Applegate - You setting rules Matt?
matt2 - welp; lets get started, please have your questions typed and ready..also, Bob, when you've finished a response could you type next
Applegate - will do/next

matt2 - ok: Bob: what's new for projects this year
Applegate - Refer you to my site www.applegatereptiles for all, but striped sinaloans, spotted annulata, hypo greeri, super light thayeri, and hopefully a few more/next

BeardedDragons - Bob- I currently keep Bearded Dragons and Leopard Geckos I want to expand on my lizard colletion I am looking for something non-ven lizards what is something new and interesting i can get into?
Applegate - The only lizards I do are Heloderma, so not really qualified to pick for you, but if it were me If I saw somwething I thought I would like, I would do research and if after that I still wanted them, I would get them/next

BenR79 - how many gilas and beadeds are you up to now bob?
Applegate - about 20 of each/next

chondropython - bob what species of kingsnake are you working with? I was just looking around to see if there were any intersting morphs out there.
Applegate - Long list CP, all I do now are kingsnakes, check my site out for list and pics/next

geckogeek - how would a person find information on how to get started with venomus reptiles?
Applegate - Most are the same for care as non venomous, just the mistakes are more costly! I would suggest your local animal control laws, them move to state, etc to see if you would be allowed
Applegate - If not and you want to do it anyway, go underground, but be careful. mistakes give us all a bad name in general public/next
Applegate - wife just brought beer, she is great!

MichHerper - What does the venom of Heloderma effect?
Applegate - For you that don't know, Herpo is my webmaster and is really responsible for the shape it is in, which I am proud of/next

SirRandal -Bob, are you determining the sex of your gila's (as adults) by head size, behavior, radiographs, or DNA?
Applegate - The venom is supposed to be neurotoxic, but is a very painful bite, there is an account of a recent bite written up in articles on my site
Applegate - Mark Seward was here with sonagram (?sp) and head size, and behaviour, and past eggs laying history, still no absolute way, DNA had promise, but apparantly is not available at reasonable cost at this time/next

amazoa - Can you discribe your enclosure and how you heat it?
Applegate - Yes Matt, was typing/next
Applegate - 3'x3' with metal covering a 3" flex watt strip in the rear, with 4" pvc pipe going through floor into drawers about the same size/next

BeardedDragons - At what age did you keep your first reptile? what was it? and do you still have it?
KINGSNAKE18 - i caught the biggest damm racer i have ever seen
Applegate - BD My first reptile was an alligator lizard caught at age 5, I just turned 57, sorry, but I don't have it!/next

chondropython - what is the most colorfull of the kingsnakes, what is the average clutch size, what is your favorite species?
chondropython - o and can you keep kings together?
Applegate - colorfull is in the eye of the beholder, many are beautiful, the species determines average clutch sizes (getula up to 20+, most pyros 6 or less, and many inbetween, and all I have are my favorites, I have been asked this before and I have what I have because they are what I want, it would be like asking a mother, which of your 3 kids is your favorite! next

Herpo - Bob, tips on getting decent fertility with mex mex?
Applegate - all my kings are in pairs or more (no more than one male) up to 8 in a section in my newer snake cages (the double decker ones)
Applegate - 4 month hibernation, av temps of approx 50 and multiple males, it may be than some can be sterilized by any number of things and in some cases it can be irreversible/next

Applegate - John, it can be very cold in the valley of the phantoms where they are from, been there
Herpo - two males at once, or just one after the other?

KINGSNAKE18 - bob do you ever have problems with kingsnakes eating eachother when together in a encloser
Applegate - never more than once! Just kidding, with the getula, when raised seperate and introduced, you have to watch them for a while, but if seperated for feeding and a while after, no

MichHerper - I understand you were recently bit by one of your Heloderma, has it detered your feelings towards them and/or keeping them?
Applegate - MH I wrote up the account, but it was not I that was bitten, see the article on my site next

plomosa - Do most of your female kingsnakes double clutch? If so, what percentage of the eggs are viable?
Applegate - Most do, the pyros being the exception, and most of the time the clutch is smaller, but fertility about the same in multiple clutches/next

