Caramel education

So here is the Caramel again, unravelled and unfurled.

As you can see, there is nothing wrong with him at all other than being shiny and newly hatched.

I took a photograph of him to try and get his whole entirety, but I am not very good with macro with my camera, so I couldn't get his tail very well.

Yes, his tail is always a bit curled, but this is the case with every other snake hatchling as well

And the tail is what we are trying to look at.

Here is the best shot I could get of the tail. To be very honest with you, you can't even notice the kink unless you feel it. It is a slight bump right before the tip of the tail, and it is very small. Had I not felt down his entire spine for kinks, I would have never noticed it.

So there you go.

I have another clutch of Caramels due to hatch out in a few days, and there are several Caramels in it, so we will see more of the kinking (or lack thereof) when they hatch out.

Speaking of hatching out, here are a few clutches that are hatching out right now.

These are the Pastels and Normals het Genetic Stripes. Three pastels out of eight eggs... Not too great, but not too bad.

The one that hatched is a male. He's very pretty too...

And the Cinnamons het Pied are hatching out. Five out of six eggs are Cinnamons. These are the odds I appreciate a bit more.

Two Cinnamons are out, and both of them are female so far. HOORAY!

I love the Cinny and Super Cinny Pieds, so I am very glad for these gals. Hopefully there is a boy in there for me too!

We shall see.

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

Weekend Update with Heather Wong

So things did hatch, and things are being addressed, and it was a good weekend overall!

Every weekend, I wish that it was longer.

I really think I need a vacation, is the bottom line here...

But there is no rest for the wicked.

So here we go, my friends.

The Caramel clutch hatched, and we have one out of four. 

He's a boy, of course. But he is almost perfect! No kinks anywhere but at the very very tip of his tail.

I like him!

The other hets are all girls! THIS is the type of clutch I like!

And of course, the other clutch hatched as well.

Three eggs, one Pied, ALL GIRLS.

I love it.

That pied is awesome too, I really like her.

And with that, the rest of the clutches are in the incubators. I turned off one, but two others are still going strong.

I use Big Apple Herp incubators, and here you have a picture of my setup.

I use proportional thermostats to run them, 6qt tubs with vermiculite and Press and Seal on the top, and lots of love.

They are on top of each other to save space, so yes, this is two incubators. They each hold 12 6qt tubs.

Questions? Feel free to ask!

So as of right now, the Pastel het Genetic Stripes are hatching out, as well as a Mystery clutch and the Cinnamon het Pieds. Lots of interesting things, but nothing to really speak of other than they are cutting the eggs.

We will know in a few more days what the situation is.

So until then, I will field any questions, get some things done, and hope that you all have a fantastic day, my friends!

Count down to the NARBC Anahiem.. 13 days. WOOHOO!!!

Oldies but Goodies, and Newbies

It's FRIDAY!

I am glad for the weekend, as I am almost caught up on everything, although I need to get a few more things finished before I can say that I can relax and take new pictures and sit in the snake room, sipping a cocktail. That rarely happens, but it happens.

Anyway,  I was going thru the holdback rack, and I realized that one of everyone's favorite runty snake is still super runty. I wanted to share how runty she is to those who are not familiar with her.

May I reintroduce Frog.

She is a 50% Poss het Clown female I hatched out in 2008.

She is the one next to the Pastel Pied.

She only weighs around 250 grams. No matter what I do, she still stays runty. She is a VERY picky eater, but she does eat. I've moved her around to try and stimulate her feeding response, and right now that means that she is in the 2010 holdback rack in a 6qt tub.

Yeah.

She's a small one.

And because I took a picture of the Pastel Pied out, I wanted to get an individual photo as well.

He's so preeeeetty!

And new things are still hatching. I apparently struck gold on this Spinnerblast clutch. I have two out, and one still in the egg.

This gal came out last night after I took the photo.

So I have 1.1 Spinnerblasts now, and 0.0.1 Spinnerblast in the egg.

