2020/2021 Breeding Update

Hey Everyone!

Before we get into the meat of this post, we wanted to let you all know we are going to be much more active on the website and this weekly journal page. Social media platforms continue to be more and more unreliable especially when it comes to animal posts and sales. So bookmark this page and stay tuned!

Now onto the good stuff. This year we are doing some outside of the box pairings in order to continue moving our long term projects forward. While it may not appear that there are a lot of Blood Python morphs that isn’t the reality. When we plan on pairings we are always thinking about what the offspring will lead to future generations. This planning and thoughtfulness has served us well and we are very excited about the future.

So far this year we have seen locks from:

Slackline Level 2 x CBE Stripe Line founder

CBE Stripe het T+ Albino x T+ Albino Batrix

T+ Albino 007 x Electrostatic

T+ Albino Batik x Slackline Hypo

Batrix het T+ x T+ Albino Ivory

VPI Super Stripe Hypo het T+ x T+ VPI Stripe Golden Eye

Pollen het T+ x Pollen het T+

Golden Eye het T+ x Pollen het T+

Golden Eye het T+ x T+ Albino Golden Eye

CBE Stripe het T- x 007 het T-

Pixel x T- Albino

Het Lavender Albino T- x Het Lavender Albino T-

Granite Super Stripe x Granite Super Stripe Borneos

Super Black Sumatran x Super Black Sumatran

Here are some pics. Try not to disturb them much but you get the idea.

New Podcast!

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to let you all know I recently did a podcast with Jeremy and Rob at Reptile Talk. Here is the link. http://reptiletalk.buzzsprout.com/937330/4891346-episode-twenty-two-nick-bottini-cold-blooded-earth

Let us know what you think.

2018-19 Breeding Season Goals and Strategy. PTLG

Hey Everyone!

Been a bit since our last post, have been busy getting 2018 animals shipped to their new homes, incubating eggs and setting up babies as they hatch. This is a great time of year.

To get into the meat of this post, this years breeding strategy can be summed up as Playing The Long Game. We had the opportunity to work with a few new genes for us this year including, Pale Gray, Zig Zag, Pollen, and Slackline. A lot of the genes are subtle with some dorsal striping and slight pattern changes, but the super forms of the Zig Zag and Pollen for example, are FAR from that. They are absolutely incredible.

Playing The Long Game with these genes meant working them in to other traits like Matrix and Batik. We will not see the full potential of this years projects for multiple generations but that was the entire point. By doing things this way, we will also be able to offer you newer projects and the ability to take these projects in any direction YOU see fit. We really believe that creating a good base of animals like Ivory, Batik, GE, Albino will be key to working some of these new genes into the mix.

One of the things we have been saying for a long time, is that it is only day one when it comes to working with Blood and Short-Tailed Pythons. There are so many genes to explore and paths to take with them.

So here is a list of what pairings we did this year that we got eggs from. Clutches are starting to hatch every couple of weeks.

Yellow T+ Albino x Yellow T+ Albino

Golden Eye x T+ Albino Golden Eye

Zig Zag het T+ Albino x T+ Albino Ivory

Pollen het T+ x Pollen het T+

Zig Zag het T+ x Batik het T+

T+ Albino x Hypo Slackline

Het Pale Gray x Het Pale Gray

CBE Stripe Het T- x T- Albino

So much of this years projects are completely new for us and we cannot wait to share the results with you. So stay tuned! Any questions feel free to email us. Offspring will be posted on the availability page as soon as they are ready to go.

Early Spring Photo Shoot

Hey everyone! This post will be much less wordy and a lot nicer to look at. It was beautiful here today, and the perfect time to get some outdoor photos. Enjoy!

Female VPI Stripe Line Golden Eye

Female Golden Eye Ivory

Female T+ Albino VPI Stripe Line Golden Eye

Adult Female Borneo Granite Super Stripe

Protecting What we Love

In the past few weeks, PeTA has been taking online heat going after Steve Irwin, a man who many of us in this hobby relate to. I do enjoy seeing this and people rallying around the idea that PeTA is awful. But, we have to do more than just post some memes. This brings me to the main concept of this post, USARK.

In order to keep PeTA and the HSUS out of our snake rooms, we have to rally together around the group that is USARK. These “animal rights” groups are pushing a lot of the legislation we have been seeing. In just the past few months it feels like a dozen states have put bills up restricting our ability to keep the animals we love and care for. The United States Association of Reptile Keepers do a great job helping fight this legislation. However, they need our help. Please go to www.usark.org. Sign up on their email list and donate if you can. (No, I have no connection to this organization, I simply understand the importance of supporting them.)

