Transcription
What's going on, everybody? It is Proper Royals live, and it's all Adam all night long. Got, uh, some industry headlines to cover tonight. Summer show circuit to talk about, and all the stuff that Charlie at shedtesting.com just did for you guys this week. I got you covered, baby. Let's get to it.
[Music] [Music]
What's going on, guys? Thank you all for being here tonight. It's, uh, it's August. It's, it's kind of like, do we ever really get away from summer? Like, we grow up, we go to school, we get these summer vacations. Unless you had the weird, like, year-round school. I guess it's not weird. It's weird. Sorry, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. That's a little weird. Uh, and then like, we had this time in our lives where we got to work all the time and, you know, schedule your vacations, but then like, if you have kids, you're just like, on this whole weird schedule for two months. It's this bizarro land. Uh, there's either a kid around or you got this new routine, and it just feels like it almost feels like you should just accept it because you're not going to get any work done anyway. So, make it, make it a vacation. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying your summer. I am still working hard in the summer. Uh, but today's theme is a little bit about, uh, summer and the market and all of that stuff. So, I hope that you're doing well. Thank you all for being here. I am going to attempt to keep an eye on the comments and on the camera.
Quinton, what's going on? My bad. I just remembered you called me this morning when I was driving to the, uh, to the facility. I'll call you back, uh, probably tomorrow. I'm a little fried tonight. Um, maybe I'll text you. Anyway, I hope you guys are well. Uh, who, we, we got a bunch of cool people in here. All right, we got Tyson, Vamorphs, John. We got Motans in here with Ross Moore. I don't know if Katie, Katie, you're Motan or Wisconsinite. Is that what it is? Wisconsiner. I'm not sure. Um, you might be Motan. Might not be anything Wisconsin. I'm sorry. Iowa. I don't know where you're from, Adrian, but it's always good to see you, man. Thanks for all the comments and the support. Jerome, what's going on? A new, a transplant Ian. That's right. Uh, upper Midwest. Uh, representing well. DNA Reptilia, keeping it going. Aurora from up north. Okay. Up north, as we say. Another Motan. Quinton. Okay. We got a little, like, uh, little cozy clique here of the upper Midwest. We'll have to invite everybody else. Everybody is welcome. But this is, we could make this like a Midwest-centric, uh, show if we need to. Actually, I don't know if I can or not, but, uh, I got a lot of, a lot of fun stuff to get to.
Um, announcements, not a whole lot. Uh, if you are in the market for Ultramale het pied animals, um, no codominants in them or incomplete or whatever you want to call them, the non-recessives. I don't want to get into a lecture debate on what we call those things. You know what I'm talking about. Spare me the lecture. Um, if you're interested in Ultramale het piedes, they've had three meals, they need a couple more, but they're all eating well. None of them have, uh, refused a meal. They're pooing right. Uh, life is good. Those are, uh, available. They're not listed on the website. I'm going to float them out to the Patreon, uh, probably tonight, actually. And I can't, I might already have, actually, but, uh, there's 2.2 of those. So, there's two males, two females. Patreon does get first dibs. So, if you want to join that or get first dibs, starts at seven bucks a month. Check that out at, uh, patreon.com and look up Proper Royals. Um, otherwise, uh, shoot me a note if you're interested. We could talk details. I honestly, I haven't even priced them yet, but whatever the price mark is. Uh, I did get two Pinstripe Ultra Het, uh, pods, but I'm going to keep those. That's a 1.1. It's a nice, uh, nice batch to keep. So, that's that announcement.
Uh, the next show coming up is not this weekend, but the following weekend. Whatever those dates would be. I'm looking at my calendar here. What's that date? Today's a Tuesday, so maybe on the 10th. So, like the 17th or the 18th, I'm out in, uh, Oaklair, Wisconsin. So, come on out to that. That is the Snake Discovery Show. I'll be there. I'll see you there. Um, let's see if we can break this little, uh, summer doldrums, uh, show circuit reporting. All right, we'll see what we come up with here.
Charlie, how are you, brother? Uh, I'm going to do this segment without you, man. I don't care if you don't, if you can't make it. We're going to, we're going to tick right through everything you got going on for everybody, brother. Thanks for it. I know that, uh, I know you're working a long one, man. Be safe out there. All right.
Um, yeah, so I'll be at the Snake Discovery Show, like I say, not this coming weekend, the following. I think that's either the 17th or the 18th. It's that Sunday. Hope to see you there. Um, but if you are interested in animals, get a hold of me before then. I've got a bunch and inventory is pretty high up there. Pocket. Um, I think the Ultra Males are the only ones that are not updated on the website right now. Anyway, check it out. Uh, if there's something you're looking for, let me know.
Um, okay, so Katie. All right. So that's, that's Wisconsin, right? I think that's what I got. I think I got it right. Uh, oh, I might have an announcement. Okay. Nice. Nice. Um, I was waiting on my phone and I was just a little bit behind on, on inquiring. Uh, those of y'all that checked out the Epic Conference, the Exotic Pet, uh, Industry Conference, we, I say we, I was a part of, uh, the, uh, producing team, the hosting team of that. Uh, we've gotten back together. We have convened again. There will be another Epic Conference. And I'm here to tell you, I think for the first time, but, uh, certainly maybe the first time you're hearing it, I think it's the first time I've heard it publicly. Uh, September 27th, that will be a Saturday. It will be on, uh, there'll be, it'll be, details will be at the epic.live, uh, website. We're sorting out some things and I've got to keep some things vague. I think we're actually still negotiating some things, so we're not 100% sure where it's going to be. Uh, but it'll be on the website is where it'll be. How we take care of it in the back office is a little different story, but it will be at epic.live. Uh, it's not ready to register or anything yet, but mark your calendars. Uh, again, I'll keep things a little bit vague, but we broadened the scope a little bit. So, uh, more species are involved of, uh, reptiles and exotic pets. Uh, a little wider, uh, bandwidth of topics within those, uh, tracks we call them. And then the sessions, we think we're planning on it. We're going to check with some guests and the hosts and that kind of thing. They're going to be a little bit longer and a little bit more in-depth. One of the things the feedback that we got from the Epic Conference last time was that the sessions were fairly short and people would have liked, like we were kind of like hitting our stride when when they were sort of wrapping up. So, it's going to be, uh, those of y'all that don't realize it's a pretty ambitious undertaking. Um, putting that conference together, uh, pulling it off back in, I believe it was back in March. No, it was April. I believe it was after Tinley, excuse me. It was April. And now, five months later, we're going to do another one, improve it, um, expand it, innovate it. And so, that'll be on Saturday. It'll be in the daytime, so, uh, it'll be early enough that you could still get out for the evening if you got dinner plans or whatever. Um, and it'll be a, a long, uh, afternoon conference. We're, again, I'll leave the details vague. We're still working on invites and confirmations and all of that. So, I'll leave it there, but please mark your calendars. An amazing content, uh, amazing day of content for our industry. Lots to learn there and to get inspired by for sure, and lots of details to come. We got a few months to promo it. I'll leave it there. You'll hear plenty about it. I am sure.
