Profile: Agate

[Snakesitter]

It’s been almost a month since we profiled an adult animal, so I wanted to circle back to that age group. Today I’ll share Agate with you. Agate is an April 2008 female who was a “pattern pick,” specifically tending bullseye. I say “tends” because, like many of the pattern animals in the Brazilian market, she exhibits examples of that pattern without hitting full coverage. She comes from the same bloodlines as her niece Jasper, who we profiled back in December of last year. As of December 2010, Agate weighed a healthy 1690 grams -- enough that we could have bred her, had we preferred not to give our females an extra year and few hundred grams of growth for safety’s sake.

Here she is inside, lazily watching me:
http://premium1.uploadit.org/ViaWea/BRB2010Q3/04F-I1.jpg
(and)
http://premium1.uploadit.org/ViaWea/BRB2010Q3/04F-I2.jpg
(Notice the big difference between flash off and flash on.)

And outside, lounging in the sun:
http://premium1.uploadit.org/ViaWea/BRB2010Q3/04F-O1.jpg
(and)
http://premium1.uploadit.org/ViaWea/BRB2010Q3/04F-O2.jpg
(Speaking of differences…lol!)

Agate will hopefully be a Living Gems Reptiles 2012 breeder.

Thank you for looking,

[Ch^4]

She's gorgeous Cliff! Do you know who her first boyfriend is going to be?

[serpentshideawa]

Gorgeous snake you have i always love seeing them

[Snakesitter]

Thanks guys. Not certain yet as to pairing, but probably someone with intense consistent orange (deeper than hers) to see if I can capture a few babies that combine both qualities.

[Sapphyr]

Oh wow, she's stunning! If only my boy were older and I didn't live across the continent, I'd be curious if my little boy would do fine. ;D Then again, I really don't know all that much about genetics. I've half way considered getting into the breeding business, but I don't think I'm quite ready yet. Hope she finds that lucky man.~

[Reptile_Reptile]

what a looker :) how do you get all the best BRB's

[Snakesitter]

Sapphyr: LOL, you're the second person to offer today. If I'm not careful, the Feds are gonna come knocking with the wrong idea. ;-) As for breeding, take your time. I deliberately went slow and bought all my snakes as babies so I had several years of experience under my belt before I bred.

Rep_Rep: Thanks! I've spent years working with top breeders across the country to track down premium specimens. It's finally starting to pay off!

I appreciate all the nice comments, thank you all again!

[Sapphyr]

Sapphyr: LOL, you're the second person to offer today. If I'm not careful, the Feds are gonna come knocking with the wrong idea. ;-) As for breeding, take your time. I deliberately went slow and bought all my snakes as babies so I had several years of experience under my belt before I bred.

Rep_Rep: Thanks! I've spent years working with top breeders across the country to track down premium specimens. It's finally starting to pay off!

I appreciate all the nice comments, thank you all again!

LOL Possibly~ Well I am relatively new to snake owning to begin with, but it's been in the back of my head, just not quite ready. Maybe in 3 - 5 years. If anything I could with geckos, had mine for a year or two and I love all the sorts of morphs they can get~ Only issue is, mother isn't too keen on the thought. She said it's too expensive to buy even more crickets for extra hungry mouths, but I say it's not, since you can sell some really nice morphs for a pretty penny.

[Lankyrob]

Or get a roach colony, once it is going no more buying insects......

[Snakesitter]

I'd agree with your logic, the morph income would more than make up for the cricket expense. But then, I'm not a parent.... ;-)

[Sapphyr]

We've kind of considered raising our own crickets.. but mother's not 100% sure she wants 'nasty pests' living in her house.

And also, I'm trying to find a job. When I do finally get one(hoping for in the next few months), I'll be paying a monthly animal food bill. It'll be between... $75 - $100 per month. I don't think it's too bad if my paycheck is between $600 and $800.

[Snakesitter]

Good luck to you in your search. Are you checking pet stores or breeders at all? It would help with experience, connections, and possibly a discount on food.

[Sapphyr]

Good luck to you in your search. Are you checking pet stores or breeders at all? It would help with experience, connections, and possibly a discount on food.

Thanks~ I'm looking to be hired by some kind of animal oriented business, whether it be a pet store or something else. I've personally been eyeing Petsmart for several months. So, you're probably curious as to why I haven't done anything yet.

