Ugh yes… another month bites the dust…
By Sean : EbN | June 25, 2008
So in an effort to avoid a lot of work related stress we have been trying our hardest to focus on other parts of our life, other than WORK! It is really great to have a job that you love so much but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… IT IS A JOB for us.
So now that we are hatching a bunch of eggs and seeing more babies I am again rejuvenated for a while. The ball python year for us is well underway and EARLY! Wow… its hard to believe there are nearly 100 clutches in the incubator/hatched already, its only JUNE! We’ve gotten some neat clutches that should be interesting and some new babies that are interesting also. A few weeks ago we hatched the first Cinnamon Pastel Genetic Stripe. At first glance in the egg we thought it was a Pewter Stripe (since that was the ultimate goal) but it developed a bit more brown color towards the end of the incubation and once it shed out we were convinced that it was indeed a CINNAMON PASTEL GENETIC STRIPE!
Keep an eye on this blog to see any other developments with this project. We have other clutches that should yield more Stripes, Cinnamon Stripes, Pastel Stripes, Super Pastel Stripes and possibly a STERLING STRIPE!
Time will tell…
Topics: Site Updates, Reptile Related | No Comments »
Wow… a month since my last post??
By Sean : EbN | May 21, 2008
Sorry about that everyone. We actually took a vacation! Yeah, a REAL vacation not just a reptile show/business trip! Celia and I spent nearly a week in the mountains of North Carolina and then spent a day in Atlanta, Georgia. Why just one day?? Well ever since they opened that huge public aquarium in downtown Atlanta, I have been looking for an excuse to go there. The Georgia Aquarium is one of the largest and newest aquariums in the world. They have successfully kept 4 Whale Sharks in their 6.3 million gallon ocean exhibit. There is a viewing glass that is over 60 feet long and over 20 feet tall that lets you realize just how large those sharks are and how amazing the sea can be. Definitely a recommended trek if you are in the greater Atlanta area, even if its just for about 3-4 hours to enjoy this institution. To find out what ELSE we did while we were on vacation… I must direct you to Celia’s Blog that can be found at www.CeliaChien.com
See most people in this business don’t know that I actually got my start in the pet trade by working with marine fish and invertebrates. That was my real passion before I caught the reptile bug. That is also something that I long to do again, work with my finned friends again. Reptiles are great as are most of the people involved in the conservation, reproduction and commercial sides of this hobby/business but as with any job this becomes somewhat mundane. I think I would like to open up a new retail outlet in the future that caters not only to the reptile and amphibian hobbyists but also the OTHER SCALY wonders of the world. Celia and I have talked and argued about this many times and maybe some day I will be motivated enough to do something about it. Until then I still have my other hobbies and also understand the point of a very well deserved VACATION!
Ok… since I last wrote on here we have gotten to Ball Python clutch #60 and hatched the first 5 or so clutches. Again, you can find our list at the top of this page and if you have any interest or questions regarding this or anything else on the website, please feel free to call or e-mail us anytime!
Topics: Site Updates, Stupid, Silly and Unimportant!, Reptile Related | No Comments »
Uggghhh… Being sick SUCKS!
By Sean : EbN | April 22, 2008
I hope everyone’s week is going better than mine! Yesterday I came down with a TERRIBLE cold or something and it knocked me OUT! Celia and I both caught it but she is, of course, much better off than I am. I guess I’m not all that healthy because when stuff like this hits me it hits hard! Oh well… things are getting better today.
We are up to 27 Ball Python clutches so far… not too bad. I’m looking forward to several of these clutches popping out some neat stuff. Should be an exciting summer around here.
On the 14th we had our first litter of Boas and it sure was a nice one! It was the same breeding we did last year between our original male Aztec and a female Salmon Hypo. This is the breeding that we produced the first Hytec (Hypo Aztec) Boas from. She did a great job again producing 21 perfect live babies with only 6 slugs. You can see a few photos of this litter on our new Boa litter record page listed above.
One last thing… Celia has decided to have an online chat support through Yahoo! Messenger All you have to do is go to that link and download and install the messenger program and add her as a buddy. Her screen name is ebn_celia Or click part of the link below…
MESSAGE ME!!
Add me to your buddy list
Now you can’t say that we aren’t the EASIEST reptile company in the world to communicate with. You can reach us at our physical location, telephone, e-mail & instant chat!
Topics: Site Updates, Stupid, Silly and Unimportant!, Reptile Related | 1 Comment »
Ok… so I’m a slacker…
By Sean : EbN | April 12, 2008
I haven’t written on here in two weeks. I’VE BEEN BUSY!! I mean jeez I guess SOMEONE reads this junk because a few people said things like “Man, you haven’t been keeping up with that blog on the site” Well I guess there was just nothing really important to say.