What else is in the clutch?

0.1 Spinner
0.0.1 Spider
0.1.1 Pinstripe

Yeah! NO NORMALS! I LOVE it!

And, to top it all off, one of my Poss Het Females has proven out to be Het for Caramel, apparently.

Yeah, so that is a really crappy photo of a Caramel in the egg. I am concerned about its health, being prone to kinks and all, but we shall see. This will be my first Caramel I have ever hatched out, so lets see what happens!

So this weekend will be a hatching weekend, and on Monday I will have more photos, I hope.

Have a fantastic weekend, my friends!

Facility and new snakes

Well, I had an e-mail wayyy too long ago about photos of my Snake Room again.

It's been a while since I did it, so here we go!

I have shoved as many racks as I can into this room, as I have been warned repeatedly that I only get this room to work in. It's not that big, people, so I am trying to make everything work.

I use Vision, Animal Plastics, Boaphile, Jason's Jungle, and rack makers unknown. I have primarily Vision racks, due to the fact that they are local. 

I use Sanichips, and they get EVERYWHERE!

Yes, I use a labeler as well. I find it easier to find the animals with a bright white label.

I use Helix and Herpstat, but I prefer Herpstat.

If you have specific questions regarding my setup, feel free to ask! I will absolutely answer them.

So onward we go, my friends.

I am having a wierd hatching schedule for some of my animals, as there have been a few days inbetween pipping of this clutch and the lack of pippage from the other eggs.

But here is a guy that came out last night. I have three animals out, and four more eggs in the incubator not ready yet.

Welcome to the world, Spinnerblast male.

He came out after his Pinstripe sister and Spinner sister.

Here he is next to the Spinner, with the Pin hiding underneath the paper in the corner.

As much as I LOVE triple co-dom males, it seems like I am getting overrun with them!

What to keep, what to sell, what to DO????

I dunno. We shall see. He is ridiculous though.. I am very glad to have him. I LOVE Spinners and Spinnerblasts.

I'm glad this clutch actually made it to hatch, unlike my Queenbee clutch. You can't win them all.

And, for those of you who were wondering, yes, the Silver Bullets did shed out, or at least one did. This is my holdback gal. Not sure what I'm going to call her, but I like her!

She has blotches already, similar to Lucky, but he didn't have them as soon. She is going to be interesting to watch grow up.

Maybe her name should be Splotchy.

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

That shouldn't be there...

Well, I finally have had a chance to take some requested pictures, and we will touch on this topic today.

That shouldn't be there...

The topic of the blog, and you wonder, what are you talking about, Heather?

Well, I have a female that has had ever since I have had her (or since I noticed, and I have had her for four years or so...) holes that do not belong where they are placed.

This is a photo that I took a year ago of under the chin heat pits, so to speak.

They are not heat pits from what I can see (aka no functionality), but they are holes for sure, in a distinct pattern, similar to heat pits.

Again, a photo from last year...

Now I am not sure exactly what caused them, and I know that none of my animals have them but this gal, so at this point it is a mystery.

This is a recent pic, taken last night.

They are still there! Not as deep or obvious, but they are still there.

This is something I've been watching for a while since I've noticed it, so there it is. It shouldn't be there, it is there, and I'm not sure why they are there.

She has always been housed in an enclosed tub with no ridges to rub on, always on Sanichips, and never been a problem other than a picky eater.

So... What do you all think it is?

I'm somewhat stumped.

But so we will watch and wait and learn, eh?

Should be interesting. She has yet to be bred as well, so let us see if next year she passes this on to her progeny?

I can name it the Bottom Lip Ball.

Yeah, maybe not.

Anyway, I took a picture of one of the Black Pewter het Hypo males I hatched out. He's going to be a holdback.

I like how busy and weird the Black Pewters are. I'm used to seeing the smooth patterns of the Cinnies, and this just throws me for a loop in a good way. I want more of them!