What's going on, Chris? I hope that you're well. Your timing is apropos because, uh, another not announcement, but a reminder. I'll be traveling to Toronto to meet with, I was going to say rendezvous, but that's, I don't know if we, I don't know if we rendezvous. We might just meet and hang out. Let's just leave it there for a minute. Uh, we, we will meet and hang out in Toronto at the, uh, CRB. I believe that's Canadian Reptile Breeders Expo. And that's a massive show. It's within a whole pet show, too. So, it's really cool. Uh, they have, uh, all full transparency, uh, Chris was there doing some live streaming last year, got a really excellent treatment. Was invited not only back, but invited to bring some colleagues. He was kind enough to call me. I'll be traveling up there. Uh, Joe and Ash from Fear to Fascination. They'll be traveling there. I think Joe and Ash are going to be working the floor. So, if you get to see them, go hang out with them. Uh, Chris and I, as I understand it, he can clarify here. Uh, we are going to live stream broadcast, and Chris has told me multiple times now, once we hit record and go live, we're not stopping until the show is over at the end of the day. So, I think we're going to do like, eight, nine hour marathon live stream with all your favorite guests from the show. Anybody you want to see, you got to let us know. We'll try and get them booked. Um, all the icons of the Canadian reptile breeding industry. You'll see them there. I don't even have to name the names because they're going to be booked. Mark our words on that. And it will go straight all day for sure. It'll be on the Fat Man Nation channel. We might see about, uh, dual broadcasting it, uh, here as well or on other platforms. I'm not sure. We'll sort that out, but you'll be able to see us. So, it's going to be great. Chris and I in person together for the very first time. I've never met him. I got to go to Toronto to meet this guy in person. So, very first time. Um, we will, we, I just mumbled it all. We will be, uh, live, uh, live streaming the whole day with content, interviews, interactions, impressions of the show, all of that kind of thing. Uh, Joe and Ash will be our friends out on the street. Not literally out on the street. Feet on the ground, boots on the ground. You know what I'm saying? Tune in for that. That'll be, uh, the 13th and the 14th. We're doing that for two days. Saturday and Sunday, we're doing that. So, uh, buckle up, get ready. That one's going to be a fun one there. Um, yeah, there it is. There's your confirmation. All day, baby. Um, Saturday, Saturday is going to be great. Sunday. I want to see what happens when the fatigue sets in. Who's going to, who's going to be feeling it first? I gotta, I want to see what's going to happen here. Um, I'm not underestimating Chris, though. I'm, I'm seeing he's pretty serious about this. So, we're just going to let that be. I'm not going to push those buttons.
What else we got here? Um, the car wash. If you don't know what I'm talking about, really brief story of a very long story. I bought a car wash because I thought it was a good idea to convert one of the bays. It's one of those old-school drive-in ones. You put your quarters in. You get the little pressure washer handle. You wash your car with some soap and all of that. Um, I did it. I bought it and I did convert one of the bays to, uh, Proper Royals facility and operations and rodents and all of that. Well, there's a reason I was able to afford this car wash. It is old and it looked old. Man, today it got a whole new paint job myself. Uh, shout out to, uh, Will at Damorphic as well. Uh, Will helped me paint. We painted the, uh, car wash, uh, the whole facade. It's going to have new signage coming in the next, as soon as I could get the sign from the sign maker. Um, painted the front door as well for, uh, Proper Royals. I got to get the signs put up there at Proper Royals. But it was a really kind of a special day to get that job done and, and we did do it ourselves, too. So, anyway, I'll post some pictures or some, I don't, I don't know Instagram well enough. I feel like if I have a snake Instagram, I shouldn't post that stuff there, but maybe I put my personal stuff in stories or something. I'm not sure. You could check it out and then it'll drop down and post the same thing on Facebook. So, the car wash is up and running. The, uh, Proper Royals facility is there. If you're saying to yourself, "But Adam, there are still racks behind you." That's true. Those are only the, uh, breeder females that are still breeding. I'm not going to move them until they've laid and they're done, uh, with everything that they need to get done for, uh, this cycle. All the others are there. If you're local and you want to check it out, make sure you call me, make an appointment. I don't keep regular hours. It's not open for walk-in or open to the public, that kind of stuff. The car wash is, you show up unannounced. I'm going to tell you, you're welcome to a car wash. Okay, you gotta, or you better be, better have a big pile of money. That would work too. Um, just let, give me a call, like, message me, whatever. Get in touch with me, um, before you come out there. All right. Uh, but I, I do hope to see you. It's a fun, it's a fun facility. Um, and it is, it really is just a workshop, though. There's nothing, there's nothing set up for, for customers or for entertaining or anything. So, let me know before you come out. We'll do some business if you, uh, do want to come out.
