We were able to go to the February 2016 NARBC Arlington show which is always fun! We had been to this show twice previously, and shockingly came home with a new snake each time.
Although we didn’t have as much time to browse as you would like at a show this size, we were still able to check out a lot of cool stuff, and ran into some people we have met in the snake world.
Not long after being at the show, we ran into John, who we picked up Little Man from.
He was there to promote his site Morph Market that he has been working on. Which is a pretty cool site to browse some animals for sale.
He actually made sure to ask about the accessibility of the site, which shows he actually cares about his website enough to know that everyone can access it.
We then passed by Vida Preciosa International’s booth, or VPI for short and they are people we wanted to try to talk to.
We had been tossing around the idea of getting a blood python, but never had because we wanted to handle one first.
VPI just happened to have some blood pythons at their booth. After Taylor handled a blood python for a couple of minutes, Amanda’s interest was sparked. Tracy was very nice, answered all of our questions and even asked a few of her own about how we keep our reptiles.
as we started to discuss if we should pick this snake up, some other friends that breed snakes, Randi and Shane, passed by for a chat, where Amanda then started lining up a baby Normal Boa to come home in the future from a soon to be litter of snakes they were expecting.
Now we had a real dilemma on our hands, because this was the first show we had seen Blue Tongued Skinks available for sale, and Amanda had been wanting a skink for quite some time.
To give us some time to think it over, we went to C Serpents booth to look at some more snake housing, and to pay for a rack we had delivered to the show.
After much thought, we decided that the blood python was the better choice since she’s a python and her care isn’t too much different from our other snakes.
We Went back to VPI’s booth, and asked if they still had that female blood python, and they said yes! We paid for her, tucked her away in a tub for travel and went back to CSerpents’ booth to pick up the rack Amanda ordered, and Taylor picked up Mary’s home, a V-18 rack.
If you are wondering where the name “Mary” came from, then we have a surprise for you! Amanda actually had a little creativity when naming Mary.
Mary is a blood python, blood pythons turn red as they get older. The red in some cases can be described a “blood red”. There’s no way to say for sure how red Mary will get, but working with the blood python and red coloring angle, Amanda decided on “Bloody Mary” and “Mary” for short.
This came to her for 2 reasons:
1. A historical figure known as Bloody Mary Queen of Scots. You can learn more about her here and 2. Because, surely everyone has heard of the horror story with Bloody Mary right? If not, then read this.
Now, for those who don’t know what exactly a blood python is, here’s some awesome details and description from VPI directly:
Scientific name: Python brongersmai
Other common names: Red blood python, Malaysian blood python, Malaysian red blood python, and Sumatran red blood python.
Size: This is a very heavy-bodied snake. Large adults may have a massive girth. The head is long and broad, wider than the neck; the tail is short. Most adult females measure 50″-66″ in total length, most adult males measure 40″-56″ in total length. Older females occasionally attain 72″ in total length.
Distribution: The blood python is found throughout most of the lower elevations of Peninsular (Western) Malaysia, southwestern Thailand, and Sumatra east of the central dividing range of mountains, Bangka Island and other islands in the Straits of Malacca, including the Lingaa islands, Riau, and Pinang.
Pattern variation: This is a python taxa with variable pattern. Most typically then, the top of the head is unmarked or with a faint thin stripe from the internasals to the nape of the neck. There is a dark mark with a pale margin in front of the eye on the preoculars and a thin pale post ocular stripe from behind the eye to the angle of the jaw. There is a dark triangular post ocular blotch on the side of the head, the point contacting the posterior margin of the eye and widening onto the side of the neck. The upper surface of the neck and back is dark. Centered along the vertebral line and interspersed along the length of the body are small pale vertebral spots. On some specimens the vertebral spots are widely spaced, while in others they are numerous and in places coalesce to become elongated blotches or short stripes. On the sides are a series of dark lateral blotches. On the anterior half of the body, the sides appear as pale with a longitudinal series of lateral blotches on the lower sides-each blotch originating at the ventral surface and rising to about halfway up the sides. On the posterior half of the body these dark lateral blotches become taller and some or all contact and coalesce with the dark dorsal surface. In the pale areas of pattern, high on the side, are a longitudinal series of rounded black blotches, spaced at random intervals along the length of the body.
Color variation: There naturally exists quite a variation of colors in this taxon. The head can be dark charcoal gray, medium gray, pale chrome gray, a pale flesh color, or reddish tan; the heads of some Sumatran animals are red. It’s our observation that blood pythons have the ability to change the intensity or darkness of their head color. The eyes of blood pythons are pale at the top and shaded to dark gray or black at the bottom. Usually the pale post ocular stripe is pale gray, the dark post ocular blotch is black.
You might ask, “Why is it called a blood python?” The simple answer is that they eventually turn red.
Hatchling blood pythons are rarely red. The very reddest adult blood pythons may start out as brown, tan, or orange-brown hatchlings. Most youngsters undergo a dramatic color change as they mature. Animals typically don’t begin to show some red color in their pattern until their second year, and the brightest red colors usually develop from 2½ -3½ years of age. Thereafter, the red coloration of most adults darkens with age.
If you want to know more about blood pythons, check out the rest of VPI’s write up here
With 2 racks and a snake in tow, we decided that our day was complete.