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Chat Week on Kingsnake.com ******************** PHKiwi: Hello Tracy, welcome Wyvern:This chat is being moderated. To ask Tracy a question, please doubleclick on the name AskTracy in the chat room and post your question to her there. For IRCle folks highlight AskTracy and click MSG button. PHKiwi: We are pleased to introduce our next guest... TracyBarker: Dave is here too! PHKiwi: One of the leading women in herpetoculture today, Tracy Barker and her husband Dave are both noted authors and photographers. PHKiwi: As well as achieving notoriety breeding many species and color morphs of boas and pythons, Tracy has spent many hours in the working with a variety of other herp species. PHKiwi: Tracy, along with Dave, operates Vida Preciosa, Inc., a reptile breeding facility as well as an online magazine. PHKiwi: Welcome, Tracy! TracyBarker: Hi ! PHKiwi: Hello, we are happy to have you as our guest. TracyBarker: Thanks very much PHKiwi: Dave is here too, thats terrific, Hello Dave! PHKiwi: Welcome AskTracy: NWFLHerper Dave and Tracy, Whats the ETA on the next Pythons of the world book? TracyBarker: Wellll....never write Volume 1 is all I can say! Dave is working on it now-it is very complicated! AskTracy: he's good to go now :) DaveBarker: Hi, I think? DaveBarker: Good, I'm on, thanks guys AskTracy: shall I reask the question for you? DaveBarker: About the book? AskTracy: yes JeffB: Dave and Tracy, Whats the ETA on the next Pythons of the world book? DaveBarker: There's no ETA on the book. DaveBarker: It is in prep DaveBarker: and it's expanded to cover all the remaining python taxa AskTracy: when you are finished answering a question and are ready for the next you can type 'go' or 'next' DaveBarker: but it's slow to prepare DaveBarker: OK go AskTracy: Guest99614 How did you get started in snakes? Specifically Balls? TracyBarker: I met a guy Joe Fauce in Florida-he really got me into them though I first bred them in 1981, 8 years earlier. AskTracy: tracy are you ready for the next question? TracyBarker: No one could have cared less about them-he went to college with the number one exporter of Ball pythons and introduced me to him- Joe brought in numerous ball pythons from him, and I got them from him. TracyBarker: go AskTracy: amazoa How do you think the T+ albino will impact the various morphs? Also we are all excited that you folks have one of the true BCC Albino males. TracyBarker: The t+ in my opinion is the most amazing boa ever-it just is a fantasy mutation, take out the not so pretty leave the gorgeous! TracyBarker: go AskTracy: SnakeMann87 what is your favorite snake out there? TracyBarker: the one I'm looking at at any given time but I'm a Blood python fanatic TracyBarker: go AskTracy: hornytoad Tracy how are you doin I?I got your videos the beginning of the year an I have to say they were awesome.Will you be coming out with another one? TracyBarker: Yes, we are finishing up a boa one now TracyBarker: go AskTracy: pmtt are you still working with any retics at all/ TracyBarker: No!, No more big snakes... TracyBarker: go AskTracy: skeetr1 what morphs would u like to produce in the next few seasons? TracyBarker: combination boas, balls, bloods-more patternless ball pythons... DaveBarker: ivory bloods, t- albino bloods TracyBarker: I love the Jolliff axanthic because it is a color and pattern mutation-banded animals are awesome- TracyBarker: go AskTracy: florida when a breedingpair is put together, and they show no interest, what can ya do to put them in the mood, and they are plenty ready TracyBarker: Well, they surprise you, I have pairs that look like they are doing NOTHING, but then bingo eggs-I don't pay attention to lack of interest anymore! TracyBarker: go AskTracy: NWFLHerper I have your ball python videos and was wondering if you incubate Carpet python eggs in the same manor as in the videos? TracyBarker: Yes, but at a lower temp-87-88 F TracyBarker: go AskTracy: amazoa Can you speculate on what has had such and impact on the popularity of the Blood Pythons? What interesting breedings are you doing with the Bloods? DaveBarker: turns out that many bloods are dog-tame DaveBarker: They have great natural variability in color and pattern TracyBarker: They are the perfect snake-and I have had a lot of snakes-they eat, grow, breed, babies do well, not too small not too big-simply perfect! Personality!! TracyBarker: go AskTracy: TammyP Tracy & Dave, my choice for the number 1 pick of ball pythons has to be