Now that I have deviously gathered your attention, I would like to unveil another exclusive interview conducted by Herp Daily! For this issue, we decided to interview non other than Adam Wysocki! Mr. Wysocki is another celebrity in our industry that I am proud to associate with. His efforts to battle the legislation placed against our hobby have inspired hobbyists all around the country (myself included) to speak up! I hope you all learn as much from this interview as i did!
CHRIS: Hello Mr. Wysocki, I want to say thank you for granting us some of your precious time for this interview. In case some of the viewing public does not recognize your popularity in our hobby, please tell us a little bit about yourself.
ADAM: Hi, and thank you for the chance to be on your site! My name is Adam Wysocki and I’m the owner of 8 Ball Pythons. I’ve been keeping ball pythons since I got my first one about 30 years ago. About 15 years ago I had my first “accidental” ball python breeding and I have been hooked ever since as a hobby breeder. Then, about 6 or 7 years ago I decided to breed ball pythons full time. Partly because my collection had grown so large that it was a full time job to take care of them but mostly because it gave me the opportunity to be home with my son as much as I could
CHRIS: Just out of curiosity, what’s behind the name “8 ball pythons”?
ADAM: That one is pure marketing. When I started the company, a lot of websites and swap meets were listing breeders alphabetically. So I wanted a name that started with a number. I bred only ball pythons, so I wanted “ball python” in the name. I also wanted something that people could visually identify with so the name of my company would be easy to remember. “8 Ball Pythons” fit the bill. As it turns out, when I first got into buying mutations to breed and resell, I owned “8” ball pythons… to this day I think it was a sign.
CHRIS: I know that this is indeed a reptile blog, but I can’t help but asking, what was your
experience like serving for the Marine Corps?
ADAM: I loved my time in the Marine Corps. When I graduated high school I wanted to serve my country. The first Iraq war was starting and I felt drawn to service. I love the United States and it was an honor to serve as a Marine for six years. As it turned out, I was selected to work in the computer field for the Marine Corp out of boot camp. I had never seen a computer before and it was a whole new world for me. Computer networks and the internet were just really getting going as the Marine Corps was training me on computers. I went to a lot of schooling and was able to work as a Marine with companies like Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, and Cisco Systems. It was a tremendous experience and provided me with a solid future career in the technology field. I owe the Marine Corps a lot.
CHRIS: With your original goal of producing albinos, how much did you pay for the 1 albino het male and 4, 50% het albino females? Initially, how many albinos were you able to produce from that group?
ADAM: I paid $5,000 for that group in 1996. The male het was a proven breeder. There was also a couple of racks, a thermostat, and two of the most beat up import Emerald Tree boas that you’ve ever seen in that group. It was a package deal and I had to take .
all of it. The first year they bred I ended up producing 9 albinos out of that group
CHRIS: Can you give us a little preview of what you have in store in terms of morphs?
ADAM: Not anything in store really. For the first time in 14 years, we’re not breeding this season. My wife and I are spending so much time with the non‐profit we just don’t want to stretch ourselves too thin. I can’t imagine having the time this summer to take care of hundreds of babies with all of the time I’ve been spending in DC and
traveling in order to help responsible pet owners.
CHRIS: I know you are actively involved in fighting the legislation constantly being lobbied against our hobby, can you give us a little bit of a background about your
organization, the National Pet Association (www.natpet.org)?
ADAM: Back in March of last year I had first heard about HR 669 which was a law that was going to ban tons of different types of pets … fish, birds, lizards, and the animal that I’m most passionate about … ball pythons. After researching a little more about the law I quickly realized how big the problem of anti‐pet legislation is all over the US. Like my service in the Marine Corps, I felt drawn to help. I knew that my background working in the fortune 500 after I got out of the Corps doing technology, marketing, business development, etc would be extremely helpful. We started the website nohr669.com and got about 30,000 people to send emails to Congress in just 18 days. From there, I realized that if there was a national organization that advocated on behalf of pets and responsible pet owners by bringing together the collective voices of the 74 million American households that own pets, that pet owners would be able to fire back at those that seek to restrict their liberties. From there, The National Pet Association was born. We’re in the process of becoming certified by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non‐profit and not only to we fight laws that restrict the freedom of pet ownership in America, but we have social programs that help pets and pet owners. We’re selling off a large portion of the 8 Ball collection and using personal savings to fund the organization initially. We hope that over time the idea catches on .
and we’ll be able to continue to help for as long as we’re needed
CHRIS: What can the average hobbyist do to help fight for the cause?
ADAM: Be responsible and get involved locally. Submit op‐eds about the joys of reptile ownership to your local paper. Be a regular at local town hall events held by your Congressmen and women so that they get to know your face and the issues that are important to you. Be an advocate for responsible reptile ownership … join or form a local herp society, support a local reptile show, volunteer to show off your animals to a boy/girl scout troop, school, or summer camp.
CHRIS: Do you have any hero’s within and outside of the industry?
ADAM: I certainly do, the problem is that most of those guys are also my friends and they’d probably crack me in the head for calling them a “hero” … lol. People like Peter Kahl, Bob Clark, Brain & Lori Barczyk , Mark & Kim Bell, Eugene Bessette, Trooper Walsh … we all owe them for the industry we have today. There are many more that are responsible for the ground breaking work of figuring out the “hows” and “whys” of captive husbandry, but the names above are the ones I think about when you consider that at some point the gap between that awkward fumbling around figuring things out phase was bridged into a viable commercial industry. There are certainly many others not on my list that deserve just as much credit, but the names
above are people who I consider friends and respect very much.
CHRIS: Now I wouldn’t be a true journalist if I didn’t ask, are there any groups, organizations, or individuals that for one reason or another you just do not get along
with?
ADAM: Great question! … lol … Well, there was certainly a time when I was full of piss and vinegar and really looked down my nose at people who did things differently than I did. It’s almost embarrassing to think about now. I used to get out on internet message boards and forums and thrash away with people on a regular basis. I made some friends, made some enemies, and certainly rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. I’m really over all that now. Within the last couple of years I’ve gotten remarried, bought a great home on a beautiful farm, have gotten back in touch with the church and my faith, quit drinking, started doing volunteer work in my community, and have focused on “real life” instead of arguing with people on the internet. I’m having a lot more fun! These days, I couldn’t care less who does what or how they do it … it’s absolutely none of my business. I just hope that people are having fun with the animals, enjoying the hobby, and making some money. We have one of the greatest hobbies in the world as far as I’m concerned and although there are a bunch of different personalities within our community that may or may not get along, we all share a common bond with what we do. I’m content to just be as helpful as I can be to those who want my help and to stay out of the way of the
people that don’t.
Thank you again for the opportunity! I really appreciate it!
We would like to thank Adam Wysocki for sacrificing some of his precious time to spread the word about this hobby we all love. To learn more about Adam please visit www.8ballpythons.com. And to learn more about the National Pet Association please visit www.natpet.org
Niiiiiceeee, how about one with Ralph Davis?
Its in the works