Dusty Rhoads
New member
Hello from Texas, all!
Quick story about me: When I was 10-11 years old, we used to have quiet reading time during one of my 5th grade classes, and I would habitually wander over to the shelf and grab the “S” encyclopedia. (Three guesses why!)
Well, there was a picture of a beautiful South Carolina Corn Snake eating a mouse in a barn, and I dreamt (and likely even drooled) over that image on a regular basis. I bought Dr. Mike McEachern’s excellent AVS Corn Snake books, which were brand new that year, and did some more dreaming (and drooling). Then later that same year, Santa delivered an albino Corn Snake in a 10-gallon terrarium under the Christmas tree.
That was nearly 22 years ago, and the love affair has never really waned.
In college, I set out to learn everything that was known about Trans-Pecos Ratsnakes (aka “Subocs”) and have published most of that accumulated info in a book (published by ECO, called “The Complete Suboc”) and a few subsequent magazine and journal articles, though I have much more I want to discover about them. I felt I could serve the herp community better by focusing on Subocs, so I guess you could say I took Subocs to the prom, but always like to dance with Corns. (For those interested, I have an academic interests web site on snake biology, where you can download a lot of those and other PDFs for personal use, here: dustyrhoads.x10host.com/)
I presently have a modest to moderate number of Corn Snakes (about 13), but also maintain Mexican Hognose, North Mexican Pines, Gray-Banded Kingsnakes, an Emory’s Ratsnake, a Checkered Garter, normal and anery Pseudelaphe flavirufa, and of course, a few Trans-Pecos Ratsnakes of various "paint jobs” and localities. I have a few Corn projects in mind and am working towards, and will post pictures as things progress. Some of my favorite "base-mutations” and combos are Charcoal, Honey, Tessera, and Extreme Okeetee.
Well, enough introduction for now. Thanks for having me and hope to meet many of you!
Quick story about me: When I was 10-11 years old, we used to have quiet reading time during one of my 5th grade classes, and I would habitually wander over to the shelf and grab the “S” encyclopedia. (Three guesses why!)
Well, there was a picture of a beautiful South Carolina Corn Snake eating a mouse in a barn, and I dreamt (and likely even drooled) over that image on a regular basis. I bought Dr. Mike McEachern’s excellent AVS Corn Snake books, which were brand new that year, and did some more dreaming (and drooling). Then later that same year, Santa delivered an albino Corn Snake in a 10-gallon terrarium under the Christmas tree.
That was nearly 22 years ago, and the love affair has never really waned. In college, I set out to learn everything that was known about Trans-Pecos Ratsnakes (aka “Subocs”) and have published most of that accumulated info in a book (published by ECO, called “The Complete Suboc”) and a few subsequent magazine and journal articles, though I have much more I want to discover about them. I felt I could serve the herp community better by focusing on Subocs, so I guess you could say I took Subocs to the prom, but always like to dance with Corns. (For those interested, I have an academic interests web site on snake biology, where you can download a lot of those and other PDFs for personal use, here: dustyrhoads.x10host.com/)
I presently have a modest to moderate number of Corn Snakes (about 13), but also maintain Mexican Hognose, North Mexican Pines, Gray-Banded Kingsnakes, an Emory’s Ratsnake, a Checkered Garter, normal and anery Pseudelaphe flavirufa, and of course, a few Trans-Pecos Ratsnakes of various "paint jobs” and localities. I have a few Corn projects in mind and am working towards, and will post pictures as things progress. Some of my favorite "base-mutations” and combos are Charcoal, Honey, Tessera, and Extreme Okeetee.
Well, enough introduction for now. Thanks for having me and hope to meet many of you!
