scale which is the scale that covers the eye and stops it from getting damaged when the snake moves around. Without this scale the eye would no doubt eventually become damaged and rupture, Kinky turned out to be perfectly healthy just a little kinked.
The options for Dopey were either a lengthy and expensive operation or euthanasia. I tried to think like a real breeder and make a careful decision, it would cost me a ton to get the operation and since I had just spent £200 on the RUB Rack materials and didn’t plan for these babies in the first place I was in no financial position to be able to pay for it… But I did anyway, so on with the operation Dopey went and he took it like a soldier, the eye was removed and it was sewn closed to avoid anything nasty getting inside. I felt sorry for Dopey he had barely started his life and his vision had been taken from his eye, he spent his first few days barely surviving and the next few weeks recovering from an operation. I truly loved Dopey which was why it was a shame when he had to go, I had no room for him and knew it’d be harder to sell him when he had grown and I’d had more memories with him.
Feeding was difficult, the first try all 34 refused, the second try 3 ate and the rest had either refused or regurgitated, but after a few more tries they all started eating regularly. I started selling them off quite easily at £30 each, two went to friends, another 7 or 8 to people online across the country. The shops in the area offered me £6 each for them but I wanted to sell these myself and I wanted to get my name out to people a bit.
Unfortunately tragedy hit me during the selling process, my girlfriend had left me and in an act worthy of Judas himself my best friend at the time and cut me off and gotten together with her. My mind pretty much imploded at that and the doctor diagnosed me with severe anxiety, depression and paranoia, I was taken off work for the next month to recover. I had contemplated suicide and rather stupidly began to self-harm for reasons I still don’t fully understand so I was in absolutely no position to be working with all the snakes, my girlfriend had been my assistant with them and the work-load doubled without her around not to mention the idea of working with them just gave me reminders of everything that had happened. Two days later I organized to sell them to CcMoore Reptiles and we met halfway between both our places to exchange the remaining boa’s, he was a great chap and I do enjoy seeing his facebook updates to this day though I never did ask what became of the boa’s. I spent the next few months doing nothing, I think it was the only time I’ve not had a snake on the wish list or was paying off debt on having bought one. Eventually thanks to my friends and family I did start to recover and though I’m still not 100% I am much better than before, so when my life carried on and the world didn’t end I got back to my snakes!
Somewhere along the line I acquired two more Royals from Crystal Palace for the life of me I cannot remember if they were before or after Pandora but Lilith (Pinstripe) and Anubis (Mojave) were two of the best tools of education I could have hoped for. Lilith was a pain to get feeding and she shows this today by being less than half of Anubis’ size having only fed once a month or so. Anubis was very aggressive and viv-defensive, he taught me how to handle an angry snake and while wrestling with him I often look back at Valhalla and laugh at how long it took me to get her out the viv.
Anubis was also a very crafty snake, he escaped from his vivarium twice and each time we ended up taking floorboards out to get him back, the second time was the best though! Having lost him down the side of the radiator only 3 days before I couldn’t believe I’d left the viv unlocked again and he’d gone straight back to the same place. The problem was his attitude it wasn’t a case of finding him and picking him up he would strike and run like mad and unfortunately for all involved I couldn’t fit my big man-hands down the gap. My mother kindly “volunteered” to retrieve him but we had to suit her up in leather gloves first, took about 12 minutes in total and every time he struck and she flinched her hand back I was sure she was going to fling him out and across the room! (Like I often did!) Eventually she managed to grab his tail but was too scared to get his head out, I managed to take over and we got him back into his viv again.
After the incident with my girlfriend I had to get away from the house and all those memories, I was lucky it landed on the same date that my parents had planned a holiday, I was allowed to join them and we went across the UK in a caravan up to Edinburgh visiting various different places along the way. On the way back down we stopped in Yorkshire which was where Piers (BlackEcho) lives, We had just come from the lake district and by some crazy chance Piers was on his way to the Lake District so we missed each other, however he did have a pair of fire royal pythons up for sale for £1000 and I needed them! Unfortunately I didn’t have £1000 having just lost all that money on the boa’s. I did however have a good friend and what I now like to think of a business partner. We made a deal that he would give me £500 and in return I would give him 35% of the profits from the first and second clutch. Which by my calculations would work out about £600ish so he’d be making himself £100, seeing as he was a friend I promised him if he didn’t make his money back I’d reimburse him what was left over, that way he wouldn’t lose any money and if I did have to pay more I’m only really paying what I didn’t pay in the first place. So with £1’000 in my pocket I bought two fires which would be my first breeding pair. Savina and Naga were a good pair, they ate, shed and did everything perfectly they pretty much looked after themselves.