Whether you have one Leopard Gecko or a building full of Reticulated Pythons or anything in between we are all in the same boat. PeTA and other groups like them view all of us, dog lovers, zoo keepers, etc. the same way they view Steve Irwin. Don’t let those TV commercials with the sad songs fool you.

As someone who does this for a living, I spend every day cleaning, feeding, watering, and caring for the animals in my collection. Every day all day. I love being able to do this and cannot imagine a time when it would be impossible to do so. Thus I fully back USARK and donate a portion of every animal sold to their work. I am in no way saying you have to do that, but whatever you can, that anger you feel towards Peta, make sure you are doing something that really counts. Become a member, donate an animal to a USARK auction during a Reptile Expo. Anything helps our cause.

My small breeding company has invested in cage manufactures, rodent suppliers, shipping companies, and on and on, so it is also important to us that we help those fighting on the front lines. Phil Goss, the President of USARK and his team do an incredible job with the daunting task of fighting these anti-animal bills. We owe a lot to them, but the fight NEVER ends.

We will get back to Blood and Short-Tailed Python posts but felt that this needed to be put out there. PeTA isn’t just bad because they hate Steve Irwin. So please join the fight so we can continue to keep and care for the animals we love. USARK.org

Back To Basics: The Matrix Gene

For this post we just want to talk about a simple but powerful gene which we believe has a bright future ahead, and that is the Matrix. We will go over the basic characteristics of this gene, how it works genetically, and the combinations of Matrix along side other genes.

Matrix with dorsal striping

To the untrained eye, Matrix can look very similar to a normal but there are a few things to look for. The most definitive characteristic is a pink tongue. Normals have a dark/black tongue while Matrix do not. Other identifiers included pixelated side patterns and a wider than normal sub ocular stripe. As with all things Blood Python there will be a wide spectrum of looks. Pictured is a nice Matrix with some dorsal striping.

These sometimes can be hard to pick up on unless placed next to a normal, so if you are looking to get a Matrix in your collection it is best to buy from an experience Blood Python breeder. They will be able to tell them apart from other clutch mates.

Ivory

Matrix is the incomplete dominate form Ivory. Or Ivory is the super form of Matrix. This means that when Matrix x Matrix is bred 1/4 of the offspring will be Ivory, 1/2 will be Matrix, and 1/4 will be normal. Matrix x Normal, half the clutch will be Matrix and half will be normal. Ivory x Matrix will result in 1/2 Ivory and 1/2 Matrix.

However that is just the beginning when it comes to Matrix. The Batrix, or Batik Matrix is a great looking snake. The Matrix intensifies the broken pattern of the Batik making it look like the pattern on a Granite Burmese Python, (only better in our very biased opinion!). Here is an example of the Batrix.

Batrix (Batik Matrix)

007s (Golden Eye Matrix)

Another incredible combination using Matrix is the 007. A 007 is a Golden Eye Matrix. The matrix has a dramatic impact on the Golden Eye from both a color and pattern aspect. They are very unique looking animals as you can see here.

One of the more unique things we have done with the Matrix gene is breed it into our CBE Stripe Line animals. We did this last year and though the clutch was small the results were outstanding. The Matrix again showed to be a pattern changer to the stripe. Here is a picture from that pairing.

CBE Stripe Matrix

Electrostatic (T+ Albino Ivory Batik)

Last but not least, is the Electrostatic (Ivory Batik T+ Albino) we produced last year. All we did was take three genes that have been around for a long time and create something mindblowing. The three genes compliment each other so well and this snake shows why we believe Matrix is the cornerstone for many projects going forward. What isn’t there to like about Matrix? The Electrostatic is just one of many reasons why we also LOVE to add in T+ Albino into our Matrix projects.

This breeding season we are adding Matrix into a few new things, and hope all goes well so we can share those results with you all in just a few months! We feel these pairings will just reinforce the genetic potential Matrix brings to the table even though on its own it is a subtle trait. Don’t underestimate what Matrix will do in future projects! Here is a link to some comparison photos of Matrix and normals on our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pg/ColdBloodedEarth/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10150926741636715

This is an overview of the Matrix gene, if you have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Scroll down for more pictures.

