• Posted 12/19/2024.
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    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
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    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

What ratsnakes (and other colubrids) do you wish were easier to find?

L

LittleGrayTiger

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I'm evaluating what I want to do in the very long term with herptoculture and have decided that all the craziness about "morphs" isn't really my thing. They're beautiful in any reptile, but the whole thing seems to be more of a business when you visit expos and the like. I have a much greater interest in conservation, preserving bloodlines/genetic diversity, and working with species that can do very well in captivity but have very small US populations. There are hundreds if not thousands of breeders covering ball pythons, corn snakes, black ratsnakes, boa constrictor species, western hognoses, etc...

So the title is the question up for discussion: what ratsnakes (or general colubrids) do you wish were easier to find? What species do you think needs more love and breeding efforts from the reptile hobby? Old world and new world!
 
Rhino rat snakes would be nice to find on a regular basis..
a verry cool snake that will enjoy a natural vivarium. only a few of them are available
once in a while..

that would be my rat snake choice :)
 
I would like to see captive breeding success in the United States with some of the ratsnake species that have a reputation for high mortality rates when imported.
My top 3 examples would be:
1. Gonyosoma oxycephalum
2. Gonyosoma janseni
3. Gonyosoma frenatum
I would also love to see more CB success with Spilotes in the U.S.

In my wildest dreams I'd love to see Gonyosoma margaritatus available but it will probably never happen.
 
I would have to agree Gonyosoma are a good choice. Some very cool snakes. E. frenata should be high priority, when you get the right genetics these are breathtaking snakes. Royal Diadems are nearly gone from the hobby and I believe down to only 1 person producing them on a regular basis.
 
Yellow Rats

Gunna sound funny but I think these are THE MOst UNDERRATED SNAKE IN NORTH AMERICA.

But I want to see someone line breeding the Brightest Yellow rat snakes available. The only reason this snake goes unappreciated is because they are right in our backyard. If these were a foreign species they would be just as in demand as some of the wanted boiga spp. When I lived in Starke, Florida I saw no joke an almost 7 foot yellow/gold beauty almost completely absent of any brown and it was just the most impressive snake in the wild I had ever seen. And like I said if it was from africa or asia I know we'd be paying hundreds of dollars for them.
 
marker1 said:
Gunna sound funny but I think these are THE MOst UNDERRATED SNAKE IN NORTH AMERICA.

But I want to see someone line breeding the Brightest Yellow rat snakes available. The only reason this snake goes unappreciated is because they are right in our backyard. If these were a foreign species they would be just as in demand as some of the wanted boiga spp. When I lived in Starke, Florida I saw no joke an almost 7 foot yellow/gold beauty almost completely absent of any brown and it was just the most impressive snake in the wild I had ever seen. And like I said if it was from africa or asia I know we'd be paying hundreds of dollars for them.
Click to expand...

I'm not breeding them, but fyi, I have 2.2 c/b "Florida" rat snakes that I took in from a guy in Florida that couldn't keep them (due to loss of job & home)- that was back in 2009, & they were about 1.5 years old att. They're mostly Yellow rat snakes, but I think he also crossed in Gulf Hammock & Everglades- so they're not pure Yellow. Anyway, just wanted to let you know that indeed, my 2 males are about 7' long! :yesnod: The females aren't as long, more like 5', because every year they insist on laying double clutches of infertile* eggs- a LOT of eggs! And I say infertile, because I've never bred them & to the best of my knowledge, they weren't bred before they came to me at 1.5 years old- BUT, some of the eggs they've laid appeared to be good eggs, & finally 2 years ago, I incubated those that looked good, & THREE of them did hatch! I'm no longer breeding ANY snakes & haven't for some years, but I do agree these are great serpents & deserve some attention with respect to breeding as pets. In the past I've bred Everglades, Bairds, Trans Pecos, amelanistic Black rat snakes, & various others, btw. I think in general that all the U.S. rat snakes are vastly under-rated as pets- while everywhere you look, we're knee deep in ball pythons. :rolleyes:
 
The fox snake (Pantherophis vulpinus) is one of my favorite snakes to catch -- they're very common here. I once caught a very large one (over 5 feet anyway) just outside of the twin cities in MN that was the most calm wild snake I've ever handled -- I guess that would have been Pantherophis ramspotti.

They'd make a fine captive -- better than most of the MX and CA milksnakes I've ever kept, that's for sure. Not very flashy, though.
 
Green Snakes (Opheodrys; rough and smooth species) are, IMO, one of the most beautiful snakes in North America, and I suspect that if captive bred ones that were free from parasites and disease were regularly available, they would be much more popular. They have great temperaments, are active, and some people like that they feed on insects instead of rodents. If I were not terrified I'd introduce some parasite or disease to my colony, I'd have a couple :)
 
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