Taradazso-Nuts - applegate, its nice meeting ya and talking to ya..... my pleasure.... my question: I got a 3 yrs old snow corn snake with unhinged jaw injury from a previous owner who fed it big food when it was baby. i just got it and it keep on opening (click)his jaw sometimes.. wonder if it is a sign of respitarory problem or jaw old injury that healed years ago???
Applegate - Sounds like a broken bone, would need a vet to look at it to be sure

geckogeek - how do you tell if a snake has retained an egg, what will it look and feel like
matt2 - Bob: any news if Mexico will/may relax herp'n laws?
Applegate - Normally you would see the swelling and feel it GG/next
Applegate - I keep hearing rumors, but nothing concrete I know of Matt/next

amazoa - What do you use to incubate your beaded lizard eggs in? How about your Pueblan Milk snakes? Can you influence the lizards sex with varying the incubation temps?
Applegate - I do them in the same incubator as my colubrids (Kings) 80-82) dry vermiculite, but container floating in a ventilated second container, heloderma are supposed to be x/y so no, temps should not effect sex/next

BeardedDragons - How many mice/rabbits do you go through in a week?
Applegate - Lizards only get baby rabbits every other week, supplemented with rats and chicks, during baby season, probably about 1000-2000 mice and rats per week, plus 10-20 rabbits and chicks thrown in/next

BenR79 - Which do you like working with more between gilas a beadeds? Anything you like more about one over the other?
Applegate - Gilas are prettier, beadeds more impressive and massive, I like both/next

KINGSNAKE18 - what is biggest king snake in all of the king snake types what one do ya like the most
Applegate - K-18, Several kings have come close to 7 feet in length, including Honduran Mik\lksnakes and Fl Kings, I could not chose which I like best

MichHerper - Why tri-colors?
Applegate - Over the last 30 years they have been consistant, not glamorous, and they go to sleep for 3-4 months per year so you can have a life after herps, and they fit in convenient sized enclosures, are beautiful, and eat readilly available food/next

plomosa - how often do you feed your female kingsnakes in order to encourage the second clutch? Would 2 adult mice per week be sufficient for say an adult cal king?
Applegate - It is not how often, but always, always have something digesting, if it usually eats adult mice, and is opaque and refuses, offer a pink rat, etc, get it to eat something, and yes they will eat pink rats, mice, etc when opaque or just before laying eggs, if plenty of food it is more likely they will double and triple clutch/next

SteveDossReptiles - I know you have opted to go with different caging than most breeders. I was wondering if you had any pics of them?
Applegate - TK do you have that pic thing of my cages to send him to on this??
Herpo - why isn't it on the site?
matt2 - (he'll brb Bob-TK)
Applegate - Good ?? John, been wanting to write up a bit on caging, but you know me, retired so it takes my own time, not like the old days when I could do it at work/next

KINGSNAKE18 - have ya ever had a baby king snake with 2 heads come out of a egg ?

Taradazso-Nuts - what does it mean when snake has wetness in mouth when open his broken jaw, is that normal for all snakes to have wet in its mouth when yawn or open mouth like we do? send cage pic to me too please thanks
Applegate - A few times K, but none lived long/next
Applegate - some moisture, yes, but it sounds like you need someone who knows what they are doing to physically see your snake, can't help much in this forum/next

matt2 - my turn; Bob what do you see as the next big (ie selling) albino tri-color?
Applegate - Not sure Matt, public desire can be a fickle thing, but I hope I have them!!/next

amazoa - I in the past have had trouble getting my gray banded kings to eat pinkies right away. I have been told if you introduce several live pinkies to the egg container 5-10 days prior to hatching this may help. What is your opinion Mr. Applegate?
Greenstar - how do you feel about leopard geckos being bred in a rack system?
Applegate - I fellow in England professed the theory that if the eggs are permeated with mouse smell the hatchlings will be more likely to take mice as food, I have tried it, but didn't notice any great differences!/next

BeardedDragons - When I reach my college days in a few years i would like to go somewhere where i could study herptology(<-dont know if thats correct term) do you know of any colleges if so what are they?
Applegate - I never took any courses and don't really know, you might want to join SSAR and read some of the technical papers presented and see the addresses of the students to help you locate several/next

Herpo - I always thought that if animals had gene-linked sex, that the chromosomal difference would be evident. IF Heloderma are not temperature controlled, why can't you see the xx or xy?
Applegate - I would think if someone works out the DNA thing you could, Seward was working with it, and getting close, but his "freebie" source changed jobs, so now it seems $$ is stopping that science/next

KINGSNAKE18 - how big do the gilas monsters get an do ya ever handle them ?
Applegate - about 22" and yes, carefully!/next

SteveDossReptiles - what is your opinion on the future of commercial snake breeding?
SteveDossReptiles - also was wondering if tk was back so i could give him my e-mail address for the pics
matt2 - (tk will change his nick when back)

