Here is a great breeding that I had the other day.   It is a GHI male to my Coral Glow Pastel Woma female.   She has great size follicles so this one is going to be a great clutch.   It is going to powerful because if I do make a GHI Coral Glow male he will be a F1.   What that means is when he is bred back to anything all of the none Coral Glow offspring will be males.   So this is a great way to make GHI males.   Especially when I want to plug the GHI into some different morphs.  

I am excited I have few clutches of Toffino’s cooking.   I saw the updated picture of the two year old that he has and I love it.   That is a snake that is going to sell.   Yes there are going to be a  few made but I am excited because all of my offspring are going to be het Candy.   So if I produce normals in the clutch they are het’s.   I guess I will produce Pastels in the clutch also so they too are going to be het Candy.   I think that they are going to sell very well this year.   I have a few more clutches of them to be laid and I have a Albino that is also almost gravid from him.   That will be a very interesting clutch to watch hatch out.  

I have a few other things that are going to pop out late summer and in the Fall.   I will have Banana’s and Banana combo’s later this year.   I am excited about some of them.   One of them is the Spider Orange Dream Yellowbelly female that is about to lay.  I need more Orange Dream stuff.   I have a couple of Banana surprises later this year also.   Oh and Puma production is on track this year.   It is going to be a good Puma and het Puma year.      I will also have some Lesser Clowns and Hidden Gene Woma’s and Soul Suckers this year.   So this should be a ok year after all.

Here is a picture of me and Brad Boa’s GHI male breeding a Butter with good sized follicles.  We had one ovulation over at his place already from GHI so we will have them this year.  Can you say karma!    The male at my place has also been breeding.   He was locked up with a Ghost female last week and she is going to  go so I should make GHI’s het for Ghost and possibly something cool that has never been done.  That one is staying in the top secret file for now. 

We finally have clutches on the ground so that makes me very happy.   I can’t believe how late my year is going.  I will have a few cool things this year and of course Banana’s!   I should make some cool Enchi Champagne crosses also.  This year might not be my year but next year is going to rock.   It is amazing how me getting sick and using young males set me back so much this year.  I learned some lessons that is for sure.  But I feel confident that there is going to be some cool things being produced here this year.   It helps that I have a ultrasound so I have a good idea on what is going to happen.  I have never tried to be the biggest ball python breeder but I do strive on quality and customer service!  

I think that the market is doing good as I see people looking for high dollar snakes.  That is a great sign that the market is still doing great.   Don’t believe all the hype that you should wait on the purchase because they are going to keep being cheaper.  Watch Mike Wilibanks ball game video on YouTube.   Heed his words he is right.   It makes me laugh when people say I will wait and when they come down in price then I will get in.  A good friend of mine Marshall told me that about Champagne’s a few years ago and then recanted and said I should have just bought in then.   He would have made more money.   I didn’t get to where I am at now by being scared and saying I will wait for things to come down.  You have to take risks to win big.   I can say this about the snake business you can’t lose money if you produce.   It does take time and hard work but you will prevail if you stick with it.   I see so many give up or not do the work and then they fail.   It makes me sad but I can’t do it for them.   Hell I am even going to do ok on Candy/toffee stuff even after I was deceived about their true genetics.   Got eggs cooking now and I can’t wait to see the colorful babies.   I just love colorful snakes!

Here is a picture of one of my GHI males breeding.  The other male is with my good friend Brad Boa.  He has him almost breeding.   It appears that I should get some clutches of GHI’s if I am lucky.   Hopefully the demand is there for the morph.   I have a few customers lined up for them so it will be a few clutches before I have extra for sale. 

Go to Bush League and check out all of my 2012 breeding pictures.   It took me awhile to get some breeding going this year.   The weather didn’t cooperate as it was way to hot here in Nebraska this year.   I wish we would have had more than two snow storms.  I was also using young males this year and it took them quite some time to get them going.  I will have male and female Banana’s this year.  I will have Enchi Champagne’s and Champagne’s this year along with some Desert stuff.   My Pastel Candy bred like a wild man this year so I have het Candy’s and Toffino’s coming this year.   I am anxious to see what the genetics for that morph hold.   I do like them just shady marketing on the creators behalf. 

