Snakes Alive

04/12/2024

When your Neurosurgeon of 42 yrs reminds you 3 times, with emphasis, in one consult, that you are their OLDEST LIVING PATIENT with my condition...
IT HITS HARD!!! ... Time to REST!!! 👊👊👊

03/12/2024

Saw my Neurosurgeon. Meds have been adjusted again. He recommended that I look into getting an electric wheelchair to take the strain off my arms and shoulders... I wish i could say that this whole experience has been fun.... IT HASN'T!!! 🙈🙈🙈🙈

26/11/2024

My mate Carl Hoppe who owns Northcoast Constrictors is having an auction every night this week at 6pm SHARP! PROVEN BREDERS, Pairs, yearlings etc. Join the auction at this link. SOUTH AFRICAN reptile keepers only:

17/09/2024

Seeing Neurosurgeon tomorrow to schedule surgery on my neck...
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16/09/2024

Right... so I heard from Neuro Dr 1 and Neuro Dr 2 today ... firstly, my bedrest has been extended until the end of the year.

Secondly, they are both finally in agreement that I need surgery on my neck asap. Neuro Dr 2 will do the surgery... Neck decompression done from the front of the neck...

Op #54 loading ...

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12/09/2024

I created this page to post all my reptile and other "creepy crawly" adventures here because some of my fans from my other life (Radio) complained they had phobias, every time i posted snake pics etc...

If you like, you can follow my personal page for my non-reptile adventures 🤣🤣🤣😜😜😜 here: Doug Anderson ...

Thanks to all my reptile "family" that have helped and supported me in different ways the past while...

IT HAS BEEN ROUGH for me the past while! It has literally been blow after blow after blow...

So here is an update on my health:

I have been on 2 months bedrest as I have been experiencing terrible, excruciating pain in my neck, shoulders, arms, back and hips... my whole body goes into a complete rigid spasm while I'm asleep. I wake up with my hands and arms DEAD... and it takes a while for the feeling to come back.

I can't sit for long anymore, as the pain I experience in my back is excruciating... 🙈🙈🙈

I have had a series of scans and x-rays etc for my Dr's to assess. I have 2 Neurosurgeons, the one only takes care of my brain and the other, the rest of my nervous system...

So the results from my scans show I have severe degeneration in my neck and nerves are being pinched by my vertebrae in 3 places... I have the same in 2 places on the spine...

Recent scans compared with scans 6 month ago show severe deterioration in that period.

Unfortunately, being a wheelchair user for the majority of my life, my arms, shoulders, neck and back have taken a beating, compensating for not being able to use my legs...

Every day that passes, my pain gets worse. Neuro Dr 1 is convinced i need surgery. Neuro Dr 2 still wants a few days to go over all the scans, reports etc... but hopefully will decide soon.

Both are very reluctant to operate as it has serious risks. Neuro Dr 1 will operate on the neck from the front (if they decide to operate) which you can imagine is very tricky with nerves and veins and arteries in the neck...

Should they decide to operate, the recovery is like 6months! 🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈

I'm losing more and more sensation and muscle strength with every day that passes. I am on some serious pain meds... and I still experience pain... so you can imagine the pain without meds... 🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈

Getting older and having a disability is not for sissies!!! All my "issues" pertaining to my disability have caught up to my age at a rapid rate unfortunately...

What all of this means for the future - I have no idea - but we live in faith! Neuro Dr 2 reminded me 3 times in my last consult that I am his OLDEST patient with my condition - so there's that! 👊👊👊

I have fought the odds right from day 1 on earth... and I don't plan on stopping! I am blessed and favored by the most high and am completely confident and at peace, that everything will work out for the best in the end...

My entire journey on earth has been protected and I don't see that changing anytime soon...

I'm not sure if I will be able to attend expos in the future - we will see...

Again, thank you to everyone who has helped, messaged, called to check on me...

I have found myself explaining what is happening quite a few times so I figured I would do a post ...

That's it for now. If you have read this far - I appreciate you! 👊👊👊

A few friends have commented that this whole "experience" is weird for them because they see me as "superman" who is always missioning, laughing and joking... but even Superman needs to rest and take time for himself! 👊👊👊👊👊

Update on my breeding season:
I really, really wanted to do quite a few pairings this season... honestly though, I just haven't had the strength to moving snakes around my room to pair them... so I don't think I will have clutches this season... 🙈🙈🙈

05/09/2024

Time to get our own back fellow herpers. Sign and share far and wide:

PETITION FOR INVESTIGATION OF THE NSPCA BY THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE:

07/08/2024

Hey Everyone,

As you (might) know, I am a wheelchair user... which comes with its own challenges...

I have also had a disability from birth, that being Spina Bifida... which has come with a lifetime of challenges, mostly health related... 46yrs (47 in Dec) and 53 surgeries later, I'M STILL HERE!!!

Getting old and having a disability is not for sissies! I have currently been on bedrest for a month with my Dr's recommending a further 2 months bedrest...

The last few years, my life has been turned upside down, inside out and torched for good measure!🙈🙈🙈 These health setbacks along with a number of personal setbacks and even a setback with my collection has taken its toll on me....

However, a few friends have helped me to "stay in the game" which I appreciate immensely...

I have learnt over the years to trust the process and path. My path has to slow down, do less and put most of my focus on ME, I.e. REST... A LOT... My Neuro surgeon reminded me 3 times in my last consult a few weeks ago, that I am his OLDEST surviving patient with SB... I know he had good reason for that...

SO.... I have decided to breed much less than usual and to just slow down in participation and lessen the frequency of Expos I attend etc ... I am going to monitor and see what I can manage and go with that...