Applegate - Doing great things to advance the interest in reptiles, protecting wild populations as best we can with human expansion, etc, but not something I would want to try to make my living on, too many private doing it for fun willing to give away their babies at less than it costs them to be produced/next

survey33 - any truth to albino hondurans being more handlable? I only have one albino but that seems to be the case, I can't even touch my baby hypos without them going spastic. thanks
Applegate - Most baby hondurans are like that, look at the world through their eyes, you, a giant! Probably about to eat them! Panic and natural response for the species, after a while they grow larger and you become part of the furniture, they settle down, you can always try the cobra handlers trick to speed the settling down up!/next

Taradazso-Nuts - d o you like to house herps in rubbermaid containers? Do u think white lipped tree viper is awesome snake? what hot beginner snake should a person get if he feel he read y to own a hot
Applegate - If the snakes feed well (make that herps) and are clean and healthy, any container is fine with me, as far as hots, start with as mild as possible and make sure there is an antivenin supply nearby/next

matt2 - Bob; howz the gila/beaded egg production going this year
Applegate - Too soon to tell Matt, females look good so fingers are crossed!/next
matt2 - and a followup: the albino applegate pyros
Applegate - same, that snake was selected to be the T-shirt model for daytona this year!

amazoa - What's your thoughts one the one eyed albino boas that seem to be showing up from time to time. Some say it's inherited some say it is not. What do you think? Personally I would never breed one if I ever produced one.
Applegate - Hard to tell, but sounds like inbreeding problem if it is frequent, most snakes can be inbred many times without problems, but something went wrong to produce an albino, who is to say the color gene is the only thing messed up, and the more inbreeding, the more likely something bad will show up/next

BeardedDragons - Do you have any tips on getting parents to change their mind about snakes(good arguments) - they wont let me get a corn!?
Applegate - Yes, you could be doing drugs, having many sexual partners, etc, nature is a good safe outlet/next

KINGSNAKE18 - my kingsnake has a tendacy to rattle his tail an hiss an bite other people when they hold him an but he never does that to me any ideas why ?
Applegate - BD you need to read a lot, go out in the field, etc, take them to a local herp meeting! It is a noble cause, I would have been in a wild gang or in jail if it weren't for herps!
Applegate - He accepts your odor as safe and is threatened by others/next

NickAsher - Are gilas good for some ones 1st hot?
NickAsher - and if not what do you think would be
Applegate - Safer than most, but need to check legal status where you are/next

plomosa - If you plan on breeding a female kingsnake, and you constantly are keeping food digesting inside of her, will she not become detrimentally overweight? Or is there no such thing?
Applegate - Good ???! Not always, just after winter hibernation and between clutches, not the entire year!/next

SteveDossReptiles - what do you think of the ethics of crossing species that do not breed normally in the wild like kings and corns?
Applegate - I don't personally do it, or want to, but if the tree huggers ever get their way, only "domestic animals" will be kept as pets, and it would be hard to argue that something that doesn't even exist in the wild isn't "domestic" but I do wish there was a way to positively ID them so they won't get mixed up with the true native stuff/next

survey33 - was wondering approx. how many herps you currently maintain and how many hours a week do you put in to maintain a large collection.
Applegate - 40 Heloderma, and approx 250 adult breeder kings and up to 1500 babies per year, times vary with seasons, dailey checks on "prospective" females, feeding takes most of 3 days, spot checks regularly, hard to get away for more than 2 days in Summer, winters are better, most are hibernated/next

Taradazso-Nuts - what do ya recommend for a vemonous beginner to purchase their 1st mild vemonous snakes? can u please list few... btw.. how do ya hibernate the snakes??
Taradazso-Nuts - and are u going to IHS this year?
Applegate - I think a Mangrove snake would be a good starter, but lyre snakes, cat eyed snakes, etc, I live at 3000 feet in the Mtns east of San Diego, CA to hibernate I just turn off the heat, and get a coachwhip snake and if you can keep it in the cage and do all needed for a year without getting bitten, you might be ready for venomous!/next

matt2 - Bob, in Daytona this year: are you gonna be a vendor or just visiting
Applegate - Probably not IHS, but daytona will be a first this year for me/next
Applegate - Vendor
matt2 - Bob; we're up on the hour..would you like to continue for a half hour ?
Applegate - Sure! I can watch Survivor some other day!
matt2 - thanks so muc, amazoa:
Applegate - short break, bea