I will also have Puma’s and het Puma’s for sale.  Along with a few other small things.   It is going to be a ok year.  I have been super busy like always.  I am starting to geek out more about my snakes lately so that is good.  I got a new male in a few days ago that I like.   You will see him soon enough.   He is a surprise for now.

Here is a picture of my Pastel Desert Ghost male getting ready to do his thang.  He has bred a few times now and he is a little guy.  I hope that he gets going strongly as I have a few Ghost’s girls waiting for him.  My breeding season is going very slowly.  I have a few gravid girls like a Mojave gravid from my Pastel Candy male.   He has knocked up three het Albino females also.  He is doing great.   That is a good thing as I have to make some money back from that project after being deceived.  Some people have no business ethics.  Is that where this business is heading?   I am scared sometimes where it is heading.

I am working with a bunch of young males and they are slowly starting to breed.   I think that I should get a few Banana’s this year with some luck.  If not I can wait until next year.  It just means that my collection will be stronger next year and produce more.  I think I needed a break after the last few years of everything going great.   It has been a whirlwind for me.  I need some time to catch up.

As some of you have seen I have had to deal with some very uneducated morons lately.   They don’t see this as business they see it has a hobby where they play with a few snakes and think that anyone who does this for money is bad.   They fail to see that we all got into this because we love snakes.   Now the fact that some of us have dropped big money and took BIG risks on projects and MADE them work and succeeded makes them very jealous.   It is something that I have been dealing with for some time.   You laugh and realize that they can’t comprehend where you are coming from.   Oh well.  

I think that I am going to sell one of my GHI males.   The bigger of the two.  Contact me if you are interested I think I am going to post him tomorrow that is if he is not sold by today.   After all that I have learned about how many are out there and what is going on with the project I feel that one male will suffice.   The ethics behind this project just blow me away.   Trust this people there will be a few GHI’s for sale this year.   Big breeders have them and are breeding them!   Can you say price adjustment!  

On that note I have to go do snake chores like usual.  On a side note my health his finally improving.   It only took two months.   Now if I could only survive paying my 2011 taxes next week.   Can you say ouch!

Here is a picture of some of my GHI’s.   It was a morph that the creator tried to keep away from me but I got into the project anyway.   Go figure politics in the ball world.   Some people will never grow up.   Anyway I think I should be ok and produce some this year as I am using multiple males and I should make some cool combo’s with them.   Now please don’t email me asking me for prices on them.   I don’t quote prices on anything until I have babies out of the egg.   I get those emails all the time and it really annoys me.   I think people who quote prices before they have the snakes out of the egg are just plain stupid.   It hurts the market and it gives the vultures time to run around and tell everyone that such and such quoted me this.  And they go hunting for the lowest price and people start dropping their prices to compete.   Good job no market stability. 

My health is improving so that is good.  Maybe one of these days I will feel better.  My season is still going slow but it is going to pick up.   We are getting slammed with snow right now.  That is what I need.  My Pastel Candy male is locked up with a Mojave that has big follicles right now.   I am going to have a good number of het Candy’s and Toffino’s this year.   I will be selling most of the offspring to make my money back.   I think that I should make a good chunk of it back this year.   Well I have to go and move snow so I am out!

My wife and I went to the Bahamas right after the new year.   We stayed at the Atlantis resort.   It was a very awesome experience.  I even left my iphone at home and didn’t take calls.  I really liked it.   It was weird being disconnected from the world but it opened my eyes a little how much you can get tied up into when you run your own business and work a job and have a family.   It can be damn tiring.   I saw tons of sharks and even snorkeled with them so that was very cool.   Things you don’t get to do here in Nebraska.  

Once we arrived home I became very ill.   I had to go to the hospital as I had a bad kidney infection and it had spread into my body.   I was very sick and even on Oxygen.   Wow that sucked.   I don’t think that my body is ever going to recover from all the tests that they did on me.   I hate needles and I was getting stuck on average 5 times a day.   Can you say ouch!   I am home now and getting back on my feet.   It might take me some time but I will get there.   I am not going back to the hospital that is for sure.

On the snake front I don’t have a ton of things going on.   My dad came down and helped me move out some old rodent racks that were going bad.  I got new stainless steel ones so we shall see how they hold up.   I was getting damn tired of all the floods that I was dealing with.   Rats and mice suck and we in this business have to deal with them everyday.

