Tinley Was Amazing. Meet My New Kids!

[solo1979]

Most of these babies were planned purchases I'd made ahead of time, but a few were surprises.

First, the carpets and the carpet book. All 3 came from Luke Snell and I'd had them on hold for about a month. The book was premiered at the show and my excuse for going in the first place.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6167/6224673219_43a851c407.jpg

2010 IJ boy
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6019/6225210306_3752a331f5.jpg

2011 Red Coastal Jag Sib
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6179/6225206700_9e3c2ba240.jpg

2011 Coastal Jag Normal Sib
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6097/6224688437_37bfc4416c.jpg

Next, a 2011 spotted python for my boyfriend's daughter's birthday. She really wanted one of her own.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6223/6224692087_08e6aa992e.jpg

Unplanned but on wishlist, a 2011 leucistic texas rat snake.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6234/6225196290_cc63720cda.jpg

Totally unplanned but kept going back to look at this boy because he is AMAZING. 2011 Desert phase cali king.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6151/6225202734_30b19d984c.jpg

Last but not least, 2011 Coral Ghost hatchling. The pink is already starting to come through. Can't wait to see how he colors up!
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6240/6224679493_82bb34d1cf.jpg

Thanks for looking!

[alessia55]

Holy bananas those are some GREAT pick ups! I wish I could pick up all that stuff at an expo! I have a strict 2-snake limit lol. The Desert phase cali king is AMAZING. I keep going back to that photo. I want one. Pleeeease? :p
Can't wait to see more photos as they settle in!

[stephanbakir]

Great pickups.

[blindfireak40]

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL animals!! I wish I could pick up even just 1 more snake lol...in a few years I suppose :yes:

Also, if they have no names yet, I'd like to put forth "Groucho" for the red carpet (Head pattern looks like the Groucho Marx mustache and eyebrows) and Poseidon for the corn (Head pattern looks like a trident) :)

[millertime89]

argh, I'm jealous.

[infernalis]

Nice additions.. really nice.

[Nismo89]

Very nice pick ups. I almost picked up an ij carpet but I decided since I got an adult male I would save up for a nice girl for him. The show was awesome wasn't it. Was this your first expo? It was my first time and I was just blown away at the quantity and quality of animals.

[solo1979]

Thanks everyone! I'm super excited about the new additions. The month I was waiting for the carpets felt like an eternity.

Everyone has been named except the spotted, which I'll leave up to my boyfriend's daughter once I give him to her. All of my carpets are named after Thundercats characters. The IJ girl I picked up last month is named Cheetara, so the new IJ boy is Lion-O. The coastals are brother and sister from the same clutch so they are WilyKat and WilyKit. The Coral Ghost is Raspbery. The leucistic texas rat is Tulip. And the amazing little kingsnake is Tito. Last week, I got my first kingsnake. An adult cali king that a friend gave me after her son abandoned him and moved to another state. My boyfriend named him MJ (as in Michael Jackson) because he's black and white. So, it was only right that if I was bringing another male king in the house that it should be his brother Tito!

This was my first time at Tinley, but not at an expo. I frequently attend the bi-monthly expo in Wheaton. I've also been to SEWERFest in WI and the Chicago Herp Society show at UIC.

Anyone looking for high quality carpets, I definitely recommend Luke Snell, hands down. He is super awesome to work with. His prices may be slightly higher than what you'd pay a broker, but his animals are so worth it and come from awesome lines. So sure, I saw some IJs and Coastals for $50 or $60 there, but they were nothing like my babies. If you are looking for an IJ locally though, I'd recommend Boa Cabana. They are at the Wheaton show all the time. My girl is from them and again, great lines, great prices.

Of the other pick ups, the most expensive was my coral ghost, at $50. I've seen them go for much more and this tiny guy is already showing some major pink coming in. I almost regret not getting a pair but I do have some potential girlfriends for him already if I want to breed for more pink snakes in the future. And little Tito the kingsnake was $20. I seriously went back to that table 4-5 times before purchasing him and kept hiding his deli cup under other ones. There were 2-3 more with similar coloration but nothing even close to his clean markings. If I had a little more money to spend, I maybe would have picked up a male texas leucistic as well, as the personalities on this group were pretty mild compared to stuff I've read and it would have been nice to maybe breed them. I think the adults are some of the most beautiful snakes out there. But there's always next time! :)

[alessia55]

Those are awesome names! The Thundercats are the epitome of my childhood!
http://cdn.whatculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/thundercats1.jpg

[shaunyboy]

is the irian GQ line ?

the decenty yellow in it looks like garys line

how much was nicks new book please ?

you picked up some very nice snakes mate

cheers shaun

[solo1979]

Alessia, I know! Totally 80s baby!!!

Shaun, you have a great eye! This boy is from a GQ x MPenn pairing!

Luke has since sold the parents but Eric Burke now owns them and is hoping to pair again this season. I've since learned the lineage of the IJ girl that I snagged last month and she seems to be working with some good genes too. Mom was part of the first group imported here almost 20 years ago and dad is mom's son from a few years back, because her original mate recently passed. I will try to get a picture of my boy and girl side by side sometime soon.

The book was $60 at the show. I believe it is $65 online. If you can't find the website, let me know and I'll dig around for it.

[marvelfreak]

Beautiful pick ups and amazing Carpets. You can never have enough Carpets.

[solo1979]

Thank you! This puts me at 4 carpets total and I think I'm set for a while. I'd love to have more, but my plan is to build cages that are at least 4x4x2 for each of these guys and I can't imagine having a ton of cages that size all over the house.

[solo1979]

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL animals!! I wish I could pick up even just 1 more snake lol...in a few years I suppose :yes:

Also, if they have no names yet, I'd like to put forth "Groucho" for the red carpet (Head pattern looks like the Groucho Marx mustache and eyebrows) and Poseidon for the corn (Head pattern looks like a trident) :)

Forgot to respond to this! I totally see Groucho in his head too!