Um, all right. I'm forever looking for, uh, exciting, interesting, um, guests on the show. There's got to be something entertaining, something intriguing, something to learn, uh, something charismatic, some value for the audience. I could chat with anybody. I, not anybody I want to, but you know what I'm saying? I can have a chat with people whenever I want. If I'm going to do a show, I want it to be engaging. I want you all to get, uh, entertainment out of it and, uh, interest and education, all of that. So, two things. I'm getting very specific here in a second. Katie, message me. We'll set up something. I'd be, be very happy to have you out there. Um, so, if there's somebody that you suggest that I should have on the show for the in-depth conversations, you know, it's a 90-minute conversation. There's got to be some depth to, uh, whoever's going to be on the show. Feel free to message me. Put it in the comments below. Put it in the comments, uh, here live. That's cool, too. Um, I just saw Jeremy Warfl join. What's up, Jeremy? I hope that you're well, man. Miss hanging out with you. Um, um, now, see, now I get distracted by the, uh, now I get distracted by the comments.
Um, okay, I, I hear the Troy nomination. Actually, it's been a while since he's been on. I would have Troy on again. Um, if you want to have somebody on the show or suggest that, please let me know. And like, bear in mind also, like, just shouting out like icons and Mount Rushmore faces, they are deep and they have a lot to offer. There's a reason that they're icons. But unless there's a topic I could cover with them that already hasn't been covered 99 times by all the other podcasts and all the other media that they've shared over all their years, then it, it's a little bit hard. You know, people throw names at me and I'm like, what could I possibly ask that person that hasn't been asked of them yet? So, that's where we got to find the intriguing, uh, sweet spot. Now, that's where I need the help of the community. I've never done this before. I hope this doesn't turn me into a bad guy here. There's a breeder who makes killer, absolutely amazing Super Gravel combos. I am completely jealous of them. They have taken my joy. I feel like I'm behind and I'll never catch them now because that's the project that I want to be known for. And here they are just putting out banger after banger of Super Gravel clowns this season. And all, uh, joking and drama aside, they're doing a really great job. Their, their, uh, Instagram handle is RP_reps. RP reps. And I think what's happening is that my invite isn't getting into their main inbox. I think it's in that request inbox where you don't get like a, a notification. I can't get a hold of them and I would like them to come on the show. But here's what I don't know. I don't know if they don't want to come on the show and they just don't want to tell me that. So, it's easier not to respond. So, you know, you get this little weird like, "Oh, does she like me thing from like middle school." So, anyway, if, uh, if anybody knows RP reps, and you could put in a good word for me, I'd like to talk to them about totally undermining my future plans for all things Super Gravel. Okay. RP reps. That's who I'm looking for. Thanks. Help me out on that right there. Cross that off the list.
Um, okay. Let's talk about, uh, let's talk about shedtesting.com. Um, this is both newsworthy and transparently, yes, I am an advertiser for shedtesting.com. So, I'll do my best to be unbiased to tell you all the reasons why this is unbelievable what Charlie's got going on. Um, if you didn't get to see it, you should go check out, uh, on Fat Man Nation channel. You should check out, I always screw this name up. I think it's called One Really Smart Guy and a Doctor or a Doctor and a Really Smart Guy. It's Charlie and, uh, Patrick Mcnite from Aura, who is the do, he's a doctor, if you guys didn't know that, like pay attention when he says stuff, anything scientific, data-related, okay? He's the guy. Uh, Charlie is also a really smart guy and no slouch. He has yet again changed the shed testing game. What am I talking about? If you haven't seen it, go check that out. You could hear from, from, uh, directly from, uh, Charlie, but, uh, here's a quick recap. Okay. Uh, GHI and disco tests are now available. Uh, interesting. I'm going to use the word appear. I don't know that it's, uh, uh, proven just yet, but it looks like it's going that way. Le GHI appear a lelic as well. I did have a conversation with Charlie about that, but I'll just keep that conversation private. Uh, that's not to undermine that lace and GHI appear. Okay. Uh, additional tests are coming along the line. Mandarin tri-stripe, MJ, uh, ananthic, uh, red stripe, TSK ananthic, orange dream, and rainbow. I'm not a smart enough guy to explain this. If you say, "But some of those tests are already available." Um, my understanding is that they're available by biomarkers rather than actual DNA genetics tests. Little different science. I'll be unbiased here for a moment. In a minute, I'll give you the, the fully biased view. Okay? So, put it this way, when those are, uh, confirmed and those are released, you will be able to rely on those tests. Okay? So, those are in the works. If you have those animals and you want them to be tested by Charlie, get in touch with him. He might give you some options where, anyway, just get in touch with him. He also might be able to use your sheds, which would be helpful to him, too. So, just talk to him about that.
All right, let's get to where the game has just changed. Um, let me, I don't even know where to start. It doesn't matter. I'm going to start, uh, at, at, at the, the good place. I'll start right at the beginning. That's where the good stuff happens. We'll start at the beginning. One test is now $35. Okay, stick with me. One test on one animal. This is a single animal we're talking about here for just a second. One test is 35 bucks. If you want to run a second gene on that one animal, it's $45. The third gene from there on, it's five bucks per gene up to 10 tests. So, for $85, where a cap, for example, I guess you could add on as many as you would want, but you'll see in a minute, there's no need to do that. Uh, up to 10 tests for $85 is pretty much going to cover most of what any of us would ever need to test for. So, forget the one animal that you bought in a Dollar General parking lot in Orange Park, Florida that one time. Almost any other animal, you're going to know a lot of the pairing history. You're going to know what the parents had. You're going to know what you think it is. You're going to know what you think you know. So, if you can identify up to 10 genes for 85 or less dollars, you could test for all of those. You're, and honestly, like us testing for five genes is probably going to be it. Let's say I have a pairing of, uh, banana acid hurricane and I do that to a black pastel, uh, leopard. There's only five genes there. You're going to know if it's banana. You could throw that out. The others are dark genes. It could be tough to tell the difference on. I get that. And especially if they're all together. So, you'd only need to test for four. You wouldn't have to do the whole panel test and all of that. First test, $35. Second test, $45. Five bucks after that. Build your own, uh, test. You can look at what prices were. You can look at what you've been paying. That is a massive innovation right there. Uh, changing the market for us. And if you, I'm assuming if you're watching this show, you're a little bit of a nerd and a really into ball pythons and you already know what shed testing is. If you don't, you can take your ball python shed. Uh, you can, uh, care for it properly. Check it out on his website. Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it. It consists of hanging it up, drying it, getting the poo out of it, putting in an envelope, and mailing it. Okay, that's it. Check it out on his website. He'll give you the, uh, the specific, uh, uh, details on there. Um, you can send it to them, and there are genetic tests for proven and isolated genes that, uh, Charlie himself, his colleagues have, uh, proven these genetic tests. They're smarter than me. I can't exactly explain how it works, but it is reliable and it is very well proven, uh, to be reliable. Um, and you can send those off and you can find out. So, if somebody once sold you an animal that you were like, well, they said maybe it was a het for clown. Well, now you can find out for a very little amount. If you're buying animals that you're going to pair in two years and they're possible this or you're uncertain of this or what's everybody's favorite line, there's something going on in there. Get it tested, man. Do you know how much your time is worth? You don't want to get to that point and have surprises. You don't want surprises in this industry. Maybe you want, maybe every now and again, if you do a panel test.
