Does nobody care? This is completely cool?!

So, in my last post I mentioned that Dusty will be filmed in a documentary / movie as an expert and they are flying up here at the end of May to do it. Way cool! Go Dusty! I will be posting the trailer for it as soon as I figure out how....

The Best Book in the World!

OK. So I might be a little biased! :-) I just wanted to share with you all a comment that Dusty received via email. It is from a customer that bought his book and emailed him with feedback. This is one of many emails that Dusty has received from people giving him positive feedback. I am so proud of him for just doing whatever it took to make this dream of his a reality. He worked so hard to bring this about. He doesn't give himself enough credit for all that he as done.

Dear Mr. Rhoads,

I received a copy of your book yesterday as a gift and had read the entire volume by night's end. Much like yourself, I became fascinated with Bogertophis subocularis as a child after reading Carl Kauffield's legendary Snakes: The Keeper and the Kept. For most of my life, however, I had neither the financial means nor the know-how necessary to acquire and keep this beautiful creature.

I recently welcomed into this world my first son—a son to whom I hope to impart a curiosity and compassion for all living things, and, in particular, snakes. Ultimately, I realized there would be no better species with which to introduce my son to the majesty of the serpents than a Trans Pecos Rat Snake; thus, approximately two weeks ago, I took possession of my first subocularis, a yearling female.

I would like to thank you for The Complete Subocularis. It is without question the finest species-specific text I have ever read, and I am already beginning to put many of the book's lessons—such as the creation of a naturalistic terrarium—to work. Your passion for the elegant snake we both love is evident throughout your book, and I'd like to thank you once again for publishing such an important addition to the snake lover's literary canon.

Best wishes,

Jason F.

Champaign, Illinois

Global sales

This was cool. Dusty's book is now being sold in Japan.

Second Book Shipment

You might be sick of hearing about the book, but we aren't! :-) We got the second shipment of Dusty's books in the mail yesterday and last night we packaged them and this morning shipped them out! We are fast :-) People were very anxious to get them and we didn't waste any time moving them out. Dusty definitely wasn't through the roof excited like he was last time but I could tell he was REALLY happy to have this experience again. He has been waiting (semi-patiently) to get these books shipped out so that he can start to hear what lots of people are saying. So far we have read wonderful comments all over the Internet. Also, 2 sellers and Amazon is selling his book. Here are a few more pictures.

Momentous Occasion

I wanted to share this picture. This is when Dusty and I were at the pet store and I reached over and looked in a magazine and we saw his first magazine ad/feature for his book! So cool!

Dusty talked to his publisher and this month his book will stand out in another more prominent ad in that same magazine. So awesome.

The books are here! The books are here!

Well I want to make the announcement that Dusty and I are the proud "parents" of The Complete Suboc and our happy day has finally arrived!!! It was SO AWESOME to be there with Dusty as he opened his box of books. We had such a fun time celebrating and were just generally in shock that the books were here.

Here are some photos of the momentous occasion. It was like National Big Truck Day on our street. That morning there were tons of big trucks that sounded like delivery trucks and we would both rush to see if if was the FedEx truck. At 10 am they arrived and as soon as Dusty saw the truck he opened the door was was telling me to hurry and go get a knife. I was having such a good time taking pictures and watching him that I didn't go and get it and he just kept smiling and was just in his own little world. It was so cute. It was like Christmas morning for him and we were just having a blast.

Congratulations to Dusty!! The book has exceeded our expectations and is such great quality. Everyone who has seen it has commented on the quality and overall presence of it. We even saw it for sale on Amazon through a seller so pretty soon we will be selling it there as well.

Enjoy the pictures of the momentous occasion and thanks to all of you for your love, support and encouragement to help get this accomplished.It has meant a lot to Dusty and I through the whole process. We love you guys and are glad we could share this with you all.

.....I posted just a few of all the pics I took!.......

Kind of cool.....