Again my memory fails on who came first between Angel and Sahara so I’ll write Angel first. Angel is one of my proudest times in snake keeping; she was bought by a friend of mine who bought her from a breeder who turned out to be lying about her feeding record. It turned out and was quite clear that the snake had probably only ever taken a single feed in its life. She was a Bumblebee and absolutely beautiful but when the courier gave her to me I wasn’t sure if she’d survive. I originally took her on to help my friend get her feeding, I’d had a little assist-feeding experience with Diablo before and I thought I was ready for the challenge. She was so weak when she arrived she had managed to get herself tangled up in a fake plant and didn’t have the energy to get free, it was incredibly depressing, as was force feeding her the first few mice. I had never force-fed a snake before but doing it made me feel awful, she would struggle and struggle against the rat and I’d literally be pushing it down. Eventually she got the idea and let it go down but it was a big fight to do it, this was half the battle won as at least now she wouldn’t die.
We had gotten into a routine of assist-feeding which was good but that wasn’t enough she needed to independently feed on her own and after lots of trying in various different ways I eventually decided to live feed, I found a woman who bred feeder rats and multi’s and bought myself one to get Angel started. As depressing as it was to watch it was also exhilarating! I watched on the edge of my seat as Angel took note of the newcomer, they both got closer and then WHACK! She hit it with the force of a freight train. I made all the safety checks to make sure it was a safe constriction no teeth anywhere they shouldn’t be and left her to eat her meal, she took it down herself perfectly. One week later and she took another live one down, another week and she took a defrosted multi. One more week and she’d eat anything she was offered it was like a miracle cure! From that day I’ve always wished that the UK did more live-feeding, it would be so much easier for royal python owners.
Sahara was an impulse buy that set me back £900. It was the PRAS show again in Havant and the year before I had bought Diablo for £50, this year it increased to £900 and with PRAS coming against next month god only knows what I’ll end up buying! However back to Sahara, she was on a table at the end of the show like a gem, was one of the most expensive snakes there and everyone was gawking at her in envy. I wanted her too! I didn’t have a single penny to my name at that point but I’ve always made it clear to everyone who knows me that I’m good for the money, I always pay back my loans and fortunately it seems everyone had money to throw away. I borrowed £200 from my mum, £200 from my uncle, £300 from my granddad and £200 from various friends. It was insane I couldn’t believe I’d gone and bought it, she was the jewel in my collection, the snake I’m most proud of. After buying her I got a ride home from my mother who had to stop in Asda on the way home it was ridiculous I was sat in an ASDA car park with a £900 snake in my hands. Sahara is an absolute machine, I bought her 1 year ago and in that time she’s refused only 2 meals. That’s 50 successful feeds in a row – possibly more as I feed on a 5 day basis! She’ll rocket up to breeding weight and I hope she’ll make a great mother! But this spending was getting out of control, I couldn’t remember the last time I spent money on something that didn’t have scales, had to pass so many social events it was starting to resemble my Warcraft obsession so I said NO MORE for a little while… Which really was a little while now I think about it.
Next was Pilkington, he is a Kahl or Khal I never know which, Albino. He is also a Boa Constrictor which puts my whole argument about not keeping Dopey in the trash. Pilkington was in a vivarium at Emsworth Reptiles and truth be told I didn’t really want him that badly, another impulse buy. I walked in and put down a deposit without even having a vivarium for him. We had made some plans to build a large vivarium for Pandora because her old one was terrible, so we sped up the date and started working on the viv immediately as Pilkington was due home in a month.
This viv was overkill. 8ft long, 3ft wide and 5ft tall, it is a goliath of a vivarium with a tank big enough for both the snakes to submerge in when shedding as well as an elevated platform and a fake rock background. I won’t write up too much detail about the build here but I was very impressed with it, I absolutely suck at DIY so my father helped (did most of it) but eventually it was finished and while requiring a ceramic bulb AND an AHS heater on full just to get the ambient temps up it does look good now and the snakes love it, however I did make the choice to cohabit which hasn’t really caused me too many problems yet. However I do recall one night when it was impossible to get Pilkington out of the viv to feed Pandora so I had to feed them both in there with a snake hook to separate, I had to wait up for about 4 hours while Pandora ate.