All right. What's this panel test Adam's talking about? Um, panel test means that you test for quite a few things at once. I guess in layman's terms, that's what it means to me. How about that? That's what I say it means. Um, you could create, create your own panel test, which is basically what we just said. That's for $85. 10 genes, $85 right there. Uh, not that you need this math, but just think about this. That's eight and a half bucks a test. Three years ago, these didn't exist. This was Jetson stuff. This was in the future. That was Dr. Hannah Sidell on my show saying this is coming in the future. It's something we could think of. That was less than three years ago. Unbelievable.
Um, all right. For $95, you could do a recessive panel test. All the recessives. So, if you've got stuff that you suspect comes from a, you know, a well-known or not well-known, a longstanding breeder who was working recessive projects long before shed test, when you had to keep everything that might be something, and even if it wasn't in the project or the project took a right turn, maybe there's some lingering genes, you can test that. You can find out. $95. And then the full panel, all, everything, $125. All right. You might be saying, "Well, it's still kind of expensive." Uh, or it's a lot of money. It is. It's all relative. It's far less than it has been. Here's the kicker, though. I think there's some like saying you can have faster, better, or cheaper, but you can't have all three. I wish I could do like a move where I put two fingers down. Yeah, Charlie, I'll tell you what Charlie says about that. Okay, it's faster now. You're going to get results in five days. You need to know what something has. You're going to find out when you need to know it. Uh, so it's faster. I just told you it's cheaper. It's now better as well. And here's why it's better. Hear me out. Uh, there's less human hands touching everything. This is now at an automated. I, I just, I don't know what details I can share. It is an incredibly automated, uh, system now. Uh, machines are handling these samples. Humans are not handling these samples. Uh, when you order your test, uh, it's not somebody else hand typing things back in again or mixing up numbers or, uh, working 22 hours a day to get you amazing service. And not that I think, not that I ever heard of Charlie doing this, but as human nature happens, mistakes happen when we're sleep-deprived and stressed and building our own entrepreneurial endeavors and dreams. All that has been eliminated from the process now. So, it is faster, it is cheaper, and it is better. If you, not that I want to rehash this, if you think about my gripes with people that have disrupted the industry sometime recently, uh, all they did was make something cheaper. They didn't make it faster or better. And in my opinion, they took away the customer service. This is all still the same Charlie running the service end of it and communication end of it, but you're getting your tests faster. You're getting them better because there's less human chance for error. These are machines. These are, this is what it does. And it's very, very fast. Cheaper, faster, better. Unbelievable. Uh, what Charlie pulled off. Thank you so much, Charlie. Five days or less. Um, and if you know Charlie, he's going to put a little buffer on things and he's probably going to get it done, uh, sooner.
What other notes did I miss here? I made pages of these notes. Oh, bulk ordering. If you want to talk to Charlie about bulk ordering, there's even a bulk order section. You're going to download an, uh, Excel template, upload it, boom, send it off to him. Oh, how cool is this, too? I love this feature, too. Your, the DNA of the sample is stored for six months. If for some reason you test it and then, I don't know, an egg hatches and something weird pops out and you're like, "Oh my, what happened here?" Uh, Charlie, can you test for this? Yeah, it was this code. It was this order. Boom. You redo it. Now, you got to pay the $35. That's a separate order. $35. Um, it's there for you. You don't have to mail it anything. You just, it's, it's, it's right there in the database for six months. So, you have that. So, there you go. I think, uh, I think it's amazing. One update and I screwed up here because I was going to put, um, I got this nifty thing when I do these, uh, solo shows. The only problem is that these wonderful people don't get the same representation that they always get because I block them out. So, I made this overlap and I haven't quite fit my face in there and I can do this, but then like my desk is at my chest. I'm out of my rhythm. I don't know. I don't want to sit that low. Um, update, though, the Proper 15 code is now Proper 10. I forgot that the advertising was in this overlay in this format. It is Proper 10. If you look on the thumbnail that I posted on Instagram, it's up to date there. Proper 10. You're going to get 10% off. Look, Charlie can't continue to bring you these amazing things if we put them out of business. Okay? He's lowered the prices far more than 10 or 15% and you're still going to get another 10% off of the top of it. Uh, these are my words that I'm about to say. They're not Charlie's. These are my words. Um, discount codes are only good for as long as it benefits the purveyor. Charlie's become ubiquitous with this service and now he's made it better, faster, cheaper. I don't know that he really even needs to offer a discount code. I'm so thankful that he has and, and to you all for supporting Proper Royals and him along the way. Uh, get it while it's hot, folks, is what I'm trying to say. All right. Um, 10% don't beat him up for taking 5% off the discount when he cut prices across the board. Okay. Um, so proper 10 is going to be that promo code.
I don't know if you noticed, there's no commercials tonight when it's live. Once you're into the live, there never is. But you didn't have to watch a commercial to get in. And if you're watching on the replay, there's no commercials. And that's brought to you by the good folks at Palm Street. Palm Street is a live stream, live action selling platform. It's fully interactive. Uh, the platform works great, very intuitive. It's all done on your phone as well. If you're of my generation, that's a little bit foreign. However, the people buying the snakes, this is not foreign to them. Uh, check out Palm Street if you want to, uh, apply to sell. The link will be right down below in the description immediately after we are done, uh, live tonight. I will update that. That is down there.
