Eighth Annual Chat Week at kingsnake.com:
February 26-March 4, 2006

Below you will find transcripts from our Eighth Annual Chat Week at kingsnake.com, where our users met with a variety of noted herpetologists and herpetoculturists in the world's longest running online reptile symposium.

Sunday February 26

Kevin McCurley, New England Reptile Distributors (NERD)
Ball Pythons and Their Morphs
Sunday, February 26, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
NERD began the same way that many reptile breeders did: a hobbyist maintaining a collection of animals that eventually paid for themselves, allowing that hobbyist to pursue a variety of species & expand his collection. In this case "that hobbyist" was Kevin McCurley, a herp enthusiast since early childhood. His breeding efforts initially focused on Pituophis and other large colubrids, and over the course of time the collection grew along with an interest in pythons, particularly those with which fewer keepers were working at the time namely retics and ball pythons. During the past ten years, that focus on retics and ball pythons has brought myriad color morphs and combinations to the NERD collection, many of which were first bred at his facility.
View transcript here.

Chris Dieter
Crocodilian Care
Sunday, February 26, at 10 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Chris and Bernadette Dieter are the owners and operators of Crocodile Encounter an educational wildlife company in the Houston area. He is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Crocodilians in Captivity and is coauthor of a forthcoming title from Kreiger publishing on the same topic. He has written over 40 herp related articles for various herptelogical publications. He and his wife maintain a group of Nile crocodiles(Crocodylus niloticus) and these animals and their care are the primary herptelogical interest. Chris has traveled the USA researching the various methods zoos and private keepers use to maintain crocodilians in captivity. You can learn more about crocodilian care by visiting Chris's website http://www.thecrocodileexperience.com.
View transcript here.

Monday February 27

Chad Brown
Asian Rat Snakes
Monday, February 27, at 9 PM Eastern in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Chad is the owner of ProExotics and a football player for the New England Patriots. He says, "I started Pro Exotics in my mind in 1988 when I got my first snake, a boa my freshman year at CU. It wasn't until I was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1993 that I had a little money in my pocket and started to really put this business together." On top of all that, Chad describes himself as a "full time husband and dad." Chad is a much-requested return guest, and his topic this year will be Asian rat snakes.
View transcript here.

Mike Wilbanks of Constrictors Unlimited and constrictors.com
Burmese and Reticulated Pythons
Monday, February 27, at 10 PM Eastern in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Constrictors Unlimited grew out of Mike's love for and obsession with pythons and boa constrictors. He maintains a large collection of reticulated pythons, Burmese pythons, ball pythons and boa constrictors.
View transcript here.

Tuesday February 28

Sean P. Bush, MD, FACEP of Animal Planet's Venom ER
Venom Treatment and Field Research
Tuesday, February 28, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Best known from Animal Planet's Venom ER, Dr. Bush is an associate professor of emergency medicine at Loma Linda University School of Medicine, where he is also on staff in the ER as an emergency physician and envenomation (venomous animal) specialist. He has had a lifelong interest in reptiles and venomous creatures. Dr. Bush has authored over 50 publications on the treatment of bites and stings and has lectured on the local, national, and international level. He has been featured in dozens of television documentary productions on several cable networks in addition to Animal Planet.
View transcript here.

Kevin Dunne
Bearded Dragons
Tuesday, February 28, at 10 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Kevin Dunne is the owner of Dragon's Den Herpeteculture, one of the leaders of the bearded dragon industry. Dragon's Den Herpetoculture was started in 1993, and is located in a 3,000 square foot, state-of-the-art breeding facility in Los Angeles.
View transcript here.

Wednesday March 1

Bill Love
Hisstory of the Reptile Industry
Wednesday, March 1, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Bill has always enjoyed seeking herps in nature, and recording them on film in their natural haunts is one of his true passions, whether he's in Madagascar, Baja, or just near home in Florida's Everglades. Join him for his personal take on the "hisstory" of the reptile industry.
View transcript here.

Kathy Love
Cornsnakes
Wednesday, March 1, at 10 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
With husband Bill Love, Kathy began breeding many colubrid snake species, and drifted towards specializing in selective breeding for attractive color and pattern morphs in her favorites, the corn snakes, Elaphe guttata. She co-authored The Corn Snake Manual, which was published in February 2000.
View transcript here.

Thursday March 2

Liddy and Ed Kammer
Chameleon Care
Thursday, March 2, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Ed and Liddy are professional breeders of True Old World Chameleons and the owners of Kammerflage Kreations, Inc. With over 26 years of reptile experience, their chameleon business has been build on their mutual passion . . . a love and fascination for these magnificent creatures!
View transcript here.

Robyn Markland of Pro Exotics
Monitors
Thursday, March 2, at 10 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Robyn Markland has been with Pro Exotics from the beginning in 1993. He supervises the breeding facility, customer service, and animal sales.
View transcript here.

Friday March 3

Herps in Rescue: Avoiding Being a Statistic
A panel discussion with Small Scale Reptile Rescue and Mid Michigan Herp Rescue
Friday, March 3, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Speak with reptile rescue workers on ways to best prevent your animals ending up on their doorsteps. Everyday traumas to household can effect the future of your pets. Speak with members of Small Scale Reptile Rescue based in Wisconsin, in operation for 10 years and Mid Michigan Herp Rescue located in Bay City, Michigan, in operation for 9 years. They have seen it all.
View transcript here.

Saturday March 4

Anthony Caponetto
Crested Geckos and Carpet Pythons
Saturday, March 4, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Anthony Caponetto keeps what he describes as "a modestly sized collection of Pythons and Geckos. Currently, my primary focus is on Carpet Pythons and Crested Geckos. I also have a great deal of interest in many other Morelia Pythons, including Green Tree Pythons and Scrub Pythons and other Rhacodactylus Geckos including Gargoyle Geckos and Rhacodactylus Chahoua." He is an active member of the Kansas City Herpetological Society and currently on the board of directors. You can learn more about Anthony and his animals on the AC Reptiles website.
View transcript here.

Kara Glasgow of NERD and bloodpythons.com
Blood and Short Tailed Pythons
Saturday, March 4, at 10 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Kara Glasgow of NERD has been into snakes all her life, and a serious breeder for the last decade. "I was a boa snob until I saw the light with bloods," she says, adding, "Still love my boas though." She is currently working with a selection of blood and short-tail color and pattern morphs, with more on the way.
View transcript here.