Normal, Matrix (Middle), 007 (Golden Eye Matrix)

Young Ivory 100% het T+ Albino

T+ Albino Matrix

T+ Albino Ivory

Beyond the Price Tag

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to get some thoughts down. Hope you will enjoy the read.

There are lots of new people coming into Blood and Short-Tailed Pythons which is great! This group of snakes make very rewarding captives and have come a long way in the last 20 years. They have so much to offer from purposefully bred normals to level up morphs. We will get into the meaning of those descriptors in a bit.

With the recent interest in these animals more of them are being produced and some incredible things are being done with them. But it is important to think beyond just the price tag. When you are looking for a new addition price is just a small factor when considering bringing a new animal into your collection. A lot of factors go into pricing these snakes. Can the breeder provide parent pics? Can the breeder explain why those animals were paired together? Does the breeder answer questions in a reasonable amount of time? Reachable for questions as they arise? Does the breeder have a Vet to monitor the health of their collection? This list could go on and on. We work very hard on these things and are continually making improvements.

It is important to us where our animals end up and what the plans are for that animal. Breeding is not the only option, having a great pet you are proud of is just as important. Yes, we sell these snakes for a living, however getting rich is not the end game. We realize it is a gift to be able to do this and share these snakes with you. It is an incredible career and rewarding in so many ways. That is why we continue to push quality over quantity

Our goal when pairing these animals is to create offspring that move the species forward in terms of color, temperament, and hardiness. If we believe the offspring will be better representations of their parents, we will breed those animals together. None of our pairings are done just because. If you look at our growing collection you can see this play out in real time. It has taken us 10+ years to get to this point and be able to offer up some gorgeous animals, and we are going to continue to push on with each generation. It did not happen overnight and it wont happen by just throwing animals together without a vision. Your vision does not and should not be ours. It is all about what your goals are. Think long term, not just “how much money will this clutch make me”. That's a recipe for failure.

This is where “purposefully bred” and “level up” come into play. Pair with a purpose, hatch animals that level up your collection. Buy that dream animal of yours from someone that gets this idea (doesn't have to be from us, but we will be happy to help you if that's the case).

What does all this mean? Well, sometimes our animals are a bit more than other sellers. At this point, we hope you see why. We do not believe to chasing the lowest common denominator. This is not a long term strategy for us or for YOU. We want you to be successful if and when the time comes that you sell offspring from animals you purchased from us.

We believe that supporting what you like and who you believe in is very important. That is why we take what we do very seriously. These animals live a long time, so grab something that wows you every time you look in their enclosure.

Here is a real life example just to show that we aren't just talking the talk. in 2009 we purchased a pair of adult Matrix het Albinos for 12k. Yes, you read that right. Now the price of Matrix is much lower but what is important to realize is that this pair of snakes have produced incredible animals for us. Including Albino Ivorys and the Female Matrix het even produced the first Electrostatics (Albino Ivory Batiks) for us last season. Pictured below. Moral of this story is, even if you invest in an animal, and the price goes down season after season, it does not make your animal have any less value. The important thing to do is breed with a purpose.

Lastly we just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout this journey. We could not do any of this without you all. Feel free to reach out to us anytime to discuss this further or any other aspects of Blood and Short-Tailed Pythons.

Simple Ingredients

Hey Everyone!

We are really starting to hatch stuff here and getting all the babies settled in and eating. This is a great time of year and keeps us very busy. Along with hatching some great animals we also produced something new and wanted to highlight it! We have called it the Electrostatic as the non albino version was named White Lightning by our friend Lon Deixler. 

So lets get to it. These animals were produce by breeding a Matrix het T+ Albino to a T+ Batrix. The result was a T+ Ivory Batik. These animals have so much great color and will only get better with age. We are so excited to be able to see these animals in the flesh and were fortunate enough to hatch 1.1

The amazing thing about this project is how long the ingredients have been available in the market and yet we are just seeing these now! Matrix, Batik, and T+ Albino are certainly not the newest morphs but they are FAR from reaching their full potential. We have been saying for a long time that Matrix is the key to many projects, 007s, Batrix, Ivory, and who knows what else these morphs have in store for us. 

So just because a morph as been out there for years does not mean that it is tapped out! We have not even begun to scratch the surface with these projects, whether the snake is new to the market or has been around for 10 years! 

Here are various photos of the Electrostatics as well as a picture of the morphs that make it up. 