Uh, check out Redline Shipping. Um, I alluded to it earlier. Redline's service is phenomenal. Uh, there was just a chat in one of the Patreons that I'm in about learning how to ship live animals. Let's not forget they're live animals. These are people's largely pets. We might not want to admit it, but largely pets or their long-term, uh, plans and dreams that they are getting in that box. It is hot out there. Who's going to help you? A shipper with a customer service team designed to help you ship. You could call them. Their team will get you through it. And they have the supplies, they have the goods, they have all the information that you're going to need and the resources that you're going to need to ship your animals safely. Check out Redline Shipping. Speaking of, uh, user-friendly interfaces, theirs is great as well. And use the promo code proper five to get yourself five bucks off of your next shipping label.
All right. Uh, who went to Shamberg? Any, uh, any Shamberg comments out there? I should have asked for that earlier. Gotten, gotten some input. You know what I'm saying? Um, it feels like since I've been paying attention to the industry, to the market, I'm going to pause for drama here. It seems like Shamberg always takes it on the chin and yet everybody goes back to vend it. Everybody seems to have a great time. The hotel is primo there, by the way. It's a really enjoyable hotel. Um, and that's not, let me be clear, this is not knocking an ARBC. If anybody knows how to put on a show, uh, it, it's Bob Ashley and Brian Potter. I'm totally down with that. What I am saying is that I don't know if our, maybe we just don't learn. Maybe our expectations as vendors is that we, we always get rich. I don't know. Maybe we just don't learn. I also think that there's something to the summer. Um, from a retail standpoint, retail sales are are traditionally very slow in the summer unless you're in a resort vacation destination place. Why is that? Because everybody goes to summer record, summer resort vacation destination places. It's hard to buy a new pet or a new animal that you have to care for if you're on the road and going to Disney World tomorrow. Um, it's also hard to do if you've run up your credit cards by going to Disney World yesterday. Um, for everyday families on Main Street, it's an expensive time. You're going back to school. You got to get clothes. You got to get supplies. You want to look hip. You gotta go get your haircut, all that kind of stuff. Um, so it's, it's, it's a tough time anyway. Uh, throw in current, I'm just going to say uncertainty. The last thing I care to get into is politics, but let's just, I think we can all agree it's a little uncertain and a little unusual times out there right now. So, I think all of that is, uh, compounding to make this summer a little bit tough. I'll say in my own way, it's not been great for sales on my own experience and, and that's kind of what I heard from Shamberg, but there are some exceptions. I'm going to tell you about those exceptions and the kind of the thread that I see through those exceptions as well. Um, but I think some of mine is the old like, it works if you work it. I haven't been posting ads. Um, I've been so, so swamped with the renovations at the car wash, getting moved in, getting those projects completed, undertaken, and, um, getting on with, with, you know, just surviving and getting by. And then I go nuts starting in September. I've got 10 shows between now and the end of the year, and seven of them are within 42 days, uh, across September and October. So, it's coming. Seasonality is a big part of our industry and I think that we forget that sometimes. So, anyway, I'm not discounting people that said that they had a rough time this weekend and, hey, series coming up this week. Uh, yeah, this weekend, I believe, um, in Atlanta, and then of course Daytona, you know, the granddaddy of them all. In the parliament of wrestling terms, by the way, who saw SummerSlam? What a banger. Just chef's kiss of a show. Oh man. Night one and night two. I'm not going to spoil anything if you haven't seen it, but if you're remotely into pro wrestling, phenomenal storytelling, great swerves, both nights ended on just incredible matches and twists. Very, very good.
Um, where did I? Oh, granddaddy of them all. Daytona. So, we got Shamberg, Siri, and Daytona. And what I found was a lot of vendors had to choose between doing one or two of those shows, but not all three. To go from Illinois to Atlanta to Daytona. Atlanta, Daytona kind of makes sense. If you're in the South, you can get home, get your animals refreshed. If you're coming from up North, I talked to one of my buddies. I'll leave the area vague, but upper mid-Atlantic, I guess that's what you call that place. Anyway, um, you know, he said that he and the other person that vends with him had to work out something where one's going to take the animals somewhere, the other one's going to fly somewhere because they got to keep things going at home and keep the animals safe and, and, and, and these crazy logistics. And I was like, "Oh, yeah, you can't do that. You can't go to Shamberg, do that, and then do Atlanta and Daytona all with the same animals." And like, it's super impossible to do it as just a one-man show. Like, for me, I can't do that. I can't get out and do all those. I, I'm hard-pressed to fly to all of those, much less do all of those. So, I'll be interested to hear how, uh, Siri and Daytona do. Now, interesting point about Atlanta, I think, is that it's a massive, massive metropolitan area. Now, so is Shamberg with its proximity to Charlotte. Um, I feel like Siri's a little bit closer in, but, but maybe it's not. Maybe Duth is out there a little bit farther. Anyhow, I'll be interested to see. And then, you know, Daytona is always going to be a slamming, banging show, but there are so, so many vendors. There's like 700 vendors. Like, it is so, like, when I've ended Daytona the few years that I did, I think three, um, it's so hard to stand out in Daytona. Tinley, you can almost stand out. It's almost easier to stand out in Tinley because it's like so crowded and so compact. Like Tinley is like a pub, you know? Like a good pub always feels crowded and cozy and friendly and people around. That's how Tinley feels. Daytona is just like a shopping mall. It's like Mall of America. It is massive. It's huge. So, anyhow, I hope everybody does well. This isn't me like, like condemning anything. Like, Daytona's been in the second week or third weekend in August forever. So, they're doing something right. They know what's going on there. Um, but just thinking out loud.