If you check the 08 Ball Python Clutches tab at the top of this page you can see that we are now up to clutch #17 as of today. We also started getting eggs from some of the other projects that we work on. We got a massive clutch of 17 great eggs from an average sized Children’s Python and also a nice 8 egg clutch from an Australian Woma Python that is really pretty! Our Leopard, Crested, Gargoyle and Chahoa Geckos are all starting to lay nice fertile eggs as well.
My little monsters are doing great… they LOVE little fuzzy mice but they won’t really eat in front of me. Nothing new aside from them. We are trying to take it easy on new animals this year.
Other than that I have been working on Celia’s car a lot. For those who don’t know she has a tricked out little Mini Cooper S turbo that she is addicted to (which means I am the mechanic/tuner for the damn thing.) She is planning on showing her car at the end of this month and is really bugging me to finish it. If you care to see the type of stuff Celia makes me do in my free time then go here to her write up of Linus, her Mini Cooper S. She hasn’t updated it in a while. Since then the interior has been reworked as well as a few other body mods and under the hood performance mods but those are secret until after the show! Check it out and let her know what you think!
Celia now has a BLOG too! Check it out at this link!
Topics: Site Updates, Stupid, Silly and Unimportant!, Reptile Related | 1 Comment »
I got new toys!
By Sean : EbN | March 30, 2008
I hope everyone has had a good weekend so far! I’ve been working a good bit this weekend, trying to get some stuff organized around here. You know one of the things I can’t stand about our place is that everything is in different caging. Since I started this business I have gone from making caging to purchasing commercial quality caging and now back to building caging. At least now I’m using commercial quality materials such as Expanded PVC (much like that used by Animal Plastics) to build my racks and cages as opposed to wood products which are hardly suitable to our application. I end up making my cages for about half of what I would pay someone else. My time is worth a lot to me but if I’m building enough racks and cages then I feel it is worth my time. So anyways… our facility is packed with some many different designs from different materials it just looks REALLY bad! So I’m trying to organize it better to get similar animals in similar conditions and make it easier to care for the stuff we have.
So… I got new pets yesterday!! They are soooooooooooo cool! GILA MONSTERS!! I’ve always wanted these things and never was in a position to pick any up. A friend of ours produces them sporadically and we were able to work out a deal on a small group of them. Here are a couple of photos…
They are INSANELY CUTE and AGGRESSIVE! So there it is… a new fun thing for me. It is really cool to have admired an animal as long as I have admired Gilas and now finally get some.
I also just updated the Ball Python collection page with some of the other morphs we are working with. I added/updated the following morphs : Albino Cinnamon, Enchi, Fire, Lesser Platinum Spider, Mojave Spider, Pastel Hypo, Spinner & Yellowbelly. I’ve been working on the collection pages bit by bit as it is a lot of photos and code to edit. Check out the page and see what we’re working with. I find it hard to believe that we have that many Ball Python morphs now… I’m pretty excited!! CHEERS!
Topics: Site Updates, Reptile Related | 3 Comments »
Just another day on the job…
By Sean : EbN | March 27, 2008
Nothing really new going on around here. We got another clutch of Ball Python eggs listed on the clutch page that can be found at this top of this blog page. Nothing too exciting… just a VPI Axanthic x 100% Het. VPI Axanthic clutch. I really love the Axanthic morph but it is just never very popular. We also have a few VPI Axanthic females that should go this year. In an effort to produce a manageable amount of visual Axanthics I decided to make a few Double Het. projects with them this year. It looks like two female VPI Axanthics will lay for us in a month or so, one was bred to a nice Clown and the other to a Genetic Stripe. It is such a shame that the Axanthic by itself isn’t a more popular morph but that’s the way it works. EVERYONE will want them once certain designers are produced.
Anyone see Snakebytes this week?!? Man… I love women but women into reptiles I REALLY LOVE! Even though very few of the women were named in the episode, I’m sure most of you saw Celia! She was all weird about being on camera and being on the show. I don’t understand it at all because she did great! After last week’s show there is no need to tell you all that I (Sean) am an ATTENTION WHORE! 
“It is what it is!” I guess Celia isn’t! If you haven’t seen it… WATCH!
Oh well… that’s it for me today. Catch ya on da’ flip side….
Topics: Reptile Related | 1 Comment »
A couple more clutches…
By Sean : EbN | March 21, 2008
I hope everyone is having a nice Good Friday! The weather here is beautiful and I wish I could spend the day outside. Nope… stuck in the reptile shop! Well, its not that bad at all! I got another clutch of Ball Python eggs yesterday and today. Both females were normals that were bred by this “African Lesser Platinum ?” male that I got several years ago. Here is a pic of him…
Here is pic of an RDR line Lesser Platinum that was produced by John Piro Reptiles to illustrate how different the African one is…
Back in 2005 we had the opportunity to purchase this male from Africa. When we saw the photo of him we knew we wanted to add him to our collection. The clutch consisted of a couple “Blue-Eyed Leucistics” that were seemingly normal, a few of these weird Platinums and a few weird normals. Now if there were Leucys in the clutch then that meant that the female “normal” wasn’t really normal at all. This animal showed some potential with its stone gray sides and intense blushing it appeared as if it had some Cinnamon Pastel or something in it. Once we got him in we realized just how weird he was and decided to also add a RDR line Lesser Platinum to our collection thinking that there was no way these two morphs were exactly the same.