amazoa - What do you expect to be your big seller in Daytona? Ever seen Wayne Hills Aldabra and Galops collection? Got to visit his breeding facility recently its really neat.
Applegate - Last time I visited Wayne he had all the venomous stuff in a trailor in the swamp, but I will be staying with him a couple days after the show, so expect to see all!/next
Applegate - AM I hope my pyro, since it will be on all the shirts!/next

geckogeek - how big does a desert kingsnake normally get? and how much do they normally eat? i know if one that i work with that will eat 10-12 mice large every week. is this normal?
Applegate - gg there is no normal, if it is a young snake and growing proportionally, feed it all you want, if it reaches adult size and starts getting fat, slow it down/next
Applegate - 3-3.5 feet is normal for splendida gg

KINGSNAKE18 - how big do the mexican kingsnakes get an are they good to keep as herps
Applegate - They are great, my largest female was almost 6.5 feet, but most are 3.4 to 4 feet/next

SirRandal -do you use vermiculite, pearlite, spaghnum moss, or some other sort of substrate to incubate either colubrid or heloderm eggs?
Applegate - vermiculite, used it for years, have used perilite one year when it wasn't available, both with good success/next

SteveDossReptiles - I was wondering if you had any neat projects you can not wait to prove out you could tell us about?
Guest84091 - my 10 inch WC CA kingsnake has a tendency to grab a pinky and carry it around.only to drop it
Applegate - The newest is the light greeri, but we proved it this last season, don't have anything not proven at this time, but always hoping!/next

survey33 - In a collection, what ratio of males to females would you recommend? thanks
Applegate - 2.4/next

Taradazso-Nuts - what will a double het normal corn will produce w/a snow female? You breeding and sell corns???
Applegate - I no longer do corns, and the answer really depends on what your snake is double het for/next

amazoa - Do kingsnakes carry any co-dominate genes like the Rich Ihle Hypo's (boas)
Applegate - Some do, some don't, as a species, no, but individuals pop up that do all sorts of genetic things/next

KINGSNAKE18 - is it possible to breed a kingsnake with a hognose snake
Applegate - Possible, but why?/pass

plomosa - Do you still acquire animals from other breeders? If so, have you or anyone else ever considered crossing the albino pyro from BHB with your applegate pyro? I dont know if they would look any different, but you never know.

Greenstar - my 10 inch WC CA kingsnake has a tendency to grab a pinky and carry it around only to drop it. is there a way to get him to eat it rather than try and eat it? could this be be do to the fact he is wc and this is not his naturall food or because of tank setup, heat, smell, ect.?
Applegate - I am afraid to acquire anything new, too many mystery diseases going around, so I keep a closed shop, I have seen the albino pyro, and I personally don't like the flesh color where the black would have been, but it is a nice snake, what could you gain by crossing the two?/next

SirRandal -Is L. z. zonata harder to husband than the other zonata complex?
Applegate - GS put it in a small cup with food and do not disturb it/next

survey33 - are ruthveni babies difficult to get feeding?
Applegate - Not really, they go off food like the pyros, but for years I had zonata pulchra and babies loved split brain pinks until they went to unscented/next

SteveDossReptiles - can you give us a little info on how/where the Applegate pyro came from? and how do you keep your own babies for future breeder replacement?
SteveDossReptiles - sorry do you keep your own babies for future breeder replacement?
Applegate - Most baby snakes will eat something, the trick is to get them to eat something we can easily supply, ruthveni are not as hard as alterna to get on mice, but some can be difficult. You might go to my site and read the article about getting baby snakes to eat, it might help/next

Taradazso-Nuts - i got common black white stripe/spots cali king, hes very beautiful..... i was wondering what is your setup for a cali king ? temp, heatpad?, etc
Applegate - The AP came from 2 wild caught gravid females, male from one clutch, female from another, and each year I look the collection over, and if I see a female 7 years old, I will often set aside a replacement for her, and of course, if anything really "wild" hatches, it and siblings are set aside for future/next

amazoa - Can you see any improvements lately concerning the many ineffective wildlife laws concerning reptile management?
Applegate - Drawer cage 2 feet deep, 1.5 feet wide, heat tape in back, snake can move back in cage or drawer for heat, forward to cool off/next

geckogeek - what kind of set up would a person need for a copperhead?
Applegate - The "old" law enforcement Fish and Game guys were wanna be cops who couldn't make it, and were a bit hard headed (of course there are exceptions!), they are retiring, etc, and the new generation of educated officers are taking command, and many realize the benefits of captive breeding, so yes, I am hopeful about the future/next
Applegate - I am getting old am, took a while to type your answer