Pilkington is a monster, he’s very defensive and when I bought him I was repeatedly told about his aggression. In all honesty I thought they were lying as I handled him four times in the store on different days and he never bit me, as well as the first handling session at home. Since then he’s always gone to tag me always trying to bite me, and as he is 6ft he has quite a range. Right now we’re deciding if it might be better to treat him as wild and stop the handling sessions. Aside from his temper he is a beautiful snake and I do feel proud that I’m able to control him where no doubt others wouldn’t.
Over the last 2 years my most favourite moment has been the hatching of my own little royal babies. I had put Savina and Naga together multiple times and seen them lock dozens throughout the breeding season but I never really knew if Savina was gravid or not, it’s surprisingly difficult to understand until you’ve been through it but one week I had a strange feeling she was, every day that week I checked on her three times a day and sure enough last day of the week I saw fleshy coloured eggs from beneath her hide. We had four eggs and unfortunately one slug. The incubator was a polystyrene box with heat mat and for such low cost it worked amazingly. For 50 odd days I was obsessed with the eggs checking them nonstop, adding water and changing temperatures. Eventually one of the eggs pipped and out popped Wriggle our newest little baby royal, I didn’t notice him inside the egg box until I had changed the water and was about to reposition the thermostat then I noticed that laying down in the substrate was the head of a royal. My excitement was unmatched it was simply amazing.
A few days later came a moment I’ll never forget, the smallest egg there had begun to leak and I was panic-stricken, seeing how we already had one pip I know some breeders cut all the eggs once the first snake pips so I took a razor and started to open the little egg. It was hard to tell and I made a bit of a mess with blood leaking down the egg but inside I could see bright white scales. My heart was thumping I was so excited, we did it, a black eyed leucistic snake! This was what we had dreamed of hatching I had seen pictures but never one in the flesh and here was our very own one. I was on a high for the rest of the day but something was eating at me, something telling me to go and check again. So later that day I had another look, sure enough the scales were there but the snake hadn’t moved, I investigated further and upon discovering a patch of pattern on the back side I realized it wasn’t the lucy we wanted but another normal possibly a fire. I was very upset but the real upset came a few days later when two more snakes had pipped and hatched and our little egg still hadn’t moved. I cut the egg more and lifted the head of the snake out, it was clearly dead. We had one stillborn, two fires and one normal. Hardly good odds but these things happen and despite the sadness I felt great that I had actually bred the snakes, it was the greatest feeling of triumph!
On the day the snakes all hatched I had another very important event planned, it was time to take a trip to the Wrigglies exotic shop and take part in a training course for venomous snakes. 2 years into the hobby and I had bred snakes, handled aggressive boa’s, cured illness, fixed trouble feeders and obtained a total of 14 snakes. But this was something different; these snakes could kill if I wasn’t careful. I don’t know why I went for the course, I have always said one day I would love to own a cobra but that day is far away and I could have done the course closer to the day. I think in all honesty it was just another achievement I wanted and another snake-related task.
I have written about my experiences on this course before so I won’t write it all again but it was one of the best days of my life, I got to meet some of the most passionate reptile people around and work with some of the most amazing animals it was truly an honour to watch them work and the course imbedded firmly into my mind the knowledge that one day I definitely want a cobra of my own.
We’re drawing to the end of the two years now and writing this all down is mind blowing. I truly cannot comprehend how this much has happened to me in two years I think I may be blessed. There have been bad times but mostly all good I’m sure there is tons of stuff I’ll remember after posting this and wish I could put back in but I think leaving it as something written on the spur of the moment is better. The only thing I’m sure of after these 2 years is that there will definitely be more years to come and I wouldn’t trade this hobby for anything in the world. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some water bowls to refill!
-Kelfezond |
\v/ Click me for Kelfezond Reptiles Facebook Page! \v/
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Edited by - Kelfezond on 26/08/2012 13:49:00 |
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Baobab
Fully Grown Royal
United Kingdom
1393 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 12:28:53
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| Looking good Kelf, I enjoyed reading that. I was just reading your Pandora babies thread a couple of days ago. Not sure how I would have reacted to that sight. |
Royal 8.0 - Piebald (Dipstick), Calico (Flake), Pinstripe (Copper), Kingpin het Hypo (Gabriel), Soulsucker (Morgoth), Clown (Ziggy), Phantom (Spook), Enchi( Stenchi) .................Royal 0.12 - Pastel (Elanor), Spider (Willow), Normal het pied (Loki),, Pastel Sterling Orange Hypo (Misty), Normal (WC parents) (Cinders), Pewter (Tinuviel), Yellowbelly (Kaiko), Mojave (Milly), Champagne (Bubbles), Fire (Flame), Karma paradox (Smudge), Amoretti (Rita).Boa's 2.2.1- Eowyn (common), Snuggles (BCC), Bonnie (BCC), Bear (BCL) & Baileys (Kahl strain)..........Western Hognose 0.0.2 - Timmy & Henry.
