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This little dude is definitely not ugly as sin! Handsome man got a gold star of approval for being the bestest boy and perfect gentleman during his groom with me last week!

I've been seeing a lot of crusty little dog positivity lately and I respect it. More people should get them, they're really the only genre of dog genuinely bred for companionship. But let's be real; they are hideous. I'm so sorry but shih-tzus look like a rug someone left bunched up soaking wet in a corner to grow mildew, but with bulging goopy eyeballs and a brachycephalic wheeze. I don't mean when they're elderly, they look wretched as soon as they leave puppyhood. Great personality, they're good little dogs and all, but it can't be denied that they're ugly as sin.

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Second batch of babies born a few weeks ago. We didn't think mom would ever have them! She got absolutely huge!! Tumblr won't let me post all of them with mom but there are 12 babies total.

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Well promised baby pics so here is the first batch along with a picture of mom. We paired her with two boys so not sure who got the deed done. My first bet is the nuclear male since all of these babies are super bright and crisp. Mom is just a normal sand boa with Het Anery, so that's why one baby came out silver instead of orange.

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Wow! Long time no post huh? Well we did some hard sit downs and thinkings since the last time we posted. In that time we decided to move away from corn snakes a focus in on exclusively sand boas. All of our corns found new wonderful homes while we held back our personal pets.

Picture and updates will continue to be slow. Our main jobs have changed and keep us busy. Over time though I'll work on trying to get new pictures and introduce all our sands to everyone.

Sand boa breeding went well this year, two females who had never been bred before did fantastic and between the two of them gave us 20 babies. This year was more of a proving year for the new moms and their boyfriend to see that they would breed for us. So nothing overly special, but we never complain about healthy babies!

For those that had followed for the corns, we are sorry for this change. We still offer advice for care of them, but business and breeding wise it made more sense for us to focus on just the one species.

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Bad Breeder Alert: Ron Billingsley

A follower contacted me today with a very disturbing experience at the Indiana show this weekend. They purchased a few leopard geckos. One of them is this little geck here:

Now, this owner is inexperienced and wasn’t familiar with leopard gecko diseases, so be kind to them. It’s simply disgusting that they were sold a leopard gecko in this condition.

He has a history of selling wild-caught ball pythons (which is needless enough; we have enough BP’s in captivity already) without treating them for internal and external parasites. This thread is particularly distressing because it involves the US Department of Agriculture quarantining the new owner’s house due to a possibility of heart water disease.

Another buyer reported that their snake died within 13 hours of arriving.

Still others have had problems with Billingsley and have been unable to contact him after. 

He vends in shows in Indiana and Michigan. 

Avoid this bad breeder and flipper.

He also has a history of running contests and offering free reptiles as prizes, including complex species like monitors or chameleons.

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These two pieces were made for us by @lazer-t for our business. They are an amazing artist that is definitely worth a follow.

Sand Boa illustration commission for @lyndzparker

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Ooo I have a question

Do you have any (fun!) enrichment ideas for corn snakes

OMG yes there are so so so so many ways to enrich a corn snake!

They're curious and enjoy climbing, exploring, and digging, though each snake will have their own individual preferences, so try a few things and see what gets your snake moving the most and then tailor future offerings towards what they seem to react most positively towards.

Make sure all plant-based enrichment is safe for reptiles and fertilizer and pesticide-free!

In-cage:

Brown lunch bag, left open on its side, stuffed with hay, cut grass, leaf litter, a pinch of fresh herbs, flowers, etc.

Wiffle ball with a pinch of herbs, clean feathers, or used rodent bedding wrapped in a paper towel stuffed inside (if you ask a pet store employee nicely they'll usually give you a little bit of bedding from a rodent or bird cage)

Tennis ball rolled in something a little stinky (see wiffle ball above)

Climbing branches with something a little stinky hung on

Deep tray of dirt and sphagnum moss for digging in

A live plant in clean dirt (to dig up, sit on, and probably ruin)

Pie plate of sprouted grass seed

A tee shirt or sock you've worn

Bit of shed from another healthy snake

Change your cage layout, swap hides

Switch bedding or offer a dig box of different bedding

Hide f/t food items in a lunch bag or drag it around a bit to have your snake "hunt" their meal

Offer different food items, as long as they're appropriately sized! Quail chicks or eggs, Reptilinks, etc.

Out of cage:

Storage tote full of dirt/leaf litter for Serious Digging

Ye olde Laundry Pile (only if it's not super gross tho)

Outdoors adventures if you feel safe with your snake and have good control over them

Peg board for climbing

Stairs if you live in a two-story

Walk around with your snake and let them sniff things they seem interested in!

This is just scratching the surface of what's possible. As long as your snake is safe and you're both having a good time, feel free to experiment with different enrichment opportunities!

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Peek.

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