Greenstar - I has done this but it has only been a week in captivity. Would releasing or feeding fence lizards be a good idea?
Greenstar - it is for a 10 inch WC CA king
Applegate - either, but if it takes the pink in the mouth, it should eat it, try an overnight as I suggested

KINGSNAKE18 - my kingsnake is 3 1/2 feet an eating 2 small rats every week is that good or to much for it ?
Applegate - K-18, if it isn't getting fat it is fine/next

plomosa - How quickly do you sell out of your kingsnakes, how many do you sell to wholesalers/petstores, do you get your full price from your website on most of your kingsnakes? If my question only has one question mark then it is only one question, right? LOL
Applegate - I see 2?? But I keep the best colored ones for the web site people, wholesale many of the prolific ones (only if feeding) and work with the stubborn ones until they either join the doing well ones or go in the wifes mulch pile. The way to get a good reputation is to deal honestly with your customers, and to have them do well with what you sell them/next

SteveDossReptiles - do you have any "plans" for an incubator you could share?
Applegate - I should write it up on my site, sorry but way too long for the rpoper answer here, come visit or call me sometime, glad to help/next

survey33 - ever feel the reptile market will get saturated? seems like everyone is a breeder. hard to imagine where all these babies go. thanks
Applegate - The expansion of the interest will absorb many, and hopefully, we are cutting way back on the need to import, but it could happen on some of the common things, but then breeders will cut back, how many albino speckled kings do you see today? Used to be a big deal/next

Taradazso-Nuts - do you have any crocodilians or alligators? i got a caiman and gator and i hope to breed em someday.. got any good tips? wheres are u located at??
Applegate - I am in CA and both are illegal here, used to buy and resell, but never kept any long enough to know what I was doing, over a beer or 2 in daytona I will tell you a funny story about trying to catch Crocodiles in Mexico!

matt2 - ok, folks; last go-down of list for questions: amazoa:
amazoa - I'll pass got to hit the sack but want to thank you...I'll see you in Daytona...I will be helping out a well known Mountain Tortoise Breeder -Vic Morgan..Goodnight and thanks for the chat
Applegate - Thank you!

Taradazso-Nuts - ill be at daytona, ill be hosting a keg party at adams hotel, everyone is coming
Applegate - Great, I will be staying there Thur, Fri and Sat!

Greenstar - It has been in over night with itnad the king has bit it up bad. The pinky is still kicking at hour 28 hours later. what should I do just keep trying?
Applegate - Might feed the pink off, or freeze it, give it a couple days off and try again/next
Applegate - Good luck
Greenstar - thanks

KINGSNAKE18 - how big will my alligator lizards get they are about 2 feet right an eatin fuzzies an bugs
Applegate - That is larger than any I have had/next

SteveDossReptiles - what substrate do you use in your collection?also i remember seeing in your book a pic of sinaloans hatching out in a butter cup with standing water do you do that often?
Applegate - The water was outside the cup for humidity in the second container, and most of my adults are on sifted and washed silica sand/next

survey33 - do you raise your own rodents or buy frozen? thanks for your time Bob.
Applegate - I have a rodent building, and thank you for participating/next

Taradazso-Nuts - I raise my own rodents and it saved me alot money, what do ya feed ur rodents?
Applegate - Star milling 11% fat rodent chow, the trick is the bedding, I use gentle touch aspen pellets, only clean once a month
matt2 - Welp, our time is up for tonight's Guestchat..oh behalf of JeffB, Kingsnake.com and myself..thanks so much for taking of your time tonight Bob

Taradazso-Nuts - and does mice stink than rats?
Applegate - Glad to help such a noble cause Bill, thanks for inviting me!
geckogeek - thank you Bob
Taradazso-Nuts - thank u bob
KINGSNAKE18 - ty bob
matt2 - for those of you, Bob's site is located on Kingsnake.com and is very informative
KINGSNAKE18 - for your help
Applegate - about the same tara
Applegate - and your real name and where to find you?
KINGSNAKE18 - an bob i will send ya pics of agro my alligator lizard
Taradazso-Nuts - My real name is Jeff DuPree, i will email u with invation card
matt2 - for those of you who may wish to continue chatting herps, you're welcome to join #kingsnake
Applegate - Thanks Jeff, I will gladly attend
Applegate - Night all
matt2 - good night all
matt2 - and join us in #kingsnake