Coastal*diamond carpet python 0.0.1- Pippin.........Brazilian Rainbow Boa 0.0.1 - Badger..........Granite Burmese 0.1 - Sally
Reticulated python 2.2 - Saru (purple albino), Cheesy (Sunfire albino white), Titan (Platinum Titanium) & Gala (Sunfiretiger het albino)......Rat snake 1.0 Remmy.
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 12:32:24
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| Haha yeah it was absolutely terrifying! My family had the gall to suggect I knew she was pregnant and bought her like it without telling them! haha! |
\v/ Click me for Kelfezond Reptiles Facebook Page! \v/
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Baobab
Fully Grown Royal
United Kingdom
1393 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 12:40:57
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Haha Hadn't they heard of buy one get thirty four free offers before.  |
Royal 8.0 - Piebald (Dipstick), Calico (Flake), Pinstripe (Copper), Kingpin het Hypo (Gabriel), Soulsucker (Morgoth), Clown (Ziggy), Phantom (Spook), Enchi( Stenchi) .................Royal 0.12 - Pastel (Elanor), Spider (Willow), Normal het pied (Loki),, Pastel Sterling Orange Hypo (Misty), Normal (WC parents) (Cinders), Pewter (Tinuviel), Yellowbelly (Kaiko), Mojave (Milly), Champagne (Bubbles), Fire (Flame), Karma paradox (Smudge), Amoretti (Rita).Boa's 2.2.1- Eowyn (common), Snuggles (BCC), Bonnie (BCC), Bear (BCL) & Baileys (Kahl strain)..........Western Hognose 0.0.2 - Timmy & Henry.
Coastal*diamond carpet python 0.0.1- Pippin.........Brazilian Rainbow Boa 0.0.1 - Badger..........Granite Burmese 0.1 - Sally
Reticulated python 2.2 - Saru (purple albino), Cheesy (Sunfire albino white), Titan (Platinum Titanium) & Gala (Sunfiretiger het albino)......Rat snake 1.0 Remmy.
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 12:48:14
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| More added - text colour changed to indicate where |
\v/ Click me for Kelfezond Reptiles Facebook Page! \v/
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 13:49:17
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| Finished! |
\v/ Click me for Kelfezond Reptiles Facebook Page! \v/
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Danno91
Sub Adult
United Kingdom
521 Posts |
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 14:07:56
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| Thanks Danno :D Make sure she does lol although I'm not sure showing her a thread about a man who bought a snake and ended up with 34 badies and now wants a cobra is the best way to persuade her xD |
\v/ Click me for Kelfezond Reptiles Facebook Page! \v/
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Lotabob
Royal Python Moderator
United Kingdom
5008 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 14:59:54
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| Its weird seeing the last two years written down in one place, I remember each event apart from a few at the very beginning, I read posts for a month or so before I joined TRP I was more on TCS in the beginning but I have seen your interest blossom into a business model and the excitement in you at each new snake arriving into your collection and the time you promised me a free leucistic Royal. Quite a journey. |
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 15:02:11
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| Ha, I don't recall that last one Bob! ^^ |
\v/ Click me for Kelfezond Reptiles Facebook Page! \v/
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Lotabob
Royal Python Moderator
United Kingdom
5008 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 15:12:44
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| Its true it has been quite a journey. |
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 15:16:05
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| Smart ass xD |
\v/ Click me for Kelfezond Reptiles Facebook Page! \v/
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Baobab
Fully Grown Royal
United Kingdom
1393 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 15:27:01
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| Class posting Kelf. Keep up the good work and enjoying a snakey life. |
Royal 8.0 - Piebald (Dipstick), Calico (Flake), Pinstripe (Copper), Kingpin het Hypo (Gabriel), Soulsucker (Morgoth), Clown (Ziggy), Phantom (Spook), Enchi( Stenchi) .................Royal 0.12 - Pastel (Elanor), Spider (Willow), Normal het pied (Loki),, Pastel Sterling Orange Hypo (Misty), Normal (WC parents) (Cinders), Pewter (Tinuviel), Yellowbelly (Kaiko), Mojave (Milly), Champagne (Bubbles), Fire (Flame), Karma paradox (Smudge), Amoretti (Rita).Boa's 2.2.1- Eowyn (common), Snuggles (BCC), Bonnie (BCC), Bear (BCL) & Baileys (Kahl strain)..........Western Hognose 0.0.2 - Timmy & Henry.