I don’t have much breeding right now.   I am not sure how my season is going to end up.   The last two years I have had just bang up great seasons.   Maybe I am due for a bad one.   To be honest I could use the rest.   It has been crazy!   But hey the success has been great.   Here is a picture of my Pastel Candy male breeding a het Albino girl.   I should make a good number of het Candy’s this year and Toffino’s.   I need to make my money back on that project so he is going to work hard over here.   Can you say 15 clutches from one male.   I can and he is going to do it.   He has the distance I can see that.  

I need to get some old males like my Super Phantom and Lesser Clown in the breeding mood.  It has been to warm here and we haven’t seen any snow.   I wish I had a foot of snow on the ground right now.   That is what I need.   Bring on the bad weather.   I know it sounds weird doesn’t it.   I am a snake charmer that is for sure.   I need to get my Banana project back on track.   It looks like I am going to have competition this year.   That is fine I will be competitive and still do just fine.   I laugh at all of the discussions that go on about the Banana project.  It really shows how many people want it.   Even those that have some want more!   It is the best thing ever to happen to the ball world.  It is like the Pastel it can be mixed into anything and make it better.   I am very happy that I was able to see how BIG this project really was going to be.   It has changed my life forever!

I just checked and it has been forever since I last posted.   Wow I have been busy.   I have been traveling and busy with two children.   I am also part of Blue Blood Brewing.  Go check out them out they have a website and they are on facebook.  My friend Brian makes some damn good beer.   I am thinking that the company is going to do very well.  

On the snake front I got killed with my last clutch of the year.   I bred a Lesser Champagne female to a SpinnerBlast Coral Glow male and I got a pair of Champagne’s and SpinnerBlast Coral Glow female.   I really wanted to make the Coral Glow Champagne.   Oh it will be done in 2012 for sure.   I have been working on getting the snakes up to size for this breeding season.   When you have more snakes it is tougher.   I see now why people who get bigger so often fail.   You have to stay at the right size to be just right.   I have never been a advocate of people getting huge and have buildings and buildings of snakes.   To me it feels like to much commercialization.   It hurts the business in the long run trust me.   I know! 

You can see by the picture that I just had my first breeding of the season.  It is a Pastel Butter Genetic Stripe male to a Genetic Stripe female with 17mm follicles.   I waited for quite some time before I started this year.   I have some very important young males that I need up to size and working this year.  I think I can say that I should have GHI production this year.   I know that morph is heavy in demand so I think that it will do me just fine.   Like everything out there it will come down in price like everything else.   I think in 2012 we will see more prices coming down faster.   The economy is not that good and there are a lot of people out there in the game now.   Hell I seen people giving Banana males away on breeding loan this year.   Ouch!   Some people don’t think about the business in the long term.   You can’t control it you just have to learn how to roll with it.   And that is something I have learned to do real well.   Bring on 2012 !

Today is my birthday and I turn 35.   Wow do I feel old.  I can’t believe where has the time flown to.   I am looking forward to having a great day as I get to spend it with my friends and family.

Here is a picture of the Extreme gene that I got from the Contender aka Ken Macek in Tinley.   I think that this gene is going to make some great combo’s in the future.   He has done some cool things with it and I feel more are coming.   Have you seen the Butter Extreme Gene.   Talk about one hot snake. 

I have had people telling me how they are starting to breed over at their places.  I am waiting still.   I have some young kickass males that need to get up to size.   If they are not going by January I might be pulling what hair I have left on my head out.   Wish me luck.   If I get the things going that I want to then it is going to be a great 2012.   I should be thankful because 2011 rocked and I have never had so much success in my life.   I did real well this year and I hope to do half as good next year.   Fingers crossed.   I can see what combo’s I want to make so let’s hope that it happens. 

I have another investment that is getting ready to talk off here this week.   It has been in the works for some time and I feel that it is going to work out great.  I am very excited about this project and have all the faith in the world that is going to go big time.   More on that later.   I also have some new toys that have to arrive soon.   I might put up a picture of me running around at night with a night vision PV14 strapped to my head.   I feel that it is time for a few more toys.   Just eight years ago and could have never dreamed of owning the stuff that I have now.   You have to love the Reptile Business.   It is a great business and I hope that tons of more GOOD people get into it.

I finally broke down and updated my available section.   I need to make more time to do that.   I promise it is something I am going to work harder at to do.   It doesn’t really take that long and I just need to make the time.

