My first encounter with a snake happened before I can remember. I've only heard the story of me catching a small snake while I was at a family reunion at a very young age. I apparently scared everyone when they discovered me holding the big, bad (tiny) snake. I finally purchased a corn snake from a private breeder that lived across the street from me when I was about 10 years old. It escaped the first night and was never seen again.
It wasn't until I moved out of my aunt's house that I was able to acquire another reptile. I started out with an assortment of odds and ends of pairs of this and that. I always knew I wanted to breed reptiles at some point, but really had no clue what I was doing, or any guidance. Things changed quickly when I received my first pair of normal ball pythons from a friend that was moving. When it was discovered that they were a sexual pair, and began breeding, I turned to the internet and online communities for advice. It was then that I discovered the endless ball python morphs, and simply put, I thought they were very neat and became interested in producing combos of my favorites. Long story short, my female laid eggs, incubated them maternally, and all of the eggs hatched. Watching the tiny babies hatch was a turning point for me, and I became much more serious about learning the proper husbandry and captive breeding practices for these animals.
Although I started out building a solely ball python colony, I never lost interest in other herps. I also acquired a small collection of other species to enjoy raising, and hopefully one day, reproduce.
I am still quite new to the breeding scene (first offspring produced in 2006), but I have quickly come to appreciate the significant importance in selective breeding. I strive to purchase the best looking animals I can find, from reputable breeders that care about this hobby. I then pair my animals according to their individual phenotypes and the phenotypes of any of their previous offspring, in attempts to produce the best looking babies as possible. If a certain pair I have chosen to breed together is not showing much reproductive activity, I don't automatically back it up with another random male just to produce more animals. I value quality over quantity and I believe there are many other hobbyists that feel the same, and appreciate this type of breeding effort.
In addition to keeping and breeding reptiles, I also hold a strong interest in creating visual art, whether it be on paper, canvas, or digital. I enjoy drawing animal subjects more than anything else, and sometimes offer commissions or logo design services. I will be posting more information about this on my Art page.
Thank you for reading and visiting my site. I look forward to helping you in any way I can!
Diana Walkoviak