the piebald. Do you two have a favorite morph? TracyBarker: Ivory, t+ are just getting unreal!! and t- DaveBarker: burgundy albino TracyBarker: Balls...patternless is awesome and I love the spotnose, woma, and spider-uh I can't say-too many! TracyBarker: go AskTracy: SnakeMann87 first, can you give me any corn snake breeding tips, and second, can u give me tips on finding my lost ball python lol TracyBarker: Talk to DonSoderberg or Bill and Kathy Love-they are the cornsnake people!! DaveBarker: Hmmm wasn't Bill Love (Lord of Corn Snakes) just on this chat? TracyBarker: Lost ball python....be patient! TracyBarker: go AskTracy: florida any luck breeding with the burgandy albino TracyBarker: Well she is being bred now-we will see-it is very difficult to breed wc adult pythons-any species. TracyBarker: go AskTracy: SFgeckos in terms of co-projects with other breeders, can you name a few and which projects are you most excited about? TracyBarker: Well, we do a lot with NERD and we have some nice combination projects, makes it fun, Whitesmoke is one, Freedom Breeder with the albino Suriname TracyBarker: go AskTracy: pmtt All the albino bloods so far are of Sumatran local, correct? any Malaysians in the works? TracyBarker: No all animals from Sumatra-but we have some other things in the works that are cool. The amazing thing is the t+ captive hatched 2 and 3 generation snakes are getting awesome! DaveBarker: There are no Malaysian albinos that we know of TracyBarker: I am so excited about all of the captive bred animals being offered, soon we can be weaned off of the wc animals totally except for unuaual specimens to start new projects. DaveBarker: It's hard to get any bloods out of Malaysia any more TracyBarker: go AskTracy: denda how is the axanthic jungle doing? TracyBarker: Snake never fed and sadly did not make it. TracyBarker: I never saw its tongue come out a single time- TracyBarker: go AskTracy: Ryan_Katie With the slow growth rates of Jamaican Boas, would you guys know at what age and/or size they are capable of breeding? DaveBarker: We've not bred the species DaveBarker: I raised some at the Dallas Zoo about 25 years ago. I'd guess that they are about 4 or 5 years to maturity--but it's a guess. We used to raise snakes more slowly back then. DaveBarker: go AskTracy: NWFLHerper I have heard that jungle and coastal carpets are genetically the same do you think that these will ever be designated as a single species? DaveBarker: It's a guess (I don't know of a paper in prep,) but I think that will happen. DaveBarker: It looks like the three northern races are a species DaveBarker: diamonds are a species DaveBarker: inlands are a species DaveBarker: and southwesterns are a species DaveBarker: New Guinea populations are not well enough known to say DaveBarker: go AskTracy: BjOrN Can you control the color of yearling Jungle Carpet Pythons? TracyBarker: well, we are trying to see if we have insight into that by breeding identical twins-other than that no- TracyBarker: go DaveBarker: Both marble and granite are inheritable appearances DaveBarker: Granite is simple recessive DaveBarker: Marble is probably co=dominant DaveBarker: go AskTracy: florida are you working on any DH projects this year, ifso what..if its not tto top secret TracyBarker: well, maybe caramel piebald ball pythons, albino/ivory bloods, striped pastel....lavender albino axanthic TracyBarker: go AskTracy: typenamehere Dave, I asked Bill Love about Dendrobate pics. He said I might ask you because of a poster you did. DaveBarker: what do you want to know about Dendro pic? DaveBarker: We did do a poster with (I think) 16 species featured DaveBarker: It was sold in a variety of zoo and museum gift shops. AskTracy: typenamehere Dave. Do you sell the Dendro pics or still sell the poster? DaveBarker: It was distributed by Safari Products DaveBarker: We got royalties from Safari DaveBarker: go AskTracy: typenamehere Dave. Do you sell the Dendro pics or still sell the poster? DaveBarker: We made the poster ourselves and then sold the plates to Safari DaveBarker: They then printed it and we got (small) royalites. DaveBarker: My advice--stay away from the poster biz DaveBarker: go AskTracy: rosco2k my ball pythons are breeding as we speak...do you think i'll discover a new morph? DaveBarker: Hope--and pray fervently TracyBarker: Last year all the cool ball pythons were hatched in captivity!well last year I would have said no-now it could happen!! TracyBarker: go AskTracy: hornytoad do you think the piebald will