Reptil.tv - Folge 32 - Ghana 2011

Hello and welcome to episode 32 of Reptil.TV! In episode 30 I presented you how scorpions are haunted in Africa. Afterwards I was in Benin where I filmed a fetish market - I believe that is really interesting. In Ghana, I filmed how ball pythons are bred. Pythons are not only ranched there - they are also bred there - and that's what we'll show you today. So now, we are in Benin. At the moment we are at Lambert’s house. Today we want to visit the markets in the city, and find out what kind of interesting things they have. There are many, so called fetish markets - we would say voodoo, here it is called juju. There they have all kind of dead animals. Today we want to have a look at it and maybe we can show you something. Here we are in Bohicon, on a fetish market. These are the objects they need for juju - we would call it voodoo. What we see here should be a Chameleon Gracilis. Here we have a rock python. Here we have monkeys' heads. And again some monkeys. Here we have some goats. Sometimes there still is meat attached to the bones. For me, that's not very hygienic. Here we have a big skin of an African Rock Python, or Python Sebae. There are many birds. Over there you can see some bats lying around. But I'm not allowed to film over there. I had to pay money, so that I was allowed to film over here. Here we have hedgehogs - there we have frogs, dozens of frogs. Again, we have some sort of snake. These are birds of prey and parrots. Beneath the table, things don't look better. Not very tidy. And it's not the only booth, there are more booths that sell the same commodities. We are here in Benin, at Lambert's house and we want to look around. And I wanted to show, that everyone is wearing the M&S t-shirts. We even have our fans here in Benin. And of course, they read only the best literature available - Ball Pythons. Now I'm in Ghana, a little bit north of the capital Accra. I'm here with Michael. We know each other for 15 years. And for a few years he has also been breeding snakes. Last year he bred some nice animals. This year there will surely be some nice animals. So Michael, how long have you been in the business? And what are you doing? I've been in the business for a long time. Before I became a breeder, I was a trapper. And now I'm trying to breed some unusual snakes with color imitation. So you think the ranching isn't a good business anymore and you have to change? I think ranching is good, but I also think that color imitation is good. We have to start it in Africa. So that is what we are doing. All right, then let's have a look at what he's got. Here we are in the courtyard of Michael's house. Here you can seen some boxes for rack systems. So the rack systems are even popular here. Of course, it's not as easy as in Europe. You can't just order it somewhere on the internet, as we do. You have to build many things on your own and improvise. In the end you have the same result. A rack with drawers that are perfect for breeding pythons. Here they are breeding mice and rats. We as Germans have no problems in buying or breeding mice. Here in Ghana it's much harder. Just think about the food. You can't buy it here, and if you can, then you have to pay a large amount of money and have to import it from Europe. The same applies for cages, mulch and water bottles. You can't buy it on the market. That's why many things have to be improvised. Breeding prey animals is one of the biggest problems they face, when they breed ball pythons. Here we have the breeding room. Let's follow Michael and have a look at what they have got inside. And it looks just as you would expect it. Just like in the US, at home or throughout the world. One room, with many racks. The typical problem: the room is too small and there are too many racks. Seems to be an issue with every ball python breeder. Putting in so much stuff, that you can hardly walk. So now, we can see some animals. A really nice Pastel female. Michael, show us some of the stuff you have here. I have many stuff. But right now I can show you some Pastels that I have. And then I have some Calicos He's got some nice Calicos. He has already bred some nice animals. ... nice females. This one laid eleven eggs ... Eleven eggs for a Calico! Not bad at all. ... and then I have animals, like Yellow Bellies. I breed them together ... and I make them more ivorish, from the Yellow Bellies. And I'm keeping some of the Ivories from last year. And then there are some Albinos. That's a half-breed. I have to keep some for myself, that's my secret. He doesn't want to show us all his animals. But everybody does that. Whereupon, I have a bit more knowledge on the animals he's got. But, of course he doesn't want to show them all to the camera. So Michael, if you feed them, how soon do you raise them? Show us the yearlings you've got. The yearlings... I have some of the pastels here. I raised