James David Sickles grew up an animal lover, but it wasn’t until college that he became a snake owner, first of a single corn snake and then a pair of corn snakes intended for breeding.  “I hatched my first clutch of Corn Snakes in 1992 and was hooked. The whole process was unlike anything I had ever encountered.” David writes on their website.  In the years since, David met his partner, Paul Robinson, also a snake lover, and the two have continued to produce a variety of Corn and King snakes.

They call their endeavor Serpent Mutations, based on what Sickle calls the “mad science” of combining snakes to produce new traits or morphs.  Their passion is for what are called Jungle Corns and Kings which are hybrids of normal Corn Snakes and California King Snakes. “We like the smaller size, good temperament, and huge genetic pool available” he said. 

Blends of the two species offer a wide variety of colors and patterns that are accentuated by breeding snakes with certain characteristics. “This is what my fascination is.  It’s all about the genetics.  Taking two unrelated species from different parts of country, breeding them together and producing viable young with 

crazy mutations – color and stuff…” he explained.

The Corns and Kings owned by Serpent Mutations have various characteristics they can play with achieving morphs such as: amelanism or the absence of black making the snake orange and white; anerythrism, the abscence of red, making the snake black and white; butter or having no reds or black, making the snake yellow and white; and 40-50 others.

“It is like Christmas when the snakes start hatching. The mix of diverse genetics between the two different species and the morphologies within the two provide hatchlings that are extremely diverse and colorful.   It’s mad science at its best.” David said.

Last year Serpent Mutations began sponsoring an event twice a year where other enthusiasts could gather and introduce the public to their hobby.  The South Central Kentucky Reptile Breeders Show is held in the Fall and Spring at the Cave City Convention Center and draws a couple dozen vendors from Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Alabama.  The Spring show will take place on March 26 from 10 am to 4 pm.  In addition to snakes, the show features lizards, arachnids, feeder insects, and feeder rodents.

David Sickles’ advice to anyone interested in becoming a breeder is “Do lots of research. Ask lots of questions.”  Both can be done at the show where the vendors are more than happy to describe their stock in detail and a herpetologist from the Sanders Spring State Facility will be on hand.  He is however very strong in his conviction that all animals at his shows be captive bred, though the stipulation has angered some in breeder’s circles.

“I separate vendors that pillage from foreign countries and don’t allow nuisance or dangerous animals.” he said.  By that he means animals that do not make good pets, such as large breeds like some pythons and iguanas and of course venomous snakes.  “Some of these live 20-30 years and most end up killed or sent to a reptile shelter.” he said.

“The main thing I wanted you to know,” he explains, “is we are the only one in state that truly is captive bred and very few in US are. Breeders go to foreign countries, decimate their wildlife and destroy their ecosystems.  It’s blood money, peddling flesh, same concept as puppy mills verses real dog breeders.”  He similarly cautioned against those referring to their stock as captive born, which means they have gone abroad and harvested eggs which are then brought to the US and hatched.  “We are totally against it.” he emphasized, adding that animals kept in these conditions are often malnourished, unhealthy and responsible for introducing new problems such as diseases and ticks not found in this country. “We can sustain with what was taken in first place through reptile husbandry.” he said. “I do what I can to insure we run a clean show, the animals are healthy and pose no potential risk to consumer.”

David Sickles and Paula Robinson can also be found at their recently opened store Pet’s Supplies in Glasgow (petssuppliesglasgow.com).  The store specializes in high end, holistic dog and cat food made from meat rather than corn. “I am somewhat passionate, especially about the show, I put a lot of heart and soul into it.  I got a business license for show and it pushed me into the business world.” he said.

The South Central Kentucky Reptile Breeders Show will take place on March 26,  at the Cave City Convention Center.  Admission is $3 with kids under 6 free.  For more information visit www.serpentmutations.com