Dusty saw this on the BYU Library Catalog online. He sent them information on ordering his book and they did :-) That's one way to leave your legacy at your school....forget good grades lol
JUST KIDDING

Serpent Obsessed Student Writes Snake Book

This is the title of Dusty's news article that just came out in the BYU newspaper. Their circulation is about 19,000 and we were so excited to have him in the paper. I wrote a press release about his new book coming out and sent it out to a few places and BYU picked up the story.

The newspaper director said that he has so impressed that a student would take so much time to do something that wasn't required for school that he wanted to do a profile story about Dusty and have the book be a part of it. We think the article was very well written! Here is the online version of the story.
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Serpent Obsessed Student Writes Snake Book - 21 Mar 2008

E-mail or Print this story

Photo by Amy Rhoads Dustin Rhoads pulls out a Trans-Pecos Ratsnake from one of his cages. By APRIL PALMER CHALK She agreed to marry him on one condition: the snakes had to go. And they did, for a few weeks. Now three snakes have turned into 105, but Dustin and Amy Rhoads are still happily married. "Where I grew up, if you saw a snake you killed it," Amy Rhoads said. "I never thought I would become the snake keeper's wife." Dustin Rhoads, an integrative biology major from Texas City, Texas, has loved snakes since he was four years old. His first experience came when his dad found a small snake in the yard while mowing the lawn, he said. "I ran outside in my he-man underwear, and took the shiny earth snake from my dad's hands," Rhoads said. "Wow, I thought, and I have been hooked ever since." During the summer, Rhoads would spend long days sitting in the aisles of the pet store or library reading about reptiles and amphibians, he said. His mom would drop him off when she went shopping and pick him up again on her way home. Other hobbies including football and baseball were activities, but not passions. At only one point in his life were the snakes neglected; when he was 16, Rhoads was more interested in the electric guitar than in his reptiles. His dad was the one to get him back on track. "Dad's opinion was that there is not a need for herpetologists in the world, so I was surprised when he told me to stop neglecting my pets," Rhoads said. "Parents always want you to be a doctor or a lawyer." Getting back on track included Rhoads writing out eight pages of life goals. One of these goals was to write a book about a snake species, and this goal, No. 52 on his list, is now completed. Fittingly, the book's title, "The Complete Suboc: A Comprehensive Guide to the Natural History, Care, and Breeding of the Trans-Pecos Ratsnake," is about as long as the snake itself. His book is the newest edition of ECO Publishing's famous "Complete" series, and is the first book to be published about this species. "I was researching information about this snake for a Web site, and I realized that someone needed to compile it into a book," Rhoads said. "I thought, it might as well be me." Rhoads used his own funds to research and write this book. He was already breeding the snakes as a hobby so it didn't cost much more except for travel expenses to Texas to study the snakes in the wild, he said. And he knew he would get paid when the book was published. "I did not believe that it was necessary for me to have a degree before I made a name for myself," Rhoads said. "Your grades in school are not a forecast for how successful you will be in life." Those who assisted Rhoads in researching and writing of the book think highly of this snake-loving BYU student. "Dusty is very energetic and eager to learn," said Michael Price, executive director of the San Angelo Nature Center. "He is also very passionate about this particular species of reptile and the detailed information that he presents in his book are a testament to that." "I have not known him for long, but he could not have been easier to work with," said David Barker, snake expert and owner of Vida Preciosa International, an enterprise primarily involved in the captive propagation of snakes. "He is the greatest guy in the world." Rhoads sold his snakes before serving in the Chile Santiago mission, but a Trans-Pecos Ratsnake was the first pet he bought when he returned. Snakes are no longer a bone of contention in the Rhoads' marriage, and Dustin is excited that he found a way to make money with a hobby he loves. "If you love what you do, the money will follow," Rhoads said. "A life dream should make you crazy, out of your mind excited. If it doesn't, it is not worth going for." In the future Rhoads plans to continue work in the field of keeping and breeding animals. "If I could take anyone's job, I would take over for Steve Irwin being the crocodile hunter," Rhoads said. "I never thought he was out of his mind; I want to be jumping on crocodiles and saving them too."

