Sorry I'm late

Last night was one of those nights in which I didn't get anything productive snake-wise done.

I had family come in from Chicago, so the evening was spent hanging out with them.

But, the positives from snakeness are as follows:

The Pastel het Pieds are shedding out, and I will hopefully have some decent pictures of them very soon.

The het Pieds from the not proved out clutch pipped, and two of them are out. So far, 1.1 Het Pieds. Two more are still in the egg, and I can't wait to get them out of there!

The Snow clutch is getting ready to pip any day now, and I candled the eggs, and I didn't see pattern in at least two of them... Oh man, you guys, this is going to be a big one for me.

Fingers crossed.

So that is it for now. Late blog, not much to report, but its here.

Catch me again tomorrow for the real scoop.

Heather OUT!

Clutch #21: Sterling x Spider

Clutch 21 is on the ground, and I am glad to see it. This is a clutch that I forgot to take a picture of Momma on eggs, but that I have been excited about.

Sterling male bred to a Spider female, so everything should be Pastel if not something "better", so we can expect Bumblebees, Pewterbees, Pastels, and Pewters.

I'm glad to see it in the ground. Should be a great clutch!

Also, clutch #2 is pipping, and it looks like the Poss Het Pied female didn't prove out. Four het Pieds in the egg, and we shall see what the sex odds are when they come out.

I am expecting a few more clutches this week and next, and then a lull. Seems like it will be an interesting season this year in terms of what hatches out when.

I have my records from last year and am comparing to this year. It has been so far a little later than last year, but with the way things are going, this year should outshine the last in terms of clutches.  Last year, we had 30 clutches, and this year, I'm hoping to get there. We are at 21, so we're not too far off. Lets see how it works out in the next few months, eh?

Plus, with everything happening, I may have a few more females that are going later than initially planned. We shall see....

Have a fantastic day, my friends!

San Diego Show Brief and Clutch Update

Well, San Diego was fun! I only went for half a day on Saturday, and then hung out with some friends of mine afterwards, but here are a few pictures that I took while I was there. 

This is Xan, the Rhino Iguana, owned by my friend Desiree Wong of IRCF. He's a handsome and well behaved young man. 

And on to the Ball Pythons...

This is the Banana Woma. Beautiful animal... No question about it, a must have for most keepers. This is the first and only one I know of so far, produced by Brock Wagner.

And a want of mine... A Mystic Potion.

And a younger one as well... They are beautiful animals. 

And a Crystal. Gotta love them!

Some Ball Python Morphs... Pied, Fire, Champagne, and Soul Sucker.

And the newest recessive morph to hit the market.. produced by TSK, the Tri Stripe. I like it!

 But I don't know if I like it that much...

WHEW! 

And on Sunday, after waking up refreshed from the show and doing errands around the house, I looked into an expectant mother's tub to find this.

YEAH, baby!! This is my Velvet female (unproven dinker I've been playing with), and she was bred to either my Bumblebee (which I really hope is the father), and the Pastel Yellowbelly. 

Five beautiful eggs. Can't complain! 

We are at clutch 20 now. Even number, and four more clutches before both Big Apple Herp Incubators are full! 


ACK! 


We shall see...


But it was a nice weekend, and we are on to a nice week as well!


Have a fantastic week, my friends.
 

Clutch #19: Pastel Lesser x Spider

This clutch makes me very excited, because I have always loved the Queen Bees (Pastel Lesser Spider).

I decided to use one of my older female spiders who had never been bred before, and for a while, doubted her ability to produce, but here we are, with a great pearly clutch!

She is one of my spotty Spiders that I have had for a while, and hopefully she throws some beautiful Queens for me.

Plus, I would love to have another triple combo morph male or something in the collection. Can't be mad at those.

Here's to five lucky rolls of the genetic dice that I get a Male Queenbee.

And here's to hoping.

And this weekend, I'll be going to San Diego for the Reptile Show, and will be there on Saturday, just walking around. If you are there, stop and say Hi!

http://www.reptilesupershow.com/

Have a fantastic weekend, my friends!

Responsibilities

I'm going to be honest here.

There are days when I just don't want to deal.

Yesterday was hot and I was tired from work, and just beat.

It was like 5000000 degrees in the house, and in the snake room, 5000000 x 2.