So, I'm looking forward to, uh, summer routines being over, our regular life routines being back to normal, finances kind of settling in, people having money, not having money, um, on sort of a bit of a routine. I'll tell you one thing, I got thinking, it got me thinking about that because we finished with summer and then what's like the ne, like to me, there's the sweet spot between the end of summer and for me, I can't stand it. Black Friday. I try and do all my business before Black Friday comes. Everybody, uh, everybody runs these sales and I don't knock them. It works for them. They're the, they're the industry leaders and the icons for a reason. They've earned it. Um, but how am I going to go up with an icon 50% off sale? Like, it doesn't make sense. I, I lose my assets. I lose, uh, which in the form of inventory for pennies on the dollar when if I could get them out earlier as the hatchlings are hatching. The problem is, is of course the bangers, the best ones are the latest ones. Um, so anyway, I might have to sit around till January once people start dreaming because then the next one, you get through the holidays. So, you got Black Friday to Christmas, which is total wild west. No rules. Uh, everybody's doing sales, but everybody's trying to buy something. Uh, nobody cares about financial rules. Everybody will go in debt that month. Um, and so you just got to kind of get in where you can. And then January comes and you got to hope people are on the ball and dreaming about their tax returns, which is the next season. So, um, hard to say, uh, hard to say out there. I think that the message is always going to be tough. That's really what I was saying. I wrote in my, I wrote in my notes like, uh, is mediocre always mediocre? Like, is that just what it is? Like, that's just the average. Like, that's where we're, that's what we should be, uh, happy and, uh, content with there. So,
Um, this is a point in time where I will, uh, turn to the comments and let's see if there's anything you guys want to talk about. Throw it in the comments. If you have any questions or anything. Uh, Phil kicks it off with sourcing food for cobra breeders is getting exponentially easier and less costly. Yeah, I legitimately, uh, I shouldn't, I don't even know if I should say this. I know a cobra breeder and he does buy ASFs from me. He often asks about other possibilities that I might have for feeders, let's just say. And not only is it, it's getting, uh, easier to source and less costly, but inversely, the things I'm producing are better than I've ever been producing. So, I don't want, I still don't want to let go of those things. Like, I haven't philosophically said, uh, I'm going to, um, uh, participate in that circle of life. So, anyway, that was just a funny, funny timing for something you said there. Uh, yeah, Katie, you do well at tax season. I got to say, I, I remember, uh, I remember some some purchases which I'm thankful for. I hope the animals are doing well.
Uh, yeah, Josh, I hope for you guys. Yeah, people holding the money for Daytona. That's right. Well, that's the other kind of funny thing. So, like, do sales drop sort of regionally or semi-nationally because people want to have their pocketbooks for the big national show? Ah, I like that. I had not considered that, really. Um, not bad. Not bad. I, I hope it's true for you, too. I won't be there. So, I don't have a dog in the fight. I won't be spending or selling, uh, this year.
Uh, I guess, uh, I guess that's the, uh, I guess that's the, the, the, the SH is that the Shamberg review? I'm not saying it is or it isn't, but I guess it is. If you wanted to sell everything for 20 bucks, it was great. Yeah, there's always buyers at 20 bucks. That's, that's true.
Uh, Jeremy says, "For in reference to the, uh, shed test panel testing, $125 is money well spent when picking the best possible pairings." You're exactly right. Like, you don't get time back. You don't get, and we're talking years. I'm not talking a week or two. Like, if you buy an animal and it's not what you think it is or what you hope it is or what you want it to be. Like, be sure. This is no time, no place for surprises. You want to know what you're working with here.
Uh, yeah, definitely Charlie the disruptor. You got it, Aaron. That's exactly what I'm talking about. What's up, Jen? Another Iowa in there in the house. Ah, California checking in. Mercury. Cool. What is, uh, Oh, yeah. So, Chris brings up a good point. Shamberg ball python sales were slow, but every other species killed it. That's a really good topic. I actually have thoughts on that. Let's, we got a little time. Uh, let's talk about that in one second. I really do. I thought that's really great.
Uh, we talked about shed testing. We talked about, uh, Redline Shipping. Reagan Renee Royal Pythons. That is Charlie Ryan defending as yet undefeated 15 minutes of lame champion. The people's champion, if you saw his promo, that sealed the deal. Oh, speaking of chef's kisses, working Kryptons, DG G-stripe, candy pied clowns, candy pied clowns. Uh, singles, doubles, triple ingredients. Check out his Morph Market. Uh, Charlie legitimately is one of the brightest, smartest, analytical minds in the industry. He can be fun and goofy as you saw in 15 minutes of lame, but the dude is insightful. Uh, I believe he's a, I believe he's either a chemist or a biologist or maybe both, uh, by trade, and that transfers over into how he cares for his animals. Really great stuff. If you wonder what all the buzz about Kryptons is, go, go check him out for that. That's Reagan Renee Royal Pythons. Portuguese pythons. That's Danny and Renee Roachcha out in Chino, California. My favorite stuff, they work a variety of stuff. I'll tell you about that in a second, but my favorite stuff they work is their Ultramale projects. Phenomenal. All of my Ultramale Pied stuff, uh, is from them. This actual breeding season was the very first time I crossed over some of my pre-existing Ultramale stuff with theirs. That is where I got the, uh, Ultramale Het Pieds that I said were available at the top of the show, which, by the way, Ultramale Het Pieds, I have available if you want to get in touch. They're working, uh, in their Ultramale project, they're working puzzle Ultramale, clown Ultramale, pied Ultramale, also, uh, true ghost projects, and then other projects like, uh, sunset, sunset hypos. Um, and then they do really, really great job with tying in dark genes. Uh, blackhead, res het red, just call it H and GHI. So, check out their, uh, Morph Market page. Also, their Instagram.
Reptiles are pretty consistent and just really badass, too. Great, great animals from them. Wonderful people to work with. So, I highly recommend it. Uh, that's Portuguese Python. Sund Dog Serpents just in the audience saying hello. That was Josh. Uh, Josh and Sarah are Sund Dog Serpents. I've been doing business with them for as long as I had been back in Florida, which I think was since 2021, might have been the first time we met. Maybe 2022, but certainly, certainly that at the latest. Anyhow, so glad to have them supporting the show now, and my pleasure to support them. Like I say, we did business together back on the circuit in, uh, Florida, primarily the Repicon circuit. They're working TSK Aanthic. You can't, you're not going to find it from me. I don't have it. If TSK is your thing, go see them. TSK Clown Project together, double, uh, double recessive project ingredients with, uh, Kodom combos. Go see them for that, as well as really great asphalt stuff. I went the gravel route. Super gravel. Their asphalt stuff is primo. They're also working with blood pythons. Go check them out. They will be at Daytona coming up in just a couple weeks. That is Sund Dog Serpents. All right.