So in about 56 days (48 days if I’m feeling a little “snippy”) we’ll see what this guy is capable of! I’ll keep you posted!
Have a nice day
Topics: Reptile Related | 2 Comments »
A slow start…
By Sean : EbN | March 19, 2008
Today I collected our second clutch of Ball Python eggs. This was a relief as I was almost sure that this female was egg bound. Last week this female laid a single egg which she then pushed away from her. She was laying very odd, kinked and upside down most of the time. When I would palpate her, it felt as if there was a twist in her oviduct and the eggs were lodged inside her. Today she laid the remaining 5 eggs and so far they all look healthy. The egg that she laid last week died later on that very same day.
There has been a lot of talk over the years about these eggs that the females refuse to care for. Some say that they are definitely doomed… I say that’s not true! I’ve had many eggs like this over the years and have saved most of them. The babies hatched healthy and seemingly normal! I believe that everything needs a chance and you should incubate these eggs just as if there was nothing wrong. Keep a close eye on them for sweaty spots or areas of mold and counteract these symptoms with the proper treatment. You can save some of these!
Otherwise it is fairly quiet around here. There are a lot of swollen Boas so it seems that we will have a fun and exciting year with them! We are just starting to feed our colubrids and hope that we can produce a decent number this year.
Also I just watched this week’s episode of SnakeBytes and we were in it! It was based on the NARBC Arlington, TX show from a few weeks back. Brian wanted to have a “Best booth in the show” episode and we were proud to have been named the best. There were many great tables at the show filled with a lot of amazing animals… needless to say… we were honored. Next week’s episode should be a good one… showing off the women of reptiles! If it weren’t for our wives, girlfriends, mothers and daughters what would we do?!? We will get to appreciate some of the female herpers and why they are interested in this stuff… tune in at the following link…
Until next time…
GOOD LUCK!!
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Start of the new season…
By Sean : EbN | March 13, 2008
Well, I consider today the start of the new season! We got our first Ball Python egg clutch today. We seem to be right on schedule this year… I guess giving all those girls a break last year really straightened things out!
For years I have been considering putting a list of all of our Ball Python’s and Boa Constrictor’s clutches and litters just to keep our customer base apprised of our progress. This year, since I have this nifty new blog, I have decided to do it! If you look at the top of this page you will see a tab entitled “08 Ball Python Clutches” obviously that will link directly to the page with the information. We will only display this info on here, we will not be inserting it into the main Exotics by Nature website. It will be a simple text list (for now) of all of the Python clutches we have incubating or hatched as well as the results from the liveborn Boa litters.
Apologies to those of you who wandered by yesterday. I just didn’t have enough time to write the blog.
Hope you had a beautiful Thursday!
Topics: Site Updates, Reptile Related | No Comments »
Posting EVERY DAY?!?
By Sean : EbN | March 11, 2008
Wow… coming up with stuff to post everyday is quite hard! Funny how that is, right? I’m sure that when people talk to me they are thinking “When is this guy gonna SHUT-UP??”
Well I downloaded the Reptile Radio interview with David Barker from Sunday night. It was EXTREMELY INTERESTING to me! Interviews like that really show how much information one can gather from years of experience working with and studying reptiles.
Since I mentioned it let me tell you something on my mind… Sometimes I’m really bothered by how little some people know about reptiles and their natural history. Then I think about it and I can understand being fascinated by reptiles and the the way they act without wanting to know WHY they act that way. How many people see a Red-Tailed Boa and wonder why the tail is red? Or why a snake with a long pointy nose (like a Rhino Rat Snake) has one? We are also very addicted to color morphs and our abilities to manipulate them that we forget about all those cool naturally occurring wonders.
Did you know that there are many species or subspecies of reptiles that were heavily bred here in the U.S. by hobbyists and commercial breeders that aren’t bred here anymore?!? Back in the late 90’s there were probably close to 1000 hatchling Kimberly Rock Monitors (Varanus glauerti) produced here and there were less than 50 produced in 2007? This is a species that sells for $750 each so its not like they aren’t profitable. Also, it is getting increasingly hard to find a Diamond Python (Morelia spilota spilota) that doesn’t have funky markings reminiscent of all the odd Carpet Python blood in them. It’s kind of sad and odd at the same time.
I guess I am just happy that I have been doing this long enough that I can say “I can remember when…” Honestly, it kinda makes me feel old!
Hope you had a great day!
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