I got back from the Tinley Show.   Wow is all I have to say.   There were lots of ball pythons there.   My daughter Alexis had to go to the ER on Sat due to Croup.   That was scary and I had Kallie with me while Gretchen was with Alexis in the ER.   Talk about stress.   It was hard to focus.   I have to thank some good friends for all their help otherwise I wouldn’t have made it through.   I was wiped out after the show though.   I still haven’t recovered.   I do want to thank my customers and friends who bought from me there.   I really appreciate it.

Here is a picture of my Champagne Enchi male.   He is pounding rats and I am hoping that he is going to be a great breeder this year.   I have to start thinking about this breeding season and I am making prepartions for it right now.   I have some young males that I am focusing on so it might be a light year.   That would be ok I guess.   I need a break.   Yeah right if you know me I can’t sit still for too long .   I am excited about some future projects.   I know that this is going to be a good Toffee and Candy year for me.   I look forward to selling het’s and visuals next year.   Can you say Karma!

First off I wanted to show everyone a ugly picture of me and cute picture of my daughter Kallie Wagner.   She is a sweetheart and smiles all the time.   My two children are a challenge but they are the love of my life.   I am very thankful for them!  

Next off I am going to tell the story of the Banana and also explain the genetics behind them.   Who would have guessed that the most sought after morph out there would be a sex linked gene in a ball python.   I have never seen this in a ball python before and none of the expert genetic wizards could guess what was really going on with them.

It started in 2008 when I bought my first Banana from Tracy Barker from VPI.   We did a big deal and I bought her 2005 Pastel Woma Coral Glow female.   When I got the snake in I was just in awe.   She was around 1800 grams when I got her and I just loved her colors.   She was a good eater right off the back.   I was very nervous when I first got her because I had never had such a huge investment in just one snake.   I was a tad bit nervous!   Then I went to Tinley Park and I attended the show there.   I had to slip away from the show on Sunday and I went with a good friend over to Will’s house and I bought my Banana male.   It was a small baby but the fact that it was a boy was just plain awesome!   I remember eating dinner that night in Chicago with some friends and I had to bring him in and have him right next to me while I ate dinner.   He was all I could think about.   I know that this was going to be BIG!   I was in love with the colors on the Banana and I knew that there was a lot of potential there. 

 It started right away with the drama.   After I was in the project I had a friend at the time then claim that he had them also.   His stories or lies got better as the days went by.  After three months he was telling everyone that he 12 of them all het for Pied.   They came from Africa.  It turned out all to be a lie.   I guess he has a problem and can’t tell the truth.  In the snake world weird I know?   Then another friend had one.  He sent pictures of one of Nerds snakes and claimed it was his.   That turned out also to be lie.   At this point they started to pile on.   I kept hearing that they were going to be everywhere.   I said oh well I am going to do my best with project as I knew that this was going to be the hottest project going ever.

 In 2009 I got a clutch from my Coral Glow female.   I produced a Killerbee Coral Glow female, Spider Coral Glow male and a SpinnerBlast Coral Glow male and female.   I was on cloud nine.  At that point was when everyone and I mean everyone came at me wanting one.  I was overwhelmed to say the least.   I didn’t see the market flooded with them and decided that I was going to ask top dollar for my snakes.   I did see breeding from my Banana male but I didn’t get any clutches from him.   I was a little disappointed in that but I knew that the future was going to be bright.  

Then in 2010 I had my SpinnerBlast Coral Glow and Banana male breeding.  Now this is where sex linked trait begins.   You see both of them were produced from a female Banana.   So they are F1 males.   I like how one man out there who wants to be a martyr didn’t know you could get male Banana’s from a female Banana.   No one ever said that you couldn’t.   More on him later.   So anyway we knew that you could get males from female Banana’s.   Will had done and Kevin had done it and I had done it.  There was also someone in Canada who had done it as well.  

