Who would have ever thought that a simple request from my daughter for a pet reptile would have led to this? It wasn't that long ago that I walked into a local pet shop to look for some suggestions.
I soon discovered that I had many choices. However, the one reptile that kept popping up was a ball python. They had one on display and when I held it for the first time all my childhood memories of countless hours of snake hunting came back to me. I was 44 at the time and my childhood was a very distant memory. The rekindling my childhood passion was never thought of. But there I was holding this magnificent snake. It was big. It was fat and it was already SOLD! Wait a minute...this is for my daughter! Stay focused!
I'm a bit of a research fanatic and as soon as I got home I jumped head-first into the internet. I searched out every herp site I could find which quickly led me to kingsnake.com. I looked everywhere for a ball python, seeing that my pet store wasn't planning on getting more in for at least a few months. I talked to many breeders in the United States without any luck. I just wanted a normal and shipping was too complicated. Some were very helpful and some were not.
Soon as I though my search had hit a wall I did another search and found a breeder here in Canada. Even better, they were located 20 minutes from my home and they has two baby ball pythons for sale! Without delay I called and drove to their facility. It was a home hobby business and they had many reptiles and assorted pets. When I was shown the babies I was completely smitten. Damn were they cute. I drove home a proud owner, or should I say my daughter was, of 1.1 banded ball pythons. Actually the female was mine!
I was completely taken by these magnificent little snakes. Their friendly personality and gentle disposition was irresistible. What I had discovered was, and still believe to be, the perfect pet snake...the perfect pet of the future. It was only days before I had anther 0.2.
As you can imagine my quest did not stop there. In a relative short period of time I was able to put together a very impressive group of ball pythons acquired from some of the top breeders in the nation. Greg Graziani, Pete Kahl, The Snake Keeper and Upscale Reptiles to name a few.
Our goal here at Markus Jayne Ball Pythons is simple.
As an exclusive breeder of quality ball pythons
we will only sell stock that is well established,
healthy and feeding. It is the kind of stock
we would buy ourselves.
However, the one thing that I did encounter in my quest for stock was frequent disappointment. Most of the breeders in my country, Canada, didn't have any stock for sale or any stock of any interest. I was on the hunt for morphs and breedable females. I encountered a lot of scammers. I would make arrangements to purchase snakes described as one thing, but turned out to be very poor specimens. They were skinny, small and covered in ticks and mites! I couldn't believe how many people were trying to sell me wild caught yearlings as proven breeder captive breds! It was a appalling.
That is why I am very particular about my snakes I purchase and more importantly, sell. I remember in the beginning talking to a breeder that was selling his entire collection. He told me of how people would practically cry from excitement when they took delivery of his snakes. He was very passionate about them and kept them in perfect condition!
I feel the same way. I've had some great experiences opening up snake containers and pulling out newly acquired treasures. I remember getting a shipment from Pete Kahl of some normal female proven breeders. When my hand slid into the bag and I felt the girth and drew that huge female out. I was in awe.
My search also took me to many shows including Daytona and witnessed the good, the bad and the UGLY! I remember the first breeder I ever approached a local show and he went on to tell me that the ball python bubble has burst and the market had crashed! That was in 2000. He's not around anymore.
We are very proud of the collection we have put together here at MJBP and we feel this is the just the beginning of a long love affair. I've always said that "Nothing great is ever accomplished without passion". And along with that come hard work! And if there is anyone out there that thinks for a minute that this is easy you are gravely mistaken! Nothing good ever comes easy.
Our goal here at Markus Jayne Ball Pythons is simple. As an exclusive breeder of quality ball pythons we will only sell stock that is well established, healthy and feeding. It is the kind of stock we would buy ourselves. We will go as far as to say that they will far out weigh your expectations. We don't want you to cry. We just want you to be totally satisfied.
In the summer of 2004, I quit my job of 9 years as a commercial producer and started doing this full time. It was a decision that was hard to make but also the best move I have ever made in my life regarding work. Our state of the art facility ensures the best environment for quality husbandry and working in it is a pleasure.
My name is Mark Mandic and my beautiful wife's name is Jayne. My friends always call me Markus, so hence the name...Markus Jayne. Together we have 3 children, and three bengal cats and two German Shepherds. We also have another business which we started in 2003. It's a Pilate's Studio run by Jayne and it is called Jayne Markus Studios located on Peterborough, Ontario.
This is what we do for a living... and serving you will be our pleasure.
We hope you enjoy our web site. It was created entirely by myself using dreamweaver mx. This is our second version and just like our businesses they will... always be evolving.
Enjoy the ride!
Mark & Jayne