Then last but not least is Chris at BNS Reptilia, my vending partner and business partner at Tinley in October, coming up not far. We're less than 90 days away now. Uh, Chris is BNS Reptilia because he works with ball pythons, blood pythons, locality boas, colubrids of all shapes and sizes, including pituous. If you know what that means, he is your guy. Bullsnakes, pine snakes, and he will have those at Tinley this year at the booth. If you are interested in seeing them, come by the booth. All the way back, all the way to the left, you will find the Proper Royals and BNS Reptilia booth. Chris is also the regional distributor of the Chipper Cocoa. If you're interested in that in the Pennsylvania area, uh, you can reach him for that. If you're interested in becoming a distributor in your own region, you can also reach him for that. He will help you out. Uh, as we wind up the pitch session here, just remember these are all people in our industry supporting people in our industry. Adree content from Proper Royals Live because of these folks and Palm Street audience.
Last but not least, thank you guys because otherwise, it's just, it's really weird. I'm sitting here talking to a machine. Like, if I didn't know in the back of my head you guys were here, I really could be certified a lunatic, which there's strong argument for that. Anyhow, okay, Chris Eden says, "Uh, Shamberg, ball python sales were slow, but every other species killed it." Kind of rings true of what we've been hearing lately, seeing lately. We hear ball python sales on Palm Street are a challenge, yet we see gecko breeders slaying it. These, uh, uh, what do you call them? Inverts, spider people slaying it. I heard isopod people talking about going to their cabin on the lake the other day from selling isopods. Okay, maybe I missed the boat on that. I'm not mad about it. I get it. They're cool. They're attainable. They're smaller. Smaller pets sell better. Look at dogs. The little teacups. Hey, I got a little Jack Russell myself. Uh, it's harder to have a retic than it is to have a ball python. And it's probably harder to have a ball python than it is a, uh, crested gecko, is my theory on that part of it. It's also what's hot. It's the cycle of things. It's cool. Uh, again, no, no frustration in that.
What I've been thinking of though lately, two sides to this thought, and I really, I'm interested in what you had to say. Um, two sides of this thought. One side of the thought is ball pythons are dead for all the reasons we've been talking about forever. The market got flooded. Uh, we're, you know, they were overpriced and, uh, this pyramid thing fell apart. I'm not saying that's true, but those are the arguments. So that's one part of it. There's the other classic economic theory. If we look back historically, uh, at ball pythons, ball pythons have been the backbone of the pet reptile industry for at least, and I could say at least because I was a part of it, not continuously, but I was a pet consumer back then for at least 27 years. At least since the turn of the century. That makes me sound old, doesn't it? Uh, at least since 2000. And there were people doing it well long before then. Um, I don't know if that's a long enough sample size, but what I would say is typically in classic economic theory, if we look at markets overall, S&P 500, the Dow, through recessions, through ups and downs, through the Great Depression, through the Great Recession, give it enough time and the market averages 10% over a century. Now, a century isn't the same as 27 years. Football pythons aren't the same thing as stocks and the American economy. So, is the other point of view that now is the time to double down while somebody mentioned earlier, you can get animals at 20 cents on the dollar because people are getting out? These are the cycles. There's boom times. Everybody wants it. Everybody hears there's gold in San Francisco and they all go there. By the time they get there, the gold is gone. COVID, there was a boom. We all ran to it. By the time we got here, and I say we because I am that guy. By the time I arrived, by the time I bought my car wash, did a little tough time, a little harder, a little harder situation to be in. Does that mean now is the time for investment and now is the time for future planning? Is now the time to say, "How do I get by? How do I shelter in place? How do I stay put? Keep the course because really anything that we're working was going to take us another three years to get to."
Oh, John paying a couple bills. Thank you, my man. Uh, yeah. Do we buy the dip and we buy the big dip? We do it in real estate. It's the same thing. Now, people always are going to need houses. I don't know that they're always going to need ball pythons. Housing is a true need. Um, is it the time to stay the course? Like I say, any, any project to even advance from a hatchling to advancement is basically going to be three years. Three years is longer than I don't know. I don't have the numbers right in front of me. I'm doing this off the cuff. I didn't prepare any notes. Three years is longer than nearly any of our recessions or depressions have lasted. It might have seemed longer than three years, but even some of our roughest ones, even the, you know, '09 by '12, the economic indicators had already improved. The economy hadn't quite. I remember that time specifically because it was a scary time even in golf clubs, uh, where the richest of the rich were falling off some perches, so to speak. So, um, I remember that time. We weren't quite out of it in 2012, but like you're already working them. You're already there. Uh, if you're, I think we can't panic and I think when things get tough, people panic and they run off and maybe they have to. I'm not saying keep your ball pythons and go into debt. I'm not saying keep your ball pythons and lose your job and double down that way. That is not what I'm saying. I am saying you could stay the course with what you have probably or whittle down a little bit. You know, decide what you're going to move. Um, maybe consider what, maybe this will make selling a little bit easier, too. Consider what you've already made your money on. If you've got breeders that have already given you two, three clutches or males that have sired 10 clutches, you are in the black. Don't worry about it. Move on. Maybe it's a sunk cost. Keeping them as a sunk cost because you know what they're worth. Ah, maybe not. Maybe you got to give it to somebody else. Maybe it's got to get moving. You know what I mean?
