Bloodreds

My son wants to get a Bloodred but I have some concerns about this morph. I have read and been told by the man we got this snake from that Bloods are bad feeders, ill tempered, small, have breeding problems, and have fragile health in general.
Is this the case? I realize that ANY snake could have one or all of these traits but I have been told that the Bloods ALWAYS do and that they need to be avoided until more out breeding is done with them. This shop will NOT even get one in for use because he says that he will not guarantee them. Is he just very cautious or are they that bad?
They are very pretty at any rate.

Thanks
Colleen

I have an 01 male Bloodred and he is great. He is smaller than most of my other 01s and he doesn't eat as much at one time as the rest but he eats good and steady. I got him from Kathy Love earlier this year and she told me he was a hold back cause he was a slow starter. I have not had any problems with him at all. As far as ill tempered, LOL, he's the sweetest little guy. I read in the Manual that sometimes the young prefer lizards as first meals and can be switched over to pinkies. I would recommend buying directly from a good breeder, ie Rich Z or Kathy L and get one that is feeding and well started. I would not avoid getting one at all.

Alicia

Well.....yes I have also heard that the bloodreds are quite hard to start feeding, but then once they start eating, they are great! Some of the bad temperment could be passed on if the parents are bad tempered......but with corn snakes.....this isn't very likely...

I wouldn't hessitate on getting one!

Some experience here...

My snake's mom was a normal and her dad was a bloodred. Half of their clutch refused to eat, a couple died because of it, and the rest had to be pinky pumped for almost 6 months. My snake was actually the last to start eating on her own but once she started she never looked back. She's a beautiful little snake, very normal with a few distinct bloodred traits and I wouldn't hesitate to do it all again for her. She's not ill tempered in the least and has been handled by my 4 year old cousin (supervised of course!) and my "scared of snakes" mother. The only thing is, I will be hesitant to ever breed her because of possible problems with her babies....

IMHO, if it's for a pet, go for it! If you plan on trying your hand in breeding (and it's your first time breeding) maybe you should pick a different morph.

It's been my experience with animals het for blood red that so long as you have anoles to feed and then to scent pinkies, you shouldn't have much trouble in getting baby bloodreds to eat. Perhaps they are still more problematic than other morphs (I think miami phase babies are notorious lizard eaters at first too), but they are no where nearly as bad off as they used to be. I wouldn't be scared off from having one as a pet or a breeder.

If you want more information about this subject, read what Rich Z. has written about the issue in his description about the morph in his listing on serpenco.com. I think you'll find it very encouraging.

Darin

I got a pair from South Mountain last year, they ate for Don but after being shipped went on strike. Which I fully admitt, is probably all my fault sense I tried to feed them too soon after shipping. I thought I was going to loose them, they didn't eat for five weeks after only having two meals in their life. However they stayed full of energy and seemed fine. Pretty hardy actually, a fragile hatchling wouldn't have lasted that long. After I broke down and fed both of them a freshly chopped off anole head, they ate just fine. I later used the rest of the anoles body to stuff pinks in and trick em. Each feeding I used less and less anole skin, and now they are devouring non scented fuzzies and hoppers like there is no tomarrow! I think it took less than two months to fully switch them over. They are so beautiful, the anole chopping was worth it. Their temperments are the same as all of my other corns, although the female LOVES to rattle her tail at you, she has never tried to bite. They are growing like weeds and since the first feeding strike I have never had any problems.

Thats very encouraging info. Thanks so much and I will go to Riches site and read that.

BTW My son now LOVES all of you!!LOL



Colleen

"Always" is flat-out false...

Notice that you'll hear a lot of, "what I've heard..." as opposed to "when I bred bloodreds..." Not trying to knock anybody, but first-hand information is more dependable than the grapevine, and once something gets a bad reputation on the grapevine it will not go away no matter how much anything changes, or how inaccurate the original story is/was.

My bloodred is huge (the biggest of all my corns) and when she is hungry there is no stopping her. Almost all of her 19 offspring last year ate f/t pinks during the first feeding attempt. She's also got a great disposition, toward the top of the list in my collection of 14 corns.

Meanwhile, my Anery produces little brats. They will not touch food unless it moves, and smells like anole.

As for the attitude problems, I've heard the same thing about many morphs. I don't believe this about any morph that has been around long enough to be outcrossed sufficiently.

My experience and research tells me that attitude runs in families. I also believe that the tendencies for feeding 'problems' run in families.

I think a lot of it is just exaggeration due to the "telephone" effect, and unfortunately, the grapevine will keep that story going for a long time. Even if it were all true, bloodreds have been outcrossed quite a bit into other morphs. If you want an outcrossed one, just get one that is combined with another morph. (Amel Blood, Pewter, Hypo Blood, Anery Blood, etc.)

I agree with Seprwidgets, Bloodreds have a bad reputation which may have been warranted at one time. They have been outcrossed so much now that their is very little difference between them and other corns. Mine have a very good attitude and eat everytime, some even while in shed. I don't care what morph you breed your going to have some that will need lizard or lizard senting to get started eating. It's part of breeding colubrids. If your going to breed it's best to be prepared for this. IMHO