Coastal*diamond carpet python 0.0.1- Pippin.........Brazilian Rainbow Boa 0.0.1 - Badger..........Granite Burmese 0.1 - Sally
Reticulated python 2.2 - Saru (purple albino), Cheesy (Sunfire albino white), Titan (Platinum Titanium) & Gala (Sunfiretiger het albino)......Rat snake 1.0 Remmy.
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 15:27:48
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| Will do Bao! Thanks |
\v/ Click me for Kelfezond Reptiles Facebook Page! \v/
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AndyJ80
Yearling
United Kingdom
385 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 15:35:00
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What an enjoyable read, I felt like I was reliving your emotions while I was reading
Here's to many more years :) |
1.0.0 CB12 Normal
1.0.0 CB12 Super Pastel
0.1.0 CB12 Mojave
1.0.0 CB10 Fire
0.1.0 CB10 Blackbee
0.1.0 CB10 Granite het albino
0.1.0 CB12 Vanilla
1.1.0 CB12 Pastel 100% het G Stripe
0.1.0 CB12 Enchi
1.1.0 CB12 het Caramel
0.1.0 CB12 het Pied
0.1.0 CB12 het Orange Ghost
1.0.0 CB10 Pastel het Orange Ghost
1.0.0 CB12 Cinnamon Genetic Stripe
0.1.0 CB13 Pastel
more on the way |
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Fezza
Fully Grown Royal
United Kingdom
1063 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 17:50:34
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| That's an inspirational read, thanks for sharing your experiences with us. It's fair to say that you've packed more into the last two years than most. |
1.0.0 normal royal
1.0.0 mojave royal
1.0.0 pastel enchi royal
0.1.0 cinnamon royal
0.1.0 pewter royal
0.1.0 genetic stripe royal
0.1.0 lesser goblin royal
0.1.0 phantom royal
0.1.0 Columbian rainbow boa
0.0.1 aru x jaya GTP
0.1.0 bredli
1.0.0 trans pecos rat snake
1.0.0 fat black cat
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 18:36:23
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| Thanks Fez :) |
\v/ Click me for Kelfezond Reptiles Facebook Page! \v/
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Adiexo93
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
44 Posts |
Posted - 26/08/2012 : 19:34:44
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| I can't believe how much you have developed and progressed over the past two years! Looking at how you are now with all of your snakes (even the mighty Pilkington)its hard to see that once you spent 45 mins getting the courage to handle something so small hehe & then to handling hots (with such great skill and confidence)in such a small space of time. I wish I had been there from the beginning to see your journey. Definitely an achievement you should be proud of. Off to a great start already I think you've found your calling :) |
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Tiggy
Hatchling
United Kingdom
79 Posts |
Posted - 27/08/2012 : 05:38:29
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| Brilliant read kiddo, and a great way to get over the depression fits. Keep enjoying your snakes and good things WILL happen, believe me. These creatures have magical abilitites that work on our souls as well as our minds. Well done! |
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frambo
Yearling
United Kingdom
228 Posts |
Posted - 27/08/2012 : 10:39:20
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| Wow... what an awesome read. Just made me want a boa though haha |
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0.1.0 Royal Python
1.0.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback
0.1.4Terrapin
0.0.3 Koi Carp |
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blackskull
Fully Grown Royal
United Kingdom
1278 Posts |
Posted - 27/08/2012 : 12:01:40
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| I enjoyed reading that. I remember reading about your experiences in the past but was nice to read it in one place as it happened |
1.1 normal royal, sully, silver
0.1 pinstripe royal, penny
1.1 pastel royal, lars, clover
0.1 lesser royal, serenity
0.1 black pastel royal, betty
0.1 mojave royal, mavis
0.1 normal het clown
1.0 pastel het clown
1.0 nuclear, ned
1.0 super phantom
1.0 childrens python, myles
0.1 hog island boa
0.1 sonoran x boa, grace
0.0.1 mack snow leopard gecko, munchkin
4.1 cats, stan, dave, marble, binx, daisy
4.1 rabbits, mol, ted, bill, spud, alice
0.1 crazy cat/bunny lady of bridgwater, lucy |
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Topic |
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Looking back at my birthday and 2 years of snakes