be droping in the near future? TracyBarker: Well, in a word yes! Good news for those who want them! DaveBarker: yes, but how near is the question. They are really cool snakes DaveBarker: go AskTracy: BjOrN When do you think the morphs of ball pythons will lower for the public? TracyBarker: We are going into a transition from a breeder market to a collector market, which will have a price drop-but not in evrything! TracyBarker: go DaveBarker: It's a supply and demand situation. AskTracy: florida what do you think, of ball pythons being used as food for other snakes? as in a post recently on ball forum DaveBarker: they will come down DaveBarker: all of them TracyBarker: albino boas went up this year! DaveBarker: all of them except albinos DaveBarker: They're quite tasty DaveBarker: Tracy just yelled at me from the other room TracyBarker: I think we have to worry about people eating them way more than snakes- DaveBarker: absolutely DaveBarker: go TracyBarker: go AskTracy: BCCFan What are your future plans for the albino Surinam TracyBarker: to breed it to the most incredible striped suriname on the planet! TracyBarker: go DaveBarker: yes and to other Surinames too AskTracy: Ryan_Katie Is there any research being done on seperating the variations of retics (eg. dwarfs or superdwarfs) into different species or subspecies? TracyBarker: It has never been bred and went to several countries before it came here-it is a small and dear snake, but it had some rough days along the way. TracyBarker: go DaveBarker: Actually thee is a paper in German that identifies a subspecies of retic, but so far I haven't got a copy DaveBarker: I imagine that it's Jampeas, but that's a guess TracyBarker: Hew Troop! The guy who got me into to all of this! DaveBarker: there are at least two groups researching the relationships of all the retics, so changes are coming DaveBarker: go AskTracy: pmtt What is the largest species you are currently working with? TracyBarker: I did want to say a good friend and pioneer herper just died this past week-John McLain. He worked at Houston and SA zoos, was the first to breed Sanzinia, Mad ground boas, Angolans, and Argentine boas. DaveBarker: and Kenyan sand boas DaveBarker: He was a GREAT guy and a devoted hereper and aquarist DaveBarker: that's herper, not hereper DaveBarker: Left this earth way too soon DaveBarker: About the biggest species we have are boas DaveBarker: go AskTracy: BjOrN My ball python hasn't eaten since october. I am really worried. what can i do to make him eat again? TracyBarker: Be patient-I love ball pythons-save a lot on your food bill! TracyBarker: They tend to be binge feeders, and eat when they want to TracyBarker: go AskTracy: BCCFan What are your plans for the T+ albino BCI ? Will you cross them into other morphs? DaveBarker: If a python or boa was eating and looks healthy and acts normal (except for not eating) we pretty much don't worry about them TracyBarker: Yes-ghost, motley, everything-they are it! TracyBarker: go AskTracy: typenamehere How long do you think the market will stay strong? It seems only so many people (Breeders) can buy high end snakes. Seems so many people buy to breed. DaveBarker: This snake business is really a novel experiment in capitalism TracyBarker: Yes, but I still think it is just the beginning. It is a world market, as prices get better it works even better. We will look back and think we gave a lot of the animals away considering long term market, world market and combination value. DaveBarker: We marvel that it has grown at this rate DaveBarker: It really doesn't show any signs of weakening TracyBarker: Things continue to get complicated because the constant influx of low dollar imports-it has hindered the development of the market considerably. DaveBarker: Does it? DaveBarker: Imports affect the captive breeding biz way more than most folks realize DaveBarker: If herpetoculture is to grown into a true business, we will need to impose tariffs on imports TracyBarker: I'd love to see a distribution of all captive herps increase to the point that it makes imports a non entity-jut for genetic variation and for species variety. The breeders are good at what they do-look at leopard geckos, cornsnakes, bearded dragons, burmese, retics, etc it is fabulous what has gone on. Lots odf dedicated people-balls and bloods are next- DaveBarker: Right now it's hard to imagine the unity ans organization among snake breeders to happen to the degree necessary to effect necessary legislation. DaveBarker: But we