http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/68027

NARBC Arlington, TX

For all of you who aren't "in-the-know" ;-) NARBC stands for North American Reptile Breeders Conference. That is what Dusty and I went to last week. In a last minute decision we decided to go out to the show. However, it wasn't just any show, Dusty had a table up selling
pre-orders for his book and he gave his first national presentation. He did a fantastic job! He even got more requests for him to come out and speak at other conventions. I was so proud to be there with him. He had a lot of people there wanting to speak with him and he got to do a lot of networking and met people he has been wanting to meet. It was a successful show. It was a lot of fun! Best of all we got to stay with Jeremy and Chauntel the kiddos. Even better than that I got to stay a lot longer. It was great fun! Thanks Jeremy and Chauntel for helping us make it to the show and giving us a place to stay....and lots of entertainment.

Go Dusty, It's Ya Berft-day! :-)

Imagine having a magazine that you are excited to get every month. You have read it faithfully for over 15 years!!! You know what's what in the industry and you have dreamed about being published in that same magazine since you were a boy.

Well, Dusty had a section posted in Reptiles Magazine about his book coming out! It was so cool to see his name and his book in print in a magazine he has read since he was a boy. We are so looking forward the thing actually coming out. Now we are probably looking to the first of March for the shipping of the books if all goes well! Bummer, but ya gotta take what you can get. We are still toying with the idea of heading out to Texas so he can do pre-sells and give his presentation.

Anyway, we were stoked about seeing this. To top it all off we got a email from the BYU newspaper and they are doing an article on Dusty and his book in the paper and they are interviewing him tomorrow. I am sending off another press release to a few more companies to see if we can get some more press. It's an exciting venture and I am very proud of Dusty!

Dusty's on Wikipedia

Dusty is listed under the Reference section here on Wikipedia. Cool!

Suboc.com Pre-order Sales

Dusty has updated his website and is now taking pre-ordering his book. We had pre-order sales within minutes of his updating and adding the PayPal links. It's so exciting to be a part of this process and to see Dusty (and me!!) working so hard for this to come to fruition.

We have had US and International orders and we are crossing our fingers that his book will be ready for a show in Dallas next month. If that is indeed the case we will be able to go see the Logsdon clad in McKinney, TX. :-) Dusty is scheduled to give a presentation and premier his book at a Dallas show in Feb.

Check out the site! It's exciting! Way to go Dusty for making this dream come true!

This is our life!

We have our last clutch of snakes hatching out, Dusty's book is coming to a close and I wanted to post some random stuff about snakes on here since even I have snakes on the brain. I have had 3 snake dreams this week!! I am so glad that Dusty is following his dreams and go after what some people would think is the impossible. I love him and all he has done in his life....and what is still to come!

A snake sticking it's little head out for the first time! They have little egg tooths that cut the egg and they make slits and stick their heads out.

This is a snake's umbilical cord. It's yoke that is still attached to the snake and the snake absorbs it over a short period of time.

This is a common scene at my house....the house filled with boxes. This was when Dusty got his new snake rack systems in the mail. We had a date night putting them together :)

This is a snake that just came out of the egg.

This is our new and improved snake room that is organized! Yay! These are the rack systems that work really well for what we do. They hold lots of snakes and take up minimal room. Our room is equipped to hold 124 snakes easy (we are well on our way there....) and the room could even squeeze in more!

This is actually a picture I took after Dusty hollered for me to come quick. These are two teeth that we pulled out of Dusty's thumb. The snake mistook Dusty's finger for a mouse and WHAM!! Two teeth are stuck in Dusty's hand. We pulled them out and took a close up. This will appear in the book I think. It isn't an aggressive snake, it just felt the warmth of Dusty's body and thought it was food!