Now I realize I am being overly dramatic, but I want to make a point.

I went in there, and I spent 3 hours cleaning and watering everyone.

It was not fun.

It was not enjoyable.

I almost got bit several times.

I was sweating like crazy. 5000000 degrees is not a pleasant experience.

But I did it.

The snakes can't do it themselves, and I don't have much help. It's just me and them.

And I, and you, can never forget that.

I'm sure your own snakes have you and only you as well.

Responsibilities.

Sometimes its rough, but its something we as pet owners have to deal with.

So basically, I did it, but I didn't get any motivation to write anything interesting other than to remind you and myself that you gotta do what you gotta do.

So there you go.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have something more interesting to share. And it won't be 5000000 degrees.

Cutting eggs, maybe.

Yeah, that sounds good.

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

Frustrations

Well, as we well know, it is breeding season.

And with that in mind, there is a huge frustration, albeit rather financially helpful.

Feeding.

When breeding season comes along, it is very difficult to get everyone feeding. Males go off feed cause of the sex, females go off feed cause of the eggs. Babies and sub adults go off feed cause, hey, why not...

And yes, this does help me in terms of buying less feeders, but the problem is that even when feeder amounts are on the low side, it is some times very difficult to figure out what to do with the left overs that inevitably occur.

And I greatly dislike housing left overs.

Not because I dislike rats, mind you. I just don't have a very good place to hold them. My facility does not allow for many rat cages or rat racks at all, so I have to make due with an ultra hugemungous tank for all of the left overs.

And cleaning that sucker is a pain, let me tell you...

So I prefer to not have any leftover rodents.

And a day that has no leftovers is a good day indeed.

But, in months of breeding, leftover rodents is to be expected.

So yes, if your male or female is not eating right now, yes it is normal, no, you should not be concerned, and yes, it is fine for you to try again in another few days.

Breeding season is great for creating more mouths to feed, but remember that the mouths that created those other mouths will get hungry too.

And then?

Feeder bill explodes.

Yeah, maybe I should just appreciate the lull in needing food.

Yeah.

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

One more of my gals

Well, here is another one of my gals that I grew up, sister to the other Black Pastel, on her eggs.

I am very happy with this gal, as she was always a pig. She does me proud, and even more so now that she is a momma.

My girl, Lily.

She is so good with her eggs. She's even covering the eggs with her face!!! 

Can't get any better than that.

So she had six beautiful eggs, and I am very proud of her. 

As I am aware, this is the last clutch for the week until more than likely the weekend, or later.

I am not counting my eggs before they hatch, but there should be a few more clutches up my sleeve. 

So in the lull of snake eggs and hatchings, I will be doing a few more shed quizzes, and answer a few more questions for anyone that has anything out there. 

Shoot me an e-mail!!! I always look forward to hearing from you all. 

Up, up and away!!

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

Happy Belated Fathers Day

Happy Belated Father's Day to all you proud poppas out there.

I say the same to some of my males here, as it was a busy weekend this weekend in terms of clutches.

Here is a clutch I caught on Saturday night. This normal female was bred to the Lemon Blast mostly, but I think she was also with the Sterling and the Pastel Lesser. Thus, the question mark...

But this so far has been my largest clutch. 10 nice eggs! ALRIGHT!

And then, I checked a few more females that night to make sure they were on the up and up.

I opened the tub to see this...

Yes... That looks as painful in the photo as it did in person.

So I left her alone, and went to check the incubator.

Hey...

What's this?

They are a week early! I'm not sure why this is the case, but most of my babies come out about a week early. I have my incubator at 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but... here they are!

So again, I let them be, and go to bed.

Fast forward to Sunday.

I go back to check on Miss Dog Tongue, as I call her, as she was purchased from a Pet Store without her fork. She has no fork...

I shall try to get a photo eventually of this phenomenon, but I digress..

The first eggs that she laid was this two egg combined slug. I saw her kick it out, and it was very weird. That actually was what she was laying while I was taking pictures.

So I'm bummed, cause if this slug is there, what about the rest?

Well... It wasn't horrible. But it wasn't awesome either.

8 good eggs, from what I believe is the Sterling. We shall see.

So I clean her up, set her up, and realize she has one more left in her. CRAP.