need it to become a real business DaveBarker: go AskTracy: NWFLHerper Are you guys crossing your clowns with anything interesting? TracyBarker: uh...pastel etc I think they are the ultimate combination recessive mutation, we shall see! TracyBarker: go AskTracy: IntenseHerp Have you been working with any patternless or melanistic balls? DaveBarker: patternless, yes TracyBarker: The melanistic balls have been a bomb-except some nnew ones hatched recently by Gulf Coast. Interestingly he melanistic carpets worked like a charm!! TracyBarker: go AskTracy: TammyP I'm looking at your website as we chat. Can you express how you feel when something as breath-taking as the patternless ball appears from an egg? DaveBarker: Wow! the black balls (sounds like a disease) at the EXpo were really very cool ball pythons, TracyBarker: No I am telling you I went insane! How strange for my life doing ball pythons I used totalk about such a thing being found-then to hatch them???!!! I still don't get it-but it is true-and I hope to see some more soon! DaveBarker: We were dancing and singing when those little babies pipped TracyBarker: go AskTracy: hornytoad you said you were in with nerd do you ever trvel down here to NH?An what do you think about being a guest talker at the next show down here in NH? DaveBarker: it wold be fun and we'd love to come, but we don't travel much with all the snakes and the kids too TracyBarker: But I really get excited about all of the snakes hatching or being born. Especially when you work on it for 7 years like some projects. You just want it to work so badly to have more. It is a lot of pressure at times-really. DaveBarker: Plus, it's pretty cold up there, isn't it? TracyBarker: go DaveBarker: go AskTracy: amazoa I have a 4 year old het albino boa that has been a picky eater over the years but consistently eats just small amounts. She is approx. 13 pounds and not quite 6 foot. Would you think at that age and size it would be OK to give her a try at breeding this season? TracyBarker: I use 12 lbs as my starting point-breeding her may increase her appetite. TracyBarker: go AskTracy: florida have you 2 ever tried to breed dogs? if so what breed TracyBarker: We have a cat, a turtle, and a gecko, no dogs! DaveBarker: We're think about getting a dog or two DaveBarker: We need a pack out here in the country DaveBarker: But we haven't decided on a breed, yet DaveBarker: go AskTracy: pmtt what nesting material do you recommend for larger python eggs in the nest box? DaveBarker: sphagnum moss is what we've always used DaveBarker: go AskTracy: BCCFan Is the demand for the hi end BP morphs really there? I have seen many animals offered for a much lower then market price, Are the breeders having trouble selling a 25K ball pythin? TracyBarker: That is insane I know, but there is a market-these animals really are valuable-in particular the spider really just is a powerful snake. We don't really know the full potential of some of these. DaveBarker: The high-dollar snakes get lots of press, but the market is for snakes that are (at the most) a few thousand dollars TracyBarker: Importantly, there aren't that many pattern mutations-spider, clown, stripe, spot-nose TracyBarker: When you consider the amount of animals-that isn't very many-woma ball too-if that ends up being the total-well I don't think people are giving enough credit for the scarcity of actual mutaions in particular patterns-to go with the colors. DaveBarker: The expensive snakes do sell, but a lot of them are traded for other valuable snakes and that lets the breeders diversify. TracyBarker: Ultimately the lower the price the bigger the market. So the high price is just for biding time. TracyBarker: go AskTracy: IntenseHerp are you going to be at the San Antonio show? TracyBarker: No family things! DaveBarker: She means "no, we have family plans DaveBarker: go AskTracy: fla1 I have cooled my female bps for 6 weeks and placed my male in with them but he shows no interest. Any ideas? Any suggestions when a male bp seems uninterested in breeding DaveBarker: They don't just breed in what most folks consider to be their breeding season TracyBarker: Well I don't cool per se-lowest temp is 77F. Males like to bask also when they breed. DaveBarker: keep trying, DaveBarker: sometimes they breed in the summer TracyBarker: go AskTracy: SnakeMann87 what is the best boa to get as a started, and how much will it cost me at a herp show? TracyBarker: Normal boas are just great I don't know $100, try and get a nice cb