Interview with a Keeper – Brett Moy

What started your passion for reptiles and getting involved in the hobby?

Being the son of dairy farmers, my parents view was the best snake is a dead snake. I didn’t agree with that being a nature lover. I found it fascinating how snakes could move around without arms and legs and I wanted to learn more about these amazing creatures, that when I was younger people actual feared. As every young kid I caught lizards, pythons and to my parent distain even the odd RBBS, Death Adder or Eastern Brown I encounter. I didn’t really consider how dangerous some of those animals where and back when I was a kid there wasn’t even a licensing system or hobby scene just the odd balls like myself that grew to love these animals with a passion.

What age did you start your journey?

I started young from memory around 10 years old or slightly younger. I’m now becoming an elder statesman of the hobby getting on in my late 40’s. So I’ve been involved for quite some time now and continually learn new things. Believe it or not they didn’t even have internet like today when I first starting developing this passion, it was all reference material out of books or questions and phone calls to older more experienced keepers and friends etc

What species do you keep?

When I first started animals weren’t as frequently available as they are now, Pretty much started with one, than that became 2 and everyone knows how the story goes from there. Once I had one of everything I thought id like to give breeding ago. I started the breeding journey with the plain old common coastal and children’s pythons. If I bred a clutch that money went back into the collection for better caging or better animals etc and I still have that physiology today. The species I keep exclusively are pythons, they are my passion. I specialise in Antaresia and the morphs available within that genus, Aspidites with my locality specific NT Rabbit flat locality and some Axanthic BHPs and tinker a little with some selective Morelia animals.

What is your favourite species and why?

Though I have a comprehensive Ant collection. The Woma python is by far my favourite species. They are a solid robust animal with plenty of personality and attitude especially as hatchlings. Most mellow into really nice adults (I do have some devils in the collection  ). The threat display of appearing to growl, the head butting not actually biting and tail wiggling are so fun to watch. They are easy species to breed and establish though I’ve found with incubation they require a dyer medium and aren’t as hardly to moisture like Ants and Morelia.

Do you breed your animals, and what is your secret?

Yes, I breed selected animals for projects and collection development. Though I’ll only ever breed 1/3 of the collection at any one time. I like to rest and rotate my females. My reptiles and collection are my hobby and passion. I have a full time demanding job that takes up a lot of time. My animals are my therapy animals, if I’ve had a stressful day I go tinker in the reptile room. I see them as living artwork. As mentioned, I rotate and rest females frequently that’s a key thing for myself, I believe that is important to the longevity of your animal’s health etc.

My secret – Source your animals from the best breeders as good healthy animals produce good healthy offspring. Have a goal and plan of what you’d like to achieve. Be prepared and have the ability to house and feed animals if they don’t sell. Make it all about your animals. If your doing the correct husbandry, your animals are happy and healthy and you hit all the environmental que’s (food, lighting to mimic seasons, correct cooling temps etc) the animals will do what nature intended. It is us as keepers that like to over complicate things. Learn your animals patterns and behaviours and as mentioned make it all about the animals and not you.