>>I'd be surprised if in a town the size of Chicago you had to hunt hard to find rams in a pet shop.<< Oh, they do show up. But I'm reluctant to go that route for a couple of reasons. One, I'd rather support a local breeder whenever possible. Two, I've heard some negative comments about the store bought strains and troubles people sometimes have in breeding them. Three, when they do show up in my LFS. tanks, they're all males! I suspect that there will be some at the GCCA auction, but I doubt I'll be there all day (and all night!), so it would be a hit-or-miss type of thing if a bag happens to come up while I'm there. Bill Vannerson http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/william_vannerson