Welcome to B.H.Reptiles!

Hello friends!

My name is Breanna and I started up B.H.Reptiles as a way to show off the snakes I produce as a novice hobby breeder.

For the longest time, I've always had an interest in reptiles, more specifically snakes. My mother, bless her soul, has been terrified of them for as long as I can remember. I can remember always wanting to have a pet snake but being constantly turned down. It was my brother who got the first reptile: a Red-Eared Slider named Donatello (followed by another named Vincent). No, they were not named after the Ninja Turtles! I swear it was just a coincidence.

By the time I made it through childhood and onto college, I had branched out and gotten my first pet: a beta fish named Cerceta. I know a fish isn't much, but for a freshman in college, it was all I could keep in my dorm. When I finally moved into my first apartment, it was a little over a year later that I rescued a Siamese mix off my front porch during Hurricane Ike. Since then, I've had my fair share of fish along with two cats. But what about the reptiles?!?!?!

In August of 2011, I purchased my first snake: A corn snake named Chicken.

 

 

Chicken was an amel corn snake and very feisty. I couldn't even pick her up without getting tagged! When I first got her, I was naive to snakes and I had no idea how to figure out if my beloved girl was a boy or a girl. When you get your pets, that's always the first thing you want to know! How else can you select an appropriate name? So, what did I do? I called up a local vet and asked if they could tell me. I brought her up to the vet's office and they took her back. Because it wasn't in an exam room, I was asked to wait in the waiting room. Several long minutes went by before someone asked me to come back. I followed the tech to the back where the vet told me that my beloved Chicken had passed away. I was appalled! Chicken was moving and breathing when I dropped her off and now she was dead! I was offered no explanation, just that I wouldn't be charged for my visit. I went home and buried my baby in the flower garden near my apartment.

Saddened, I called the breeder and explained what happened and asked if she had anymore corn snakes for sale. She said she had a few left, so I drove two hours back to her home and picked out my next snake, Henle (pronounced Hen-Lee), a classic corn snake.

The breeder was kind enough to give me Henle as a way to say that she was sorry for what happened to Chicken. I was told he was a picky eater, but I tackled the challenge with gusto. Sadly, after a month of not eating despite all my best efforts, I made an appointment to have Henle put down. I didn't want to see him suffer. Unfortunately, Henle never made it to his appointment. I buried him next to Chicken.

Reluctantly, I called up my friend and asked if she would go to a movie with me that afternoon to get my mind off of my snakes that I had lost. She agreed and we went to see a movie. This was September 30th. After our movie, we went to Petco to look around and I fell in love with a corn snake. At the time I didn't know what gender or what color. All I knew was that I had to own this pink snake. So I purchased her. At the time, I thought she was a "he" so I named her Severus Snake (Severus for short).

I've had Severus since September 30th, 2011 and I've loved every minute of it! She is what truly started my addiction. After Chicken and Henle, I was determined to keep her healthy and happy. Since first laying my eyes on her, she has gotten a sex change (I was new to sexing snakes - that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) and she has been the reason I considered breeding. I'm fascinated with genetics and since then I've wanted nothing more than to be a hobby breeder to see what all I can make with my genetics. Since purchasing Severus (a snow motley), I have purchased a bloodred female, Miami phase female, Classic female, and an Anery Motley male. I'm sure you'll see pictures of all of them in posts to follow.

But what about my ball pythons?

I first got into ball pythons back in July. I received a text from a friend (coincidentally the same friend who was with me when I purchased Severus) about a ball python who needed a home. I contacted the woman who had her and found out the female ball python had been abandoned by her owner and the parents of said owner had threatened to toss her out in the Texas heat and let her fend for herself. I couldn't let that happen. Within the hour, I had picked up the little ball python. She was 6 months old but only weighed 44g! She had a completely stuck shed and was severely malnourished. I didn't know a thing about ball pythons, but I wasn't going to let this little girl die!

I'm happy to say that Fluffy, a pretty normal ball python, is over 200g now and eats great for me. She's healthy and happy and was the driving force for me to get spider female and my lesser male.

I'll spare you an entire novel for now ;) Tune in next time for more stories and learning experiences regarding my little legless children.