one. DaveBarker: It's hard to beat a Colombian imperator if you're looking for a pet TracyBarker: go AskTracy: ksshane do you see the same thing happening with ball python morphs as say the corn snakes? I mean, where someday there will be so many people breeding them that the market will just fall. DaveBarker: nope DaveBarker: clutch size is much smaller DaveBarker: they don't double clutch DaveBarker: thye are harder to breed (harder than a corn snake, anyway) TracyBarker: Well, ball pythons may be a little different. I think they take a lot more time to breed, have fewer numbers, people who don't want to do the work will drop out and that will keep the market going. Breeders aren't the market-snakes are acceptable now 7 million people keep reptiles in their homes, no one is travelling, I think that prices will drop, but that is natural-the boas have dropped andnow TracyBarker: risen a little. You have to make them! DaveBarker: the market will fall, but I don't think you're going to ever see a $15 albino ball python TracyBarker: go AskTracy: NWFLHerper do you think that there will ever be any albino carpets outside of Oz? DaveBarker: I hope so, but there are a lot of hoops to jump through before that ever happens TracyBarker: I would like to thank Jeff B. who has been a real catalyst for the market and herpetoculture developing further. Kingsnake is a fabulous venue. TracyBarker: go DaveBarker: It is possible and becomes more possible each year, as Oz is becoming a bit more herper friendly TracyBarker: go DaveBarker: But probably not soon DaveBarker: go AskTracy: BCCFan Do you think there should be restrictions of ownership of GIANT constrcitors such as retics? How can we prevent people from dumping unwanted 20' snakes @ zoos and rescues? Is it the breeders responsibility? If so, what steps do you take? JeffB: thanks for being here from the beginning DaveBarker: Yes, Thanks Jeff Kingankse is a pretty amazing thing JeffB: hard to beleive it started as a lil graybanded kingsnake page DaveBarker: Yes, it's an unpopular view, but I think that if the herp community doesn't figure out a way to govern itself, then many species will be banned DaveBarker: We need to follow in the path of falconry and create a permit system based on experience. TracyBarker: go AskTracy: TammyP Have you done any work with the Angolans? I've been seeing more of them on the net lately and find them interesting and beautiful. TracyBarker: Yes we bred Angolans several times-they are very cute-lots of personality-always want to come out of their cage! TracyBarker: go AskTracy: florida do you guys have emergency plans, for say tornadoes, floods etc? DaveBarker: I hope it's never illegal for a person to own a retic--but let's face it--it should be impossible for a kid to obtain a retic for hsi first "pet" snake. TracyBarker: We don't do or sell any large snakes any more- DaveBarker: Yes, he have a giant emergency generator and our main snake house is made out of concrete and is nestled into a hollow and safe from tornados DaveBarker: go AskTracy: Joe-N-Stephanie What do you think of the labyrinth bp ? And if it is a genetic trait how do you think it will affect the morph trade? TracyBarker: Well ours bombed so far-I still can't figure it out-but there may be some someday that work! TracyBarker: go DaveBarker: we've bred those things every which way and the ones we've had just don't seem to have an inheritable appearance DaveBarker: go AskTracy: JeffB: are you working with any arboreal species DaveBarker: our sone Tom spends a lot of time up in trees TracyBarker: bloods, boas, bp's, subocs, sand boas, rosy boas. DaveBarker: go AskTracy: ChristyTalbert Can a female ball go through ovulation all the way to laying on cooler night time temps (75)? I have one girl who is going to go way early this year. TracyBarker: Yes, she can. AskTracy: last question for the evening: AskTracy: hornytoad how long does it take to clean all your cages? TracyBarker: All week, then I start all over again! DaveBarker: thanks everyone DaveBarker: and good night TracyBarker: Thanks to everyone who works so hard on their snakes-keep going, and have fun. Have a great holiday! AskTracy: Tracy & Dave, on behalf of JeffB, kingsnake.com and the pethobbyist staff I like to thank you for taking the time to be with us this evening TracyBarker: Thanks for having us, it was fun! PHFaust: Thank You both of the Barkers for taking time to show us the way of truely beautiful snakes!
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