At the end of July My family and I were out in Omaha, and while we were in his part of the country, Steve was kind enough to open his home to us and allow us to visit his family, Human and Herpetological. (Spelling? Who cares?!) Wow, Steve and his 'ranchhands' are every bit as kind and generous as they come across via the forum. It was amazing to see so many beautiful snakes, in so many amazing colors and varieties in person.

My son Jay was eager to visit with Tank. It was amazing to meet a snapper who is so friendly and sociable.


We heded down to the reptile rooms then. Steves set up s amazing, and I'm very envious of his front opening display cages.


Friendly faces where everywhere.


And his cage full of big ladies were happy to come out and be admired.


I could see that the front opening cages make a huge difference in the attitude of the snakes when approached by people. They were initially a little reluctant to be approached by strangers but, approached on their own level, they quickly relaxed and approached us curiously- what a difference from bins and top opening aquariums!

One gal who particularly impressed me was 'The enforcer' This gal is STRONG and just as sweet and curious and gentle as her cagemates.

Daisy really stood out too,with her intense orange stripe and matching curiosity- she was always at the lead of the pack trying to come out and visit.

It was wonderful to see all the fancy colored garters in person- I'm still shaking my head over the fact that Boomerang, Honda and Kaboom are just as rich a red as they appear in Steves pictures. I wish I could capture my snakes colors as clearly as he manages to.

I could keep going on and on, and not really say much more than 'Wow!" over and over. It was great to visit and talk garters and learn so much in such a short time. Just seeing so many happy, healthy individuals and having the opportunity to see the differences in build, temperament and body language was really amazing.

Thanks Steve.