I leave her to her business, and a few hours later come back to see another slug.

So final count for Dog Tongue (which I realize now I spelled wrong on the card), was 8 eggs, 4 slugs (or 5 slugs if you count the two melded together individually).

Not my best clutch... but it could have been worse.

And in my rush to get these counted and done, I forgot to take pictures (AGAIN) of the momma on eggs, but here is the other clutch of the day on Sunday.

Hopefully this gal should prove out to be Het Ghost. I need some POG females.

Five good big eggs.

Can't complain!

So three more clutches on the ground, plus one hatching.

Oh right!! Gotta go check on those babies...

By Sunday evening, they were all out.

Final count: Pastel x Pied clutch

0.4 Pastels Het Pied
1.1 Het Pieds

I have to be honest, I was kinda hoping for a Male or two that were Pastel Het Pied. I know people prefer to have them than the females, but... I guess for my own benefit, I lucked out!

So goes the world, I guess. 

So the season is a GO GO GO so far, and we are now officially in 2010 and have 2010 babies!

HOORAY!

And YAY for my proud snake poppas. Good job, buddies.

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

Clutch #14: POG x Black Pastel

This clutch is a massively important one to me, as this is one of my own females that I produced and held back when I was starting out.

Granted, I have had this happen before, but this is one of the Black Pastels that I kept in the beginning. One of my first morphs that I hatched out!

WOOHOOO!

So although she is skinny and dirty, I am very proud of her, and very glad to see these pearly whites.

She gave me a good batch of 6 eggs, one roll out (the one on the left), and although they are small, I have to say, I am very pleased. I palpated five. Obviously I missed one. 

So these will be my first Black Pewters, and they are all going to be Het ghost as well. And maybe, just maybe.... they will be ghosts!?!?!

Yeah, not that she is poss het that I know of... It would just be really cool.

So lets at least hope for a few Pewters in there. Anything else would be awesome.

Black Pastels and Pastels het Ghost wouldn't hurt either.

So let us watch and wait, and in a few short weeks there will be babies to share, as well as more eggs to have.

It's getting exciting!

Have a fantastic weekend, my friends.

Allergies

Well, as it stands as a Reptile Breeder, one usually does not have allergies to the animals themselves.

Scales are easy.

It is the food that is the issue.

I am allergic to rodents. All rodents.

Actually, I'm allergic to many other things as well, but rodents will suffice for this blog.

How then, do you ask, do I feed my snakes?

Carefully.

I do tend to get itchy and get the sniffles when I am touching the rats. More so even when I touch them then touch my face.

I can handle them in short bursts, but it does take a toll over a while of feeding. It takes me a few hours to feed, and I do touch them with my bare hands.

I probably shouldn't.

What tends to happen is that I use my hands or tongs to put them in, and they scratch me.

When they scratch me, I puff up in the area where the scratch is. And then, I sniffle. And sneeze.

Some people have a much more severe reaction to the rodents than I do, so here are a few tips on how to feed your snakes with live rodents that you are allergic to.

1) Use protection: Gloves, tongs, anything that will keep you from needing to get into contact. Even if you need to, use a mask for breathing.

2) Use help. Don't do it alone if you don't have to.

3) Frozen thawed food items do not bite, scratch or otherwise move around to let forth hair or dander to make you react. They still may make you react, but it will not be as bad.

4) Take drugs if you need to. Prepare yourself for the encounter.

5) Take it easy. When you get a reaction, just step back, take whatever time you need before anything, and then jump back in when you are ready.

You more than likely already know all of this, but hey, I just want to remind. I had this issue last night, so I wanted to touch on it now.

My arm is still itchy.

Have a fantastic, non-itchy day, my friends.

Hump day

Well, its Wednesday, and it is also hump day.

Now, not to sound crude or anything, but hump day should signify something.


And while I understand this is more for people who want to have an excuse to pair up, I am more interested in the snake aspect of all of this.

There are a few more pairings that are happening, due to the fact that some males are getting individual females at this point, as well as most females have past their date for needing a mate.

Spotty McGillicutty, the Bumblebee male, is now exclusively with a Pastel female that has yet to show any signs of anything. So he'll stay there until I see something.

The Pastel Super Mojave has been in with the Special female exclusively for a few weeks now. Nothing yet.

