I have been fascinated with dinosaurs for as long as I can remember. When I was 4 years old, I saw a black and white snake slithering in the grass in our backyard in Hayward, CA. It was a California King snake that had apparently escaped from our neighbors house. (His owner's nickname was "Snake", a cool biker dude) I was so excited to find out that I could keep snakes as pets, it was as close as
I could get to a dinosaur in my little kid mind. Lucky for me, my parents were cool enough to let me have a couple of green tree snakes as my first pets. Unfortunately, they only lasted a couple years. I couldn't say exactly what happened, but I do remember that the feeder crickets seemed to have eaten their way out of the snakes. I don't think that's possible, but that's how I remembered it. At the age of 7, my dad took me to the East Bay Vivarium in Berkley, CA to get another snake. He escaped countless times during the 15 years I had him before he passed away. My mom was always the one who found him while he was on these extended vacations. She was thrilled every time, haha! For the decade to follow, I performed as a professional musician. The main part of our group was based in Hawaii and so there I lived. If you don't know, snakes are not allowed on the islands. Probably best for the ecosystem I suppose, although I still think people are the most invasive species of all. When we started making plans to move back to California, part of my plan included getting a ball python. My wife grew up with a nightmarish fear of snakes, but with a little convincing, I got my way. She now handles the snakes on her own without fear! Yipp*e! My first Ball Python was a Hypo Pinstripe that I got from the East Bay Vivarium. I became obsessed with learning all I could about him. I soon learned that there were countless morphs out there in the world, with new ones being born every year. I had to be part of this. I picked up my second BP from a reptile show in Tracy, CA from TJ at 29 Snakes. A little female Coral Glow/Banana. Now the balls were really rolling. Reading a book written by Kevin McCurley of N.E.R.D., I learned about Freedom Breeder racks. This seemed like the next best step. This put me in touch with Lindy Johnson and his sons Jeff and Jessy. I picked up a single 10 stack rack system from them as well as 4 more bp's: a GHI Humble Bee, a Purple Passion, a Stingless Bee and a Super Pastel Lesser. I now had empty spaces to fill in the rack and wasted no time doing so. Soon to follow were a Piebald and a Champagne from Ben Renick via reptilering.com, two more from the Freedom Breeder brothers: a Coral Glow het Pied and a Leopard Spider and last but most definitely not least, a Clown Pied from Colette Sutherland at TSK. My plans as of now are to raise up these babies until they're ready to make babies. Very excited about this project!! I will keep you posted!!
-Brian Kusko
P.S. I would like to thank the following people for providing knowledge and inspiration:
TJ @ 29 Snakes
Kevin McCurley @ NERD
Jerry Robertson @ Snakes R Kewl
Justin Kobylka @ J. Kobylka Reptiles
Ben Renick @ Renick Reptiles Inc. Brian Gundy @ For Goodness Snakes
Mike Wilbanks @ Constrictors Unlimited
Garrick DeMeyer @ Royal Constrictor Designs
Brian Barczyk @ BHB Enterprises
Lindy, Jeff and Jessy @ Freedom Breeder
Jay Brewer @ Prehistoric Pets
Shannon Smith @ Retic Crazy