Please let us know if you have any questions. There are lots of way to take these projects!

2017-2018 Breeding Season

Hey Everyone!

Sorry for the long time in between posts. Busy, busy around here but all good things! We are coming up on egg time, with two clutches on the ground as we speak!

We just wanted to give an update on what has ovulated and what as laid at this point. We bred the following,

Female Sideswipe Borneo x VPI Line Ultra Breit: Eggs in the incubator 

Female TBC Line Red x VPI Line Golden Eye: Small clutch in incubator

Female Matrix het T+ x Batik het T+: Ovulated

Female T+ Albino x GE het T+: Ovulated

Female CBE Stripe x T- Albino: Ovulated

Female Matrix het T+ x T+ Albino Batrix: Ovulated

Female 007 x T+ Albino Ivory: Ovulated

Ivory x T+ Albino Ivory: Ovulated

That about rounds it up so far this year. We are still getting a few locks but this what we expect to have offspring from later this spring. If any of these pairings are of interest to you, send us an email, nickbottini@coldbloodedearth.com. 

Morelia Python Radio

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to share our appearance on the Morelia Python Radio show with Eric and Owen. They are great guys with tons of knowledge. 

We talked about a lot of difference subjects throughout the almost 2 hour show. Of course it centered around Blood Pythons but we also touched on constructing a designated building, going full time as a reptile breeder and a bunch of other stuff.

CHECK it out here http://www.blogtalkradio.com/moreliapythonradio/2017/08/30/short-tailed-pythons-with-nick-bottini-from-cold-blooded-earth

Congrats to both Eric and Owen on their 6th year of their show! Well done fellas. 

Ins and Outs of How We Ship

Okay so you have spent the time searching for your new Shortie and decided to get one from us. The next step is getting your new addition to you safely. 

Shipping is the most stressful part of the whole new purchase thing, especially for the excited new customer. We've shipped a lot of animals over the years, and this is how we do it. Hopefully it cuts down on the anxiety shipping can cause.

We do not ship animals when day time highs are above 90 degrees or below 35 degrees. The well being and safety of the animal is the most important thing to us. Waiting a few extra days or weeks to get your animal alive and healthy is worth it. Trust us. 

First, lets start with the actual shipping box. We use new boxes everytime and a minimum size of 12 x 9 x 6. Yes, even for hatchlings we use this box. The larger space allows for more air flow, especially when heating packs are added. Heating packs use oxygen during the chemical reaction that makes them warm, so air flow is a MUST. 

The shipping boxes are insulated with 3/4" foam. This makes the box very rigid and safe from rough handling. The boxes are also labeled with the contents and marked live harmless reptile. Your snake is placed in a cloth bag with a paper towel and laid in a thick layer of news paper. 

We use shipyourreptiles.com to put our shipments together and they are insured. Shipyourreptiles.com is just another good safety measure and they will keep their site updated for delays or other possible problems. I have shipped almost 200 separate shipments using their services and I have been very happy. SYR customer service is great. They use FedEx and most shipments arrive by 10:30am, but if you are in a remote location that time can be 12-4pm.

Delays and problems do happen, it is just the nature of shipping anything. However with how we ship animals we have had almost no problems. Recently we had two separate West Coast shipments get delayed, one of them for 2 extra days and the animal still arrived safe and sound. We contribute this to the larger box sizes, as well as using 60 hour heat packs. 

Shipping animals this way is not a cheap thing to do. New boxes and over night service are pricey but we do not make a penny on the shipping costs and it is worth every cent to go above and beyond to make sure the animals are safe. The most important thing is the well being of the animal. 

Please contact us with any questions or comments you have. 

Below is a picture of a few animals we sent out recently. You can see everything is clearly labeled and there are air holes for extra ventilation.

Sometimes the Unexpected Happens

Hey all,

Sorry for the long delay between posts! My wife and I just moved into our new house, and between packing up and trying to get settled it has been more than hectic. 

I also left my day job as a Herpetologist at a zoo here in SC to follow my dream and do the snake breeding thing full time! I will tell you, I am really excited to start this new venture and could not have imagined doing it without the full support of my wonderful wife and family, and all of you! Really is a dream come true.

Anyway! On to the important stuff. We recently hatched out a clutch from Golden Eye x Batik het T+ and had some pretty unexpected results. Check out the pictures below. There is a normal, GE, Pixel, and two odds balls, one being a runt. They are all eating well! 

