Practical Principles for Ball Python Breeders
As a ball python breeder I constantly evaluate the best ways to get a maximum return on my investment. This makes me no different than any other business person, regardless of the choice of profession. I endeavor to be pragmatic when it comes to expected profitability and I have come to believe that there many ways to do this snake breeding thing right. Alternately, there at least as many ways to do it wrong. What's right and what's wrong can vary based on circumstance and is often a … [Read More...]
Let the UK Be a Lesson
As an American I am chronically aware that many of my fellow citizens don't pay much attention to what is going on in other countries. By no means is that an across-the-board statement; it's just something I have made note of in my interactions with others as I travel about the country. It's not unusual for Americans to be so unabashedly and ignorantly ethnocentric that they don't have the slightest idea of what is going in the rest of the world. Who am I kidding? Many don't even know … [Read More...]
What You Do and How You Do It
"Do something awesome ...something amazing." That was the job description given to me a long time ago just before I accepted a position at a small start-up IT company. I was trying to break out of the life-drag called Corporate America and during the interview process I asked for more details on my potential job duties. And the quote above is was what I heard in reply. When I realized he wasn't kidding I was ...moved. I was so inspired that I wanted desperately to do something, well, … [Read More...]
Flies On a Vaseline Covered Windshield
The Humane Society of the United States has at least one (that I know of) full-time employee whose sole function is to communicate the organization's message using social media. That's it! Be an evangelist for the cause using the constantly evolving Internet as a tool. The existence of that job represents their commitment to reaching out to a whole new generation of people. They also have an entire division (attorney's included) focused exclusively on advancing their agenda through the … [Read More...]
Why Do You Support Breeding?
I have more than a few opinions in support of for-profit animal husbandry. On many occasions I have shared some of those opinions in the blog posts and articles I write. And as you might expect I receive a lot of comments. Most of them are emailed directly to me and most of them are decidedly supportive. But sometimes people come after me with varying levels of aggression and disdain for what I do. Some dislike my love of capitalism and attack me for charging more than $20 for any ball … [Read More...]
Commerce, Fear and Legislation
As I type my 40th birthday is barely two years away. And I don't know if it's my age combined with the times or if it's the times by themselves but over the past few years I have become keenly aware of a rapidly increasing divide between the people of the United States. I know, I know, every generation laments the passing of the 'good ol' days' and things were always better yesteryear. Time has that sort of scrubbing effect; it distorts the very perception of our own hindsight. But I … [Read More...]
The Real Cost of Shipping Reptiles
Shipping reptiles is part of the business. Though we are many in number we are often far apart and it is a frequent occurrence that the person who has the snake you want lives somewhere other than across town. And so we ship. And it's expensive. From FedEx to UPS to Delta Dash there is no inexpensive way to do it. And because it is expensive it is often a point of negotiation in a sale. Everybody wants the best deal possible when buying a reptile, myself included. "Give me the very … [Read More...]
Getting Big by Producing Small
Last year, amongst many other things, I bred a ghost mojave to a 100% het ghost black pastel spider (black bee). Sounds like a cool pairing, right? To my knowledge the ghost mojave black bee hasn't been produced yet and I was gunning to be the first. With eight eggs in the incubator I was feeling optimistic; all I needed was a little love from the Odds Gods and I would hit on something amazing to share with the world. I watched with hopeful anticipation as the eggs finally pipped. And … [Read More...]
A Continued Analysis of Ball Python Investment
Let me ask you a question: Would you rather have $5,000 right now or $5,000 four years from now? Not really a tough question, I suspect. Money in-hand is tangible and usable; it represents capability. In order for me to convince you to wait for money in the future it has to be more than what you can have today. But how much more? If the offer was $5,000 today or $5,200 in four years I feel pretty confident that you would still reject the deal and opt for today as the payday. The capacity … [Read More...]
Imagination, Luck and Opportunity
Every year I am fortunate enough to produce some absolutely amazing ball pythons. There have been a tiny handful of times when the animal I produced was unique to the world, the first combination of its kind. I admit, it's a neat feeling. Being the first to make a particular morph and getting to name it is a goal for many in the business. The naming of a morph is your chance to become a permanent, albeit largely irrelevant, part of the industry's history. It's unlikely that anyone will … [Read More...]
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