them twice a week. This is some of the Ivory, some of the Yellow Belly babies. That's siblings from the Ivory, the Pastel. They are both from last year. So they are now exactly one year old. It's interesting to see how big they are, after one year. Yes, so right now you can see some of the Pastel babies. I am breeding about 250 Pastel babies this year and some of the Ivory and Yellow Belly babies. And I have some animals that I can't show you, but they are very special. OK Michael, show us your eggs. You said some are hatching right now. Let me see what you have right now, what's hatching. I'll bring you some of the eggs here. Some of the Super Pastel, that I'm breeding. This Pastel laid eight eggs. So this is a clutch with Pastel to Pastel? Yes, this is a Pastel to Pastel. I am breeding some super pastel from this. Now, as you can see, they are coming out. He you can see how they are breeding - just like everywhere in Africa - they use these wooden chippings mixed with soil. All the eggs are buried. At the end, they dig them out, in order to have a look, and then they a buried again. So you keep the eggs inside the saw dust or something. Yes, I incubate them in the sawdust. And at the end, you don't dig them out, you just leave them - and when they hatch, they hatch through the sawdust? Yes, I don't take them out. They just hatch through the sawdust and then I pick them up. Here we have a bed. That's not a bad idea, because you can lie down, next to the eggs and watch what is hatching. You can enjoy it more, if you watch the babies hatching. So, on the bed, you lie there, relax and watch the eggs hatch. ... sometimes I relax on the bed ... Enjoying to see the eggs hatch. Cool, that's a cool breeder’s life. Sometimes I'm also doing something like this in Africa. Sometimes I sleep with them, sometimes I eat with them. These are all unusual snakes. They are breeding something different. Something big. And then you only have one clutch in the boxes where you have the paper marking on? That is right, because I don't want to misplace them. Every snake has it's own place inside the sawdust. I don't want to miss the babies. So I know what will come out. If it's Pastel, it's Pastel, if it's Calico Pastel, it's Calico Pastel. If it is Ivory, it is Ivory. If it is something big, it is something big. And this whole bowl is full of Pastels. You can see some of the Pastels coming out. And then there are some normal ones. Here he has a box full of Pastels, where he put in all the Pastel eggs, so only Pastels will hatch from it. What's interesting for us is, or funny, with quotation marks, is how lightheartedly they handle the eggs. There are about 50 eggs in this box and he's digging with his bare hands and looking what's in there. And could you imagine Africa without a mobile ringing? Here we have some snakes that just hatched. So the two eggs are empty now? I always check them. If I find babies on top of the saw dust, then I check the babies and I pick the empty shells up. Because I don't want the empty shell to be with the babies. It's better hygienically if the empty eggs a taken out. I'm here with Amigel. She's been in the reptile business for a long time. So Amigel, for how long have you been in the business, dealing with reptiles? About 20 years. 20 years now! So you do everything with the snakes, you know everything about them. Stefan: And you also know about the color difference? Amigel: Yes, I know the special ones and the normal ones. I know when I see them. Ok, she's been in the business for a long time. I've known her for quite some time. And she is also involved in breeding. Like this here, we are expecting many specials. We just hatched these Pastel babies and we hope to get more - more from the eggs. Stefan: So what combinations from the Pastel will you get? With Calico also? Amigel: Yes, we'll get Calico. So we've reached the end of the show. We saw some nice things, I could introduce you to some breeders in Africa and we were able to see some things about how they breed in Africa. And we could certainly learn something from that. We hope to show you more of the unusuals. Check my balls. .. of Reptil.TV for today. I hope I could ... Hey! One second, Patrice! Patrice, give me 20 seconds to ... That's all for today’s show. Here I want to show you, that the M&S community is also represented here. That was no M&S. Stefan: Jesus Christ! What t-shirt is this? Nameless: It's from Kevin! Stefan: Patrice! Patrice: Stefan Stefan: What is this? Patrice: This? Stefan: Yes, the t-shirt! Patrice: It's from Mr. Brian. Stefan: Brian? Patrice: Yes, Brian. Stefan: You know Brian? Patrice: My best friend. My first and friend Nr. 1! Buy a snake? What is this company? BHB Enterprises? That's the wrong company! Stefan: What is this book? Show me! Patrice: It's last book of Mr. Stefan Broghammer. Stefan: No, no, no, it's John's book. John Berry. You see .... Hello?