Our History

My love for snakes started when I was 13 but my mother disliked snakes and my father thought the wild was their place. I just couldn’t persuade them. When I finally got out on my own I just couldn’t afford to properly care for one. I admired them from afar until I did my first rescue. I never thought that I would have the collection that I have today. I’m very proud of all my babies. They will always be my babies no matter how big they get. Before I did my first rescue I did my research so I would know how to properly care for him. He had been through enough and deserved only the best care.

I did my first rescue in 2000. I rescued a male ball python that had been mistreated in many ways. He had scars from being poked at through a wire cage. He was used to having food larger than he wanted crammed down his throat with a Popsicle stick. I will never forget the first time I saw him. His living conditions were better than his first home, a glass tank but still being force-fed. I took him home. I changed his rough carpet, cleaned the tank thoroughly, and got him a hide and fresh water. He seemed very happy. A few days later I bought him a smaller mouse that he readily ate. To my surprise he was never aggressive even after all he’d been through. This is really what started me wanting to help other snakes. He is no longer with us but went to a good home but will never be forgotten.

            My second rescue was a juvenile ball python that had one of the worst mite infestations possible. I took her and placed her in a tub of luke warm water and immediately had to draw a fresh bath due to the black mites covering the tub, the water looked black. I did this so many more adding Listerine to the water that I lost count. I had never seen a snake this neglected in my life. I had tears streaming while trying to get the mites off of her. I thoroughly cleaned her tank and threw away everything in it. She was no longer dehydrated but still emaciated as I felt like she was too weak & sick to feed. The last bath I added pedialyte to give her some electrolytes. I dried her with a white towel finally no mites that I could see so I put her in her clean warm tank to give her a little time to get accustomed.  I was hoping that I could get the mites and give her a supplement to help her through until I could feed her. Unfortunately, I went to check on her less than an hour later to find that she had passed. I only saw a few mites; I guess these were under her scales when I put her up. She went so quickly but it still broke my heart. I told myself that she was just too far gone before I got her but it still didn’t make her loss any easier.

            My third rescue was an 8ft Columbian Boa that I got the same time as the ball above. He was dehydrated, emaciated, mites, mouth rot and respiratory infection. His tank was filthy, knowing what I know now, I’m surprised that he didn’t have blister. I drew him a Listerine bath to rid the mites. His infestation was minor. I then drained the tub and gave him a pedialyte soak. While he soaked I clean his tank thoroughly, threw away everything in it. I got him fresh newspaper and a water bowl and added pedialyte since he was so dehydrated. Once finished, I dried him with a white towel to see if there were mites. There were none. I irrigated his mouth with Listerine to start clearing the mouth rot, which was a moderate case. I put him in his clean home where he drank so much I was beginning to worry. I had never seen a snake drink so much. For the next several days I treated him for mites, respiratory and mouth rot. By the end of the week his mouth had largely healed. It was time to go get him a large rat. The rat didn’t have a chance. He killed and ate it so fast I was amazed. He was looking for more. I waited a week before giving him anymore to give him time to heal and digest. I did not know exactly how long he had been in this condition. His owner wasn’t very honest. He ate a large rat weekly. I only had him for a short time. Unfortunately his owner, beyond my control, took him back before I could finish healing the respiratory.  He was otherwise healthy. Even being as sick as he was, I was surprised that he was very very tame. He loved to be held and go exploring. Since I knew his owner wouldn’t care for him I did everything that I knew to do to find when he had taken him to no avail. To this day I often wonder if he is okay.

In October 2004, I received shipment of 4 boas covered in blisters that were supposed to be healthy. I had to learn how to treat them. The seller refused to take them back saying they were at least 90% healthy when shipped unlike the 100% when we paid. We decided that we would do everything we could to save these babies. They were ice cold, dehydrated, emaciated, very aggressive and sick. We researched to find out how to treat. We hydrated, warmed them up slowly, treated and to our surprise they all ate but had great difficulty. We must have spent 5 hours with them that day. We continued their treatment for several months to finally clear the blister. We lost one as heart breaking as it was but the other 3 survived and very healthy and tame.  They taught us a lot about blister, aggression, dehydration, shedding problems, and feeding.

In 2004, We bought several more 2 of which failed to thrive and had developmental problems for which we did not blame the breeder as some things you can’t foresee.

In 2004-05 Three more died due to bad genetics we think because when they all got to about the same size and age they went down hill quickly. It was so hard to deal with.

In January 2005, I bought a few runts, which are now very healthy, and no longer runts.

How I really got started with a large ball collection

 In June 2005, I took in 15 imported ball pythons from large well established breeders. They came to me weighing in at between 20-45 grams. They were definitely going to be the greatest challenge I had ever faced. I had no experience with any of their problems except blister but was willing to learn for the babies sake. All had not fed since birth. Some had blister disease.  Some had scale rot. Some had bacterial infections. Others had combinations of all of the above. All of these are were eating with a week by rolling. Most were eating on their own with 3 months. A few were still rollers but growing and thriving well. We only lost 3. One died an hour after arrival, another one from a very severe case of blister and they other one severe blister within the first week.  It was very difficult for me but the others kept fighting so they kept me going. We have 3 stories of 3 very lucky ladies so I'm dedicating a page to them as I think these Success Stories  is what makes it all worth while.  I didn't realize how desperate these babies really were until mid 2006 when I was talking with several people who informed me that the size of a normal size hatchling was 75-100 grams. I was truly shocked when I realized that I had taken babies that were truly freezer bound and saved their lives. This amazed me so much that I had the ability to save these babies that I want to get the word out to other well established breeders so that more babies may have the chance to survive rather than end up in someone's freezer. All of my work is done strictly confidential. I'm very proud of the babies that survive and their progress. I'm always willing to learn about other problems as well. The more experience I can gather the more babies I will be able to treat, no matter the age, size or condition with the exception of IBD which is untreatable & incurable.

These all were my babies. I guess that is why it hurts so badly when I lose the battle. It isn’t as hard if I take one that I know may not make it, as it is if I buy one and it’s not healthy as I was told. My heart is in everything I do concerning these babies big or small. The snakes lives are my main objective.