My trip down to Tom Crutchfield's "operation"...

[StatikStepz]

So I drove alllll the way down to Florida City with a friend of mine who wanted to buy a couple baby Carpet Pythons from Tom Crutchfield. So we took the 2+ hour drive down (almost to the Florida Keys!) to check out all his stuff. For those that do not know who Tom Crutchfield is, you can stop by his website at tomcrutchfield.com. He is one of the largest reptile importers and breeders in the US, and he has quite the impressive collection of... well... EVERYTHING!! lol He has trailers and trailers and trailers full of 1,000's of snakes, all kinds venomous and non. Not to mention all the turtles, iguanas, monitors and lizards of all kinds, etc etc etc. And he is also the one that is doing the documentary on Nile Monitors destroying our Everglades ecosystem with Jeff Corwin for Animal Planet, starring my friend's Nile Monitor "Debo".

Anywayz, here are a few pix that i thought you all would like...

Not sure what kind of iguana this was, but it was almost all black... Maybe a Rhino Iguana?

One of his albino iguanas!

A group of different color iguanas!

And this one is his most prized posession... The ONLY blue iguana in the world! So beautiful!

I forget what kind of Monitor this was, but i remember taking a picture of it because it is very rare, whatever it was, to have that much blue on it...

One of his albino Diamondback Rattlesnakes... This boy was so tame, he just reached in and picked it up and held it as if it were a ball python with no worries, lol... Its been held so much since it was a baby that it doesn't even rattle it's tail anymore, lol...

A beautiful Pied Ball that i was 2 seconds away from buying (the bigger of the 2), lol..

A beautiful Gaboon Viper baby...

2 awesome Gaboon Viper sub-adult... I love their kaleidescope patterns! ::be careful kids, it is hypnotizing, but don't get too close!:: lol

A VERY feisty albino Monacled Cobra... lol (by the way, thats not my hand in the pic... that's Tom's hand... he was trying to get the cobra to stand up for me for the pic)

On the way home with 3 new babies!!!

 

[Tony C]

Awesome, I love Gaboons.

 

[spykerherps]

Cool place. what did you come home with? they obviously aren't the carpets your friend was going for. Pacific Tree boas or ground boas?

 

[robin]

i was thinking Candoia *shrug*

 

[Srt14292]

Wow that blue iguana is something special! my favourites have to be the red and albino iguana iguana.

 

[gixxer3420]

He has a great collection. Thanks for posting his website, I'm going to stroll through it.

 

[StatikStepz]

Cool place. what did you come home with? they obviously aren't the carpets your friend was going for. Pacific Tree boas or ground boas?

Very good observation! I just realized i forgot to mention that we actually did not leave with the snakes he intended on purchasing, and what those actually were.

Those are Solomon Island Ground Boas. 1 Male, 2 Females.

 

[robin]

i was right candoia!

 

[StatikStepz]

He has a great collection. Thanks for posting his website, I'm going to stroll through it.

No problem... But seriously, the FEW pix that i posted are nothing... prolly just .00000000028302% of his collection, lol. I woulda had more pix, alot more pix, but i was just so amazed at everything he had, i couldn't stop n take pix... cuz everywhere i turned, there was somethin else that caught my eye. And i'll tell ya, it really is scary staring at an African Green Mamba and an African Black Mamba face to face on the other side of a cage, lol (for those that don't know, they are the deadliest snakes on earth, besides sea snakes). The spitting cobras were cool too! Ah, i can't wait to go back!

 

[ILoveGeckos14]

I can't stop staring at the pattern on the Gaboon Vipers! That's really cool

 

[gitrdone0420]

Chris, I am very mad at you for not taking me with you! Not fair!

I cant believe you didnt buy the pied =P Those are my favorite!
Oh I just love his collection!

 

[robin]

No problem... But seriously, the FEW pix that i posted are nothing... prolly just .00000000028302% of his collection, lol. I woulda had more pix, alot more pix, but i was just so amazed at everything he had, i couldn't stop n take pix... cuz everywhere i turned, there was somethin else that caught my eye. And i'll tell ya, it really is scary staring at an African Green Mamba and an African Black Mamba face to face on the other side of a cage, lol (for those that don't know, they are the deadliest snakes on earth, besides sea snakes). The spitting cobras were cool too! Ah, i can't wait to go back!

i have seen green mambas and black mambas and while they are very "intimidating" and i respect them immensely but i think the most amazing animal i have ever witnessed was a king cobra. AMAZING animals. (i have a friend who used to have a very large collection of elapids and pit vipers)

 

[StatikStepz]

I can't stop staring at the pattern on the Gaboon Vipers! That's really cool

Yeah, they are pretty sweet lookin snakes! I can't remember if this was an eastern or western... Either way, it was the one that has the 2 horns on it's nose.

 

[StatikStepz]

Chris, I am very mad at you for not taking me with you! Not fair!

I cant believe you didnt buy the pied =P Those are my favorite!
Oh I just love his collection!

lol, sorry! Next time tho! Next time! But u gotta give me some serious gas money if i gotta drive all the way up to Jacksonville 1st to pick u up and then all the way back down here... then back to Jacksonville to drop u off, and then all the way back down to my house... lol

And didn't get the pied cuz it was about $500 more than i could afford to spend rite now, lol

 

[StatikStepz]

i have seen green mambas and black mambas and while they are very "intimidating" and i respect them immensely but i think the most amazing animal i have ever witnessed was a king cobra. AMAZING animals. (i have a friend who used to have a very large collection of elapids and pit vipers)

Nice! I wish i coulda seen that collection! I love venomous snakes aswell! And yes, you are correct, King Cobras are quite the amazing animal! Especially when u see the HUUUUGE ones that are like 10+ feet long!!!

 

[gitrdone0420]

lol, sorry! Next time tho! Next time! But u gotta give me some serious gas money if i gotta drive all the way up to Jacksonville 1st to pick u up and then all the way back down here... then back to Jacksonville to drop u off, and then all the way back down to my house... lol

And didn't get the pied cuz it was about $500 more than i could afford to spend rite now, lol

I can make some arrangements ;-)
Plus, ya know... I do have my own car =P

 

[StatikStepz]

Plus, ya know... I do have my own car =P

Shhhh...!!!

:main_thumbsup:


..Then lets make these arrangements! lmao jk

 

[robin]

Nice! I wish i coulda seen that collection! I love venomous snakes aswell! And yes, you are correct, King Cobras are quite the amazing animal! Especially when u see the HUUUUGE ones that are like 10+ feet long!!!

his was a captive bred, rat feeding 7 foot "baby" at the time.

 

[StatikStepz]

Niiice! And was he crazy enough to hold this, or was it just kept safely in a cage? lol

 

[robin]

safely in a cage. he did not free handle ANY of his hots no matter how "docile" they were. do not get mad but i think tom was an idiot for free handling that albino western diamondback. all of my friends hots were on tongs, hooks or tubed (when he was working with them). he was very professional and kept with all of his safety protocols.