I am not sure what is going on here, however there may be another gene at play. It is too early to tell but we are looking forward to seeing what this project has to offer. Even the normal is a bit different, so we will be raising this entire clutch up. We cannot wait to see these animals grow and change. Stay tuned for more updates of them and other things happening here!

Entering the World

I was just going through some pictures and wanted to share of few of them with you all. These are pythons from various clutches all getting there first view of the world and taking their first breathes.

This part of the breeding process is the most exciting. I still feel the same way when I see heads poking up out of the egg that I did with my very first clutch. It is a long and tedious adventure from cycling the adults, pairing up animals, pulling eggs and getting them in the incubator, the 60 days to hatch and all the while just imagining what is in each egg. This is what it is all about!

It is an incredible experience to get to see new life emerge right before your eyes! Hope you enjoy these pictures.

Twins!

Breeding Season Recap

Hello Everyone.

We just wanted to do a quick update on this years breeding season. Our last clutch was laid this week 6/3/17. It was Female VPI Stripeline Hypo possible het T+ Albino x Golden Eye 100% het T+ Albino. We are thrilled about this pairing and cannot wait for the 60 days to be up.

Below we have listed all the successful pairings we did this year.

• Female T- x Male 007 (Babies have hatched and are feeding)
• Granite Super Stripe x Granite Super Stripe Borneos (Babies have hatched and are feeding)
• T+ Matrix x Golden Eye 100% het T+
• T+ x CBE Stripe Line Founder
• Red Bull Line normal x Golden Eye
• Ivory (possible het T+) x Batik 100% het T+
• Blonde Super Stripe x Granite Super Stripe Borneos
• Black head Sumatran x Black head Sumatran Short-Tails
• Golden Eye x Batik 100% het T+
• VPI Stripe Line Hypo (possible het T+) x Golden Eye 100% het T+

As animals begin to hatch and start eating, anything available will be listed in our Shop. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or interest you may have.

Twins!

Golden Eye on eggs

T+ Albino on eggs

Freshly hatched Granite Borneo Short-Tailed Pythons

Photo Drop

We often take a lot of pictures and only end up being happy with a few of them. These snakes are notoriously hard to photograph so we are constantly playing with backgrounds and the right lighting. Having said all of that, here are a few from this week we are happy with. Enjoy!

2016 female Batrix 100% het T+ Albino and Golden Eye 100% het T+ Albino

Adult male Genetic Stripe Borneo Short-Tailed Python. Produced from a wild caught Genetic Stripe x TBC Blonde Super Stripe

This girl is one of our favorites. We produced her by breeding our CBE Stripe Line founder to a VPI Stripe Line hypo.

Today is Day One!

In terms of the what the potential is in herpetoculture for Blood and Short-Tailed Pythons, today is just day one. All three species are multi-faceted in breeding potential. You can selectively breed for color and pattern, breed for morphs, and my favorite thing is combining the two. They offer the best of both worlds.

These three species are very unique in that "normals" can be equally or more stunning than color and patter morphs, and when those two elements come together the results even get ohs and ahs from a non snake person. We are just starting to scratch the surface in terms of what these pythons have to offer.

Shorties really open the door for people with all different interests. Whether you like morphs, or natural varieties there is something out there for everyone. Earth tones, fire engine red, or ink well black is just the tip of the iceberg. We are just being to explore what morphs can do. Adding subtle genes like Matrix into Batik and Golden Eye has produced incredible combinations. Each clutch is and each animal within each clutch is different. As we add genes and add color we are starting to reveal some amazing things.

Take a look at these three Red Blood Pythons. From left to right, we have a CBE Super Stripe, Batrix (Batik Matrix) and T+ Golden Eye. Start playing with just these genes and the possibilities are endless.

It really is an exciting time to be working with these animals. People before us have laid the ground work with these animals, getting wild caughts established, breeding techniques, nailing down their care requirements and we are hoping to take these pythons to the next level.

Eventually we will get into genetics but that is a post for a different day!

New Website!

Welcome to CBE! We have recently re-done our website and on this Blog page we will be posting updates as they happen. Photos, egg laying, hatchlings, any news, and shows we plan to do will be posted here. So to kick it off, here is a picture from out first clutch of the year!

From top to bottom, 100% het T-, Matrix 100% het T-, and 007 100% het T-.

We look forward to keeping you up to date on our activity here at Cold-Blooded Earth!