 I hatched out my first five clutches and damn all I got was female Banana’s.   It didn’t make sense to me.   I had 20 Banana’s on the ground and no males.   It was disenchanting to say the least.  I then spoke to Kevin at Nerd.   He told me that he had seen the same thing from F1 males.   I believe at the time he told me that he hadn’t produced a male from a male.   I hadn’t so I figured wow this is sex linked in some way.   I was upset because I had everyone and there brother wanting a male from me.   It is very hard when people are wanting to throw big money at you and all you produce is females.   I started to tell people what I was seeing.  Some believed me others didn’t.  They thought it was a marketing scheme or devious deception.   It was neither.   I did get lucky and I produced two male Will Slough bloodline Banana males and a Spider Coral Glow male.   I sold the Banana males to Rick Cunningham and Brad Boa.   I kept the Spider Coral Glow male for myself.   I just liked the way he looked.   I did well that season and produced quite a few females.   People wanted them as now they could get into the most sought after project out there.   I made many new customers and new friends.   I also made many jealous enemies.   People really want into the project and they will say anything to bash it in a effort to bring the price down so they can afford it.  Others want to see it do bad on a personal level that they want to harm me.   I guess success comes at a huge price.   I can bare it.

  In 2011 I breed all three males for this season.   The trick is the Spider Coral Glow male is a F2 male.   He was produced from a male Banana so that is why he is F2.   I did have people some who are very close to me say that they thought the Banana and Coral Glow are separate gene’s.   Everyone knows how I feel about it.  I don’t believe that.   They could be a different as a Butter is to a Lesser.  I fought that battle and I will tell you this I never want to live through that again.   I started to produce more female Banana’s and in fact I haven’t hatched a male from my Will Slough Banana male this year.   It again started to frustrate me.   Then I heard a rumor that someone had just hatched a clutch of male Coral Glows.  It didn’t make sense.  But then it was explained to me that a F1 male made the F2 Coral Glow male and the resulting offspring from the F2 male are all male.  I was shocked.   I even heard that others were doing it and someone didn’t want me to know about it.   You can guess who that was.   I even heard that hidden gene word was used.   I said wow go figure.  Then I got my first offspring in a split clutch from my Spider Coral Glow male.   And one male Spider Coral Glow came from that clutch.  It was the only Coral Glow in that clutch.   I was very excited to hatch my first male of the 2011 season as I had customers waiting for him.   Then I hatched out two more clutches from him and bam all males on one and 3.1 in another clutch.   I couldn’t believe it.   I guess the sex linked trait reverses itself on the F2 male.   It should be noted that on a F1 male when you get all female Banana’s the rest of the clutch whether they be normal’s or morphs are all boys.   And I mean everything else is a boy!   It is weird.   When the F2 male is used the none Banana’s are all females.   Tell me this is sex linked!  

  So I needed to wait until Brad Boa or Rick Cunningham hatched out a male from their males from the Will Slough bloodline to prove that Banana’s behaved the same way as Coral Glows.   Today on 9-29-11 Rick Cunningham produced from his Banana male and got a Banana boy in the clutch.   It was only Banana in the clutch.   I am very excited for him and shocked because when I sold him the male I told him good luck producing some boys with him!   I guess I was wrong!   I can’t believe how this mutation works.   For those out there that doubt enough breedings have gone on to determine my theory on them I say this,  enough have been done.  

 Yes this is a game changer that is for sure.   A certain someone just produced some F1 males and I say good for him.   The ones I am selling this year are F3′s.   The theory is that since they were made from a male that they will throw all males also.   To be honest I don’t know.   I have heard someone else does and they are saying that F3′s throw boys.  I will find out next year.   I think that the demand for this project is both a curse and a blessing.  Everyone talks about it and everyone wants it.   Why else do they compare a Candy to a Banana.   It was marketed as looking like a Banana because the Banana is so damn HOT!   I love them even as they mature.   Their colors start to fade a tad bit but that yellow is still gorgeous.   I love the project as everyone out there knows and I have tried to protect it the best I can.   I am going to sit back now and enjoy the ride as more of them are out there and I know as they come down in price the demand is only going to increase!   I am very excited I have a clutch hatching out from a Genetic Stripe female that was bred to my Coral Glow Spider male.   Can you say Coral Glow Genetic Stripes in my future!   I think someone one time called the cross the Banana Split.   I hope to be the first to produce them!   

So there it is no shady marketing no big marketing scheme.   Just a sex linked ball python mutation!   It is funny how people you once called friends can turn on you so fast and spread such nasty rumors.   As more people have the morph and are working with it they to will see that what I am writing is the truth.   Do you think some will apologize for their ignorance?   I think not.