And the Pied is in with a few females that need to be bred to prove them out this year, therefore helping me figure out the Normals from the Hets.

"But Heather," you say, "I thought you said you stopped pairing by now?"

Well, yes and no. Certain females I know that are not going to go do not need me to keep pairing them. They will just be front runners for next season.

But there are a few I am pushing and crossing my fingers for.

And those are the ones that get to enjoy hump day.

Not that you need to be humping to enjoy hump day, of course... It's all in the way you look at it.

But I digress, as I am flustering myself, and hoping you, my dear reader, are not blushing.


Have a fantastic day, enjoy your day, and remember... Hump Day.

Fuzz World Cup and cool shed

Well, its back to waiting for more clutches, but there have been a few cool things happening around here.

I found the Cinny female I bred late having her post ovulation shed.

I caught her like this.

Half naked, flipped around, and oh so cool looking.

You can see her belly scales on her spine!

I had to take pics.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the best angle (the tub is rather high, and I am rather short), but I got this shot to show the contrast.

I thought that was the coolest thing...

So there you go, another random snake shot of shed from Heather to you. Hope you liked it!



And now on to the Fuzz World Cup, 2010.

Kona is all fine and better now, and Joel decided to set up a semblance of the Fifa World Cup at the house, thusly dubbed Fuzz, as it involved the Fuzz kids.

Here they are, getting ready for the show.

Regal is getting a little excited now, the ball is coming out!

And they are OFF!

Fuzz Soccer Ball with Squeeky for the Fuzz World Cup.

Kona does a drop kick on Regal, Regal goes for the jugular.  What a rough match!

But in the end, the baby gets the toy..

And Regal gets the petting and love, while Kona attempts to destroy the ball. Again.

And so ends the Fuzz World Cup round one...

Will there be a rematch? Maybe...

But until then, have a fantastic day, my friends!

Weekend Clutches and HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOEL!

This weekend, and every weekend, seems to be time for more eggs. I should basically just stop checking until the weekend, it seems.

Clutches 11, 12, and 13 are on the ground.

Clutch 11 is a G Stripe to poss het that didn't prove out last year. So... we try again. After this year, if it doesn't wash, she is a Normal.

This is not a Normal, but she is a momma for sure. This is Clutch 12.

Clutch 12 consists of Pastel Lesser to Pastel, and a clutch I am excited about.

Would be worth two months of waiting to see what these little gems pop out. Five nice ones, so we shall see...

And Clutch 13, the clutch that is on its own in the second incubator, as the first Big Apple Herp incubator is FULL...

This clutch I forgot to take pics of Momma on eggs.. She was doing a good job, but I just forgot. It was Saturday, after all...

Pastel Yellowbelly male to one of my Normal females. Five nice eggs on this one. Should be a good spread.

So there it is.

Second incubator is up and running with a clutch already inside it, waiting for eggs to hatch at the end of the month, and just going with the flow.

Happy Birthday, Joel. Love you!

Clutch #10: Pastel het Pied x Het Pied

So yesterday morning, I went into the snake room to check on the three girls that were photographed the night before.

One, Nothing...

Two, Nothing...

And then, there was number three.

Yes!!!

This gal had finally laid her clutch for me, and I was ecstatic, albeit a little late to work after setting up the tub. 

This is one of the Het Pieds that I proved out last year, so I put her in with my Pastel het Pied male.

6 beautiful eggs, with one roll out.

All candled well, so I'm hoping the roll out stays viable.

And now, the female in question is cleaned, tub is immaculate (thank goodness I finally got to do it), and one less female to check in on for egg watch.

Here's to Pastel Pieds... I really would love to have a few of them. One would be good, however.

Lets see how it goes, shall we?

Countdown from 60 days.

WOOOHOOO!

Have a fantastic weekend, my friends...

Almost done with the week

Well, its Thursday.

I am really frustrated.

Why?

Well, the girls that are on egg watch currently are all super slug fat like, and none of them have been laying yet.

I'm watching three of them.

All three of them are holding these eggs in for dear life. 

Please forgive the dirty tubs. When girls get ready to lay, I try not to disturb them much. 

So here they are....

See?? Completely holding them in...

Fat butts...

And you know what's wierd? They are all Hets. Wierd... 