I LOVE THE HOBBY! I have loved all things "creepy crawly" since I could crawl (much to my mother's horror! 🤣). I got really serious into scorpions and spiders in std 4 (1994) which I still enjoy to this day. My love for snakes followed soon after but got really serious about breeding in 1996...

Anyway, I just wanted to update you all and perhaps explain my "absence".... and also to thank you all for your continued business, support, friendship and kindness... it NEVER goes unnoticed and unappreciated! 👊👊👊

I have worn many hats and done many things... at the moment on some serious nerve pain meds and muscle pain meds... along with all my regular daily meds... it's a full meal!!! 🤣🙈 see attached evidence...I have also attached a series of pics to give you a glimpse into my journey.... hope you enjoy!

I am blessed and protected by the most high... 👊👊👊

Greetings from my bed! 😜

For the Love of Reptiles!
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24/07/2024

Does anyone know why FB and Insta don't want to accept # when uploading new content??? 😳😳😳🙈🙈🙈

04/05/2024

Join! Join! Join! 👊👊👊👊

19/04/2024

So this post may shock some and anger others…

The below is a nightmare that I may or may not have experienced… over a year in the making…maybe longer...

I have been in two minds for a long time as to whether I should share this fiction which could be real …

What is important is the warnings, the lessons learnt and the various hypothetical or maybe even real scenarios in the below…

The events below may be complete fiction or a crazy reality…

The characters involved in this nightmare, may be complete fiction or they may be 100% real…

You will not get me to confirm nor deny, so don’t ask…

Thank God for good friends and good people in the reptile hobby – they are very few and far between… IYKYK…THANK YOU for helping me start over… 👊👊👊

I have been keeping and breeding various reptiles since 1994… more “seriously” from 1996. I launched a website for reptile related sales, that did really well back then…

this progressed to opening a petshop specialising in reptiles, which also at the time did well… one shop became two and consumed a chunk of my life…

I got out the “pet trade” to pursue opportunities in my second passion, which is media, a career I have enjoyed for the past 20yrs…

but we all know that you can never really “get out” the reptile hobby once in it… so I always had a few projects in the background…

then about 10+ years ago, I attended a reptile expo and I fell in love with an Axanthic Ball Python on sale from a big breeder at the time. It was an adult male. The breeder convinced me to buy him a mate, an adult female spider het Axanthic… 12k later!

And from there we all know what happens… around 400k spent later and around 150 ball pythons later, I was “back in the game”…

I have ALWAYS loved the Axanthic VPI gene and have always focused my efforts on this specific gene…

I take you down memory lane because it has context!

There has always been “healthy competition” between breeders and an ethic that all abided by…

it was the “same old breeders” for the loooongest time in the hobby… a mistake “we” made was to focus efforts on creating other breeders and not really focussing efforts to grow the hobby and customer base…something we will regret for a while still...

I have seen many “breeders” come and go. I have seen the various “trends” that many followed blindly, come and go…

Then, all of a sudden, there were many breeders on the scene… and with competition rife, many things changed.

Good business practices, ethical behaviour, certain “standards” seem to have become less and less important, as those invested chased ROI and profits… which has come at HUGE COST to the hobby (IMO) which we are still to experience…

I digress… but again, there is context…

Did you know that, hypothetically, you could cripple your competition in a few easy steps (if that is your intention)…

it’s relatively easy actually… the “competition” has gone too far (imo). The competition has become an “at any cost” situation (imo)…

So, back to my hypothetical nightmare, “operation seek and destroy”…

A competitor can be severely crippled in the following ways (hypothetically of course):

1. You need to have a vet as a partner, involved in your business/collection. WHY?

Well, amongst other things, you can get first hand knowledge of what is happening with your competitors… hypothetically…

ALSO, you could deliberately sell a “sick” snake to infect a competitors collection – nothing completely obvious, something that could take time and give plausible deniability… AND if that fails, you can refute test results with your own tests conducted by “your” vet…hypothetically…

A third scenario could be that a vet could deliberately or otherwise, not give your reptiles the right meds or meds that could do harm (with you none the wiser)… hypothetically…

2. As a rodent breeder, you could deliberately or otherwise supply “infected” rodents, that could hypothetically kill a competitors entire collection in one feeding… sure, at that point you can test ALL your dead snakes to assign blame – AT YOUR OWN HUUUUGE COST… but even then, the supplier can refute and do tests with their own vet… and then you can go legal and waste the next 10yrs of your life with litigation…

Hypothetically, you could be in a situation where 1 and 2 could be combined into one “cabal” and quite literally, “seek and destroy” AND get away with it …

But WHY would anyone go to such lengths? Simple - $$$$$$$$$$$$$ This is a BIG BUCKS game now!!!

… If you have certain projects that could disrupt the industry and give you a huge edge, it is a risky spot to be in…

Attached are pics that may or may not be of my snake room.

The blank empty drawers and empty tubs may or may not have had snakes in them…

the cause of them being empty may or may not be related to the hypotheticals above…

Warnings and Learnings:
1. Not everyone in the hobby can be trusted.
2. Be careful WHO you buy your snakes from.
3. Be careful WHO you use for veterinary care and advice.
4. Be careful WHO you use to supply your snake food…

The silver lining - there are still (albeit very few) GOOD FRIENDS/GOOD SUPPLIERS/GOOD BREEDERS in this beautiful hobby... I appreciate the help from those of you who fall into these categories...

As for the rest - KARMA will deal with you!... hypothetically speaking...

"Back to the drawing board"... 👊👊👊

07/04/2024

Axanthic hatchlings produced at Snakes Alive from 2014 - present...