So, two schools of thought is, uh, are ball pythons dead or is this the great opportunity to buy the dip? Unprecedented values out there because, and actually, I would, I would literally say unprecedented values, not just because of price, but because the animals at the prices they're at are unprecedented animals at that price. Things like shed testing have allowed us to just accelerate at warp, warp speed. I know where my heart's at. Uh, there's a reason I put a tortoise in the, uh, in the intro to Proper Cup of Joe on Thursday mornings is because I kind of, I'm kind of stubborn. I kind of stay the course on things. Maybe to a fault, but, uh, but I do. Um, man, we got, we got John throwing in another one. All right, John's got the, uh, hey, for those of y'all that don't know, seven bucks far outweighs the what the commercials typically pay during the show. Super chats, feel free to throw them in there. All right.
Um, so Chris differs even as their friends are dropping out and prices are plummeting. But is it there isn't as every person drops out, doesn't that make it fractionally, minutely, but fractionally more appealing to be in? I'm not rooting for people to get out. I'm not rooting for anybody. Uh, yeah, I, I, I'll tell you the joke offline afterwards. I'm not, I'm not sure that we're there that I should have made the joke. I was just thinking. Uh, yeah, but what I'm saying is like statistically, let's take ball pythons out of it. If we're selling hot dogs and there's a hundred hot dog vendors and you know, two to three drop out here, five or six drop out there, and every week goes down a little, and suddenly there's only 50 hot dog vendors, but there's still the same number of people in the world and arguably more because we don't stop making people. That's for damn sure. Doesn't it statistically mean that there's arguably a better chance for you to still be in it? Like, is that the place? That's, I mean, you know, that's my thought. Look, to Chris's point, I can't go anywhere. I'm, I'm stuck. I got, I, I'm, I might have to move into the car wash, but I'm in it. All right. I am going to find some return on this somehow, someway. And I am thankful. I'm not massively, but I am profitable this year. I am above water. I am afloat. I'm happy about that. Um, so, it's okay. I don't know. There's some perspective and some thought for you all. I will say, um, outside of ball pythons, it never felt like it in the time, but in the toughest economic times was when I made the most money by just buying stuff cheap. My first house that led to me now, all I did was turn the house over to the next one and the next one and then to this one. Um, that allowed me the, uh, financial ability to go buy that car wash. Um, that was in, I bought that house in 2008 on that first dip. I was like, "Ah, it just dipped. Now's the time." And then 2009 came. But seeing that through was some of the best times. Um, in that same time is when I put the majority of the, the first like batch of, of retirement money away that I've never touched. And that allows me to sleep at night even when some snakes are selling for $20. So, anyhow, again, food for thought. We can't go back in time. I don't, uh, I don't know. I'm going to look back on this time and probably regret that I missed out on the majority of the crypto boom. I've kind of sat on the sidelines. I was in it for a little bit, but I sat on the sidelines for a lot of it. Look where it's at now. So, do what you feel comfortable with. No shame anywhere. Sure, you got to take care of yourself and your family, but I feel like, like I say, just a little statistical improvement every time I see somebody stepping away. Uh, it's just a little bit better and a little more enticing to me at that point.
Um, let me see. Uh, stuff that appreciates in value. Yeah, that's true. I will now, I guitar appreciating very slippery slope there. Um, no. I know that they haven't appreciated in value, but if the market can increase and fair enough. Um, I, I will stay the course and see what's going. No, I don't. I think your perspective is very good and I value it. Um, I like Phil's point. If you don't really love snakes, these are the times when it shows. Absolutely. Um, and Phil wants, uh, Chris back in. You know what? Maybe I'm gonna pitch in Toronto that, uh, Chris and I partner on a snake. We do, you know, those like, uh, uh, exercises in high school you had to do where like you had like $10,000 fake dollars and you had to buy fake stocks and you would track it through the course of the, I don't know if you guys did that. We did that. Uh, Chris could have a real snake. I'll have it and we got to sit around for five years and let it advance and see if we can make some money on it. Um, and, and come on, Chris, you but you know that too. The animal itself is not going to appreciate what it can make in the future. Absolutely appreciates, especially with the volume. I don't care how cute the guitars are. You put two guitars in a room and turn out the lights, they ain't going to pop out six guitars a year for you. So, there is a counterbalance there. It took me a minute to come around. I had to think about that one. I'm all right with that, too. Chris, what's going on, man? There is, uh, Chris at BNS Reptilia. He is right. The Tinley countdown is on. Where's the? Got a little lag on the button tonight. There it is. There we go. Little, uh, check out Chris, guys. Go take care of him. He and I will be in, like I said, you go all the way back and you go all the way left, and you're going to be in this cool little area where there's Proper Royals, BNS Reptilia. There's going to be Cold Blooded Cafe right across the aisle. It's a cool place to be. Come hang out. All right.
Uh, guys, I'm going to wrap it up. I think, uh, no, we're going to buy a real one. Uh, Chris is going to be at, uh, Tinley. Uh, okay, that's supposed to say ruining, I think. But I think, but I thought you were going to say rubbing everyone's ankles. That's what you're going to be the dude in the aisles at Tinley, man. All right. Uh, come check out, uh, Chris and I in Toronto. Uh, you can do it vicariously on the Fat Man Nation and, and maybe here. We'll see what, what we work out. Uh, but we will be live in Toronto for more spirited in-person debates on stuff just like this, uh, with guests that you love. Uh, for the record, I have been working on booking. And for the record, a whole bunch of people were caught up with, uh, um, Shamberg, Siri, and Daytona coming up. So, it's been a little tight squeeze on booking, but I like these one-off, once a month, once every now and again, uh, single shows. So, thank you guys for hanging out. I actually had a fun time. It's amazing what actually like prepping for a show will do for you and you can have an entertaining, uh, session. Make sure you take care of all of these sponsors. And if you missed it, the promo code at shed testing is now a proper 10. Going to get you 10% off. And before you go, oh, where's the rest of my discount? Charlie already took care of your discount for you. It's massive. If you missed that part of the show, go rewatch it. All right, guys. Thanks so much. I'll see you, um, when will I see you? I'll see you Thursday morning on Proper Cup of Joe. And then I, of course, will be right back here, same time, same place, uh, next Tuesday night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Thank you all so much for hanging out. Thanks for getting involved. It's fun interacting with the chat, which I don't do enough of. I know. Thanks so much. See you guys soon. Cheers, guys.
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