Oh well.

Hopefully by this weekend, we will have at least clutch 10.

I'm hoping these girls lay so that I can have a respite from checking their tubs every few hours when I am home.

But that is part of the fun, right?

Of course.

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

Crazy days

Well, we have been having some crazy days over here.

Kona ran out of the house into the street Monday night and got hit by a car.

She's alright, but has a few bangs and scrapes.

I was absolutely freaked out, because Joel and I saw it happen while we were trying to get her back into the house.

The lady who hit her was going slow, as she saw Kona running across the street, but Kona doubled back and got bumped.

Crazy dog.

Seriously.

But as of today, she is fine. The X-rays came out fine (we rushed her to the ER that night), and other than pain medication and some tender loving care on Tuesday (I stayed home to watch her progress), she is fine.

She's even bugging Regal just as much as ever.

Crisis seems to be averted.

PHEW.

So today's blog is about that craziness more than anything else.

While I was home tending to my little fuzz princess's every need, I finally reorganized the snake room, and we are now needing to clear out some racks and move around some animals to get things more in order.

I just needed something to take my mind off of the crazy dog adventures.

It has completely helped. Now I'm concerned about where I'm going to put all these animals that are growing up. ACK!

Until tomorrow, my friends, have a fantastic day.

Nine and doing fine

So we are at clutch number nine on the ground, and the first clutch will be hatching at the end of this month.

Here is the outline so far of the season:

• 4/26/10: Pied x Pastel (6 eggs)
• 5/4/10: Pied x Poss Het (4 viable eggs, 1 egg molded)
• 5/15/10: TSK Axanthic het Albino x TSK Axanthic poss het Albino (5 eggs)
• 5/24/10: Genetic Stripe x Het Genetic Stripe (5 eggs)
• 5/29/10: Albino or POG x Het Albino ph Ghost (7 eggs)
• 6/1/10: Mystery Males x Normal (6 eggs)
• 6/5/10: Caramel x Poss Het (6 eggs)
• 6/6/10: POG x PH Ghost PH Albino (4 eggs-runt egg-)
• 6/6/10: Albino x Het Albino (6 eggs)

 Have you noticed the new outline on the right of the blog that has these outlined?

Yeah, I figured that one out, so that people can keep updated without worrying about the blog outlining it every day.

I have all recessive clutches, it seems like, other than the mystery clutch that was laid on the 1st of June.

I am excited to see some pippers, as I have seen some of my local friend's babies already, and I have to say that I am a little envious of baby faces.

This season is dragging on, it seems... I have been much more distracted by other things this year, and I feel like the snakes are taking it out on me.

Jerks.

Oh well, I guess I deserve it.

But as it stands, I have three more females on the next few weeks egg watch, and then we shall see where we stand. Yes, I still have males locking up, and yes, I still have females developing.

So it is going, and we are doing fine!


And I hope you do too, my friends. Have a fantastic day!

Lots of clutches and the little engine that could

So it first began with Clutch 7 on Saturday, with one of my Poss Het females laying six gorgeous eggs.

She is a first time mother, and I have yet to prove her out. I hope she does, as Caramels are one of my favorites, and I hope that the kinking issue does not come up. We shall see!

If you can tell, the one on the far right is freshly laid. Still nice and shiny!

And then, there were two more on Sunday. These two girls laid without my knowing, as I wasn't watching them on my "Egg Watch".

This female is a Het Albino, proven, that was bred to my Albino male.

She was trying to hide...

But I got the eggs, much to her disappointment.

And then there was this gal. She was a small female, one of the trio of double poss het Albino Ghosts. She had yet to ever give me eggs, so this was her first year.

I bred her to the Pastel Orange Ghost. 

She didn't disappoint.

A very protective mother to say the least. I didn't even get a count until I uncoiled her from the eggs, and this is what I found.

Yes, there are four eggs in there. Two normal sized, one gigantic, and one dwarf.

I was initially very concerned about the little egg. It is the smallest egg I have EVER had, it is as big as a chicken egg.

But so far it is viable. This is going to be an interesting clutch to watch develop. I hope the little runter egg makes it.

So there we have it, folks.

This is going to be interesting!

The little engine that could. We shall watch its progress often.

And as for you all, have a fantastic day, my friends.