So, I got my permit October 1st last year.. and I was like YES! FINALLY! GET TO DRIVE MY CAR!... but then my Uncle's car VERY inconveniently went to crap and he took my car right after I got my permit.. RIGHT after... Didn't get to drive the bloody thing after waiting about 4 months to legally drive it on roads. You can imagine how livid I was. So, he kept it for around 2 months, and by that time, winter had already hit and I had basically no experience with driving on -dry- roads, let alone wet or iced ones.

Since then, he's been borrowing it for long periods on and off. Most of the time the weather and roads are still crap by the time I get it back, but it was recently really nice and I had it.. and he bloody took it -again-. Was hoping to get in some experience while the weather was nice, but no... I guess I'll be waiting until flippin' spring to drive my car.

It especially sucks since I was hoping to drive ALOT in October, apply while the timing was right(Christmas and the like) and hopefully snag a day/morning shift at Petsmart or Petsuites, but no.. he pretty much ruined my super awesome chance of getting the job AND hours I want. I -really- don't want to work night shift.

[Snakesitter]

Sorry to hear that, Sapphyr, that stinks. Family has rights, but that seems excessive. As a tip, I'd start the process anyway, just so can get to know the local pet employers. A familiar face and consistent callback process always helps. That way, when the time comes, they'll think of *you* first. (Plus, starting now puts you ahead of the student crowd's summer rush.) Good luck!

[Sapphyr]

Sorry to hear that, Sapphyr, that stinks. Family has rights, but that seems excessive. As a tip, I'd start the process anyway, just so can get to know the local pet employers. A familiar face and consistent callback process always helps. That way, when the time comes, they'll think of *you* first. (Plus, starting now puts you ahead of the student crowd's summer rush.) Good luck!

True true. I do visit Petsmart pretty much every Friday and every Saturday. Friday because we just like to visit, and Saturday because my puppy has classes in the morning on Saturday.

I personally don't think he has rights. He smokes 24/7, drinks, and probably does other drugs we don't even know about, therefore he's unreliable and is generally out of it whenever we try and talk with him. He lives literally 3 minutes from his mother's house. He works at the same place as his mother(she's probably the only thing keeping him from being fired). His mother deals with all his money, buys him everything, etc. He has no girlfriend, wife, nothing. His home is such a mess that he's got dirty paper plates piled all over the place. It's like a hoarder's house except full of old, dirty, moldy paper plates. He's also a bumper rider. That, combined with his drinking, makes me worry that he's going to wreck my car, and I already have anxiety issues to begin with. Actually going to see a psychiatrist next month. And yanno, at least I want to live my life to the best that I can. Sure, he's my elder, but he's my elder that's a complete waste and a waste of my time. I've actually got things to do, things to live, unlike him.

[Snakesitter]

Not sure what to say, other than good luck and be careful! You might want to discuss this with your parents or his, and arrange a cut-off date for his car access.

[Lankyrob]

I personally would ring the police next time heis out DUI, was the only way i stopped my brother in law from drink driving.

[Sapphyr]

Dude, he's in his late 40's... Doesn't have to listen to his mother if he doesn't want to, and besides, she's encouraging it, as is my mother. The only one on my side is my stepfather, but mother doesn't really care. The money spent on my car was what Daddy(grandfather, long story short, had no biological father growing up, he was and is still my mental replacement) and Gran Gran(great grandmother) left me for later in my life, and also what's built up over the years from gift money from the holidays, birthdays, etc.

What's worse is... When my mother's purse got stolen New Year's Eve, she had to cancel her card as a result, and both mine and my mother's car insurance was on it... So now if he does something stupid, it's not going to be paid. All I can say is, if something happens, I don't care how much of a ditch he's in, he's -going- to pay me for a new car, one way or another. And no, I -don't- care about him being family.

I was supposed to get it back today... but he's failed to return it, as usual. Another thing I know? If he does somethin' I'm going to be whipping -someone's- tail and looking at him and his enablers(mother and grandmother).

[Snakesitter]

I'm sorry it's such a bad situation. :-(

[Sapphyr]

I'm sorry it's such a bad situation. :-(

Nawwww, not your fault ;c

Sigh, really wish I had it now... Weather's been pretty decent lately.. Was around 40 degrees a day or two ago, no more snow. Pretty good conditions to be practicing in. Another day passes, another day I've yet to see it returned. </3 I'm just about ready to demand some form of pay if he's going to keep taking it. Otherwise the keys stay with me and that's that.