He should be an awesome breeder, and I can't wait to get him up to size and throw him into a bevy of Ghost gals. Hypo Black Pewters, here I come!

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

Introducing the Pewterbee

Here he is, the Pewterbee, up close and personal.

He is VERY interesting, and I would have never thought that the combination would give me such a spotty wierd looking animal, but that is the way it worked out. I like him!

As we well know, I do not like spiders with spots too much. But this guy can be an exception. He has to be... See how many spots he has???

Here is a picture with him and a few of his siblings...

Bumblebee, Pewterbee, Pewter.

Interesting how they play out, isn't it?

I look forward to seeing the true colors of these critters when the time comes for them to shed out.


The entire clutch ended up like this:

1.0 Pewterbee
0.2 Pewters
0.1 Bumblebee
2.1 Pastels

Not too shabby. I especially like the Pewter females and the Bumblebee.

His colors are very interesting.. A burnished silver yellow green. The photos do not do it justice much, but it is what he will look like when he sheds that is the more important point.

I took pictures of what has shed and put what I could up on the available page. I am working on revamping that system, as I find it antiquated and not very user friendly. The photos all look like boo-boo as well, which doesn't help the situation.

I got bit so many times last night, I was getting frustrated. But it is done as of now, so I am pleased.

Check that off the list of to do, thank you very much.

I will be taking pictures of the newest stuff as it sheds out as well, so look forward to that this week.

I think I am almost up to date as to where I want to be. WOW! Now to make things BETTER.

Looking forward to more things soon, and will get things happening.

Hope you all out there do too.

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

Things are looking up

So this weekend, Smoj was in town. It is always refreshing to have a family member in town, a change of pace, so to speak, a reflection of what is happening in ones life.

"How are you doing?"

Well, I'm doing alright. Things have been kinda hectic lately, the snakes this season have been a rollercoaster, but hey, I'm doing alright.

"Have you been getting enough rest?"

No.

"Maybe you should take a break"

Yes, maybe. Will I? More than likely not.

But a break I did take on Saturday, and we went to the Arboretum and enjoyed the day.

Here is what I got to enjoy.

The Arboretum is a haven for Peacocks. Tons of them. This one was just hanging out...

And at the pond, this Canadian Goose didn't give a hoot about my being around watching it relax.

And relaxed it was, for good reason. Look at the scenery!

Yes, this is Southern California, people.

It was gorgeous, and a lovely day spent with some of my absolute favorite people.

So relax I got to, for a little bit. Serene indeed.

I need to go back there more often. Just for peace of mind.

And after the day was over, things were hatching.

These guys came out Saturday night.

Apparently Spotty McGillicutty got the job done with at least one female. Proven breeder? Yes indeed.

Count was:

2.1 Pastels
1.0 Bumblebee
1.0 Spider

So on we went with the weekend. Sunday was a trip to the Aquarium, and here are a few pics that I liked.

He is the epitome of serene, eh? Heck, I should be like the Dumpy Frog.

And one of my favorite birds, the Rainbow Lorikeet. Those suckers are beautiful, but temperamental for sure... I got bit and crapped on that day. But it was worth it.

Look! It's Nemo!

I was hungry for Seafood...

So anyway, after a fun fishy day, with lots of crappy photos that I took that I don't want to share, I came home to this.

Sterling to Spider clutch hatched on Sunday.

3 Pastels, 2 Pewters, 1 Bumblebee, 1 Pewterbee.

Sex odds unsure, but I did get my Pewterbee.

And yes, I did check him.

He is a male.

Alright!!!

I can handle that.

So that is all for today. I will get a chance to post up Daytona pictures tonight or tomorrow.


Have a fantastic day, my friends!

Another week goes by....

And I haven't gotten half of what I wanted to get done, done.

I am really rather annoyed with that prospect.

I have not been able to set up tubs for the newly shed animals yet, I have not been able to get everyone completely cleaned up and ready for photos, I have just not had enough time to do everything I want to get done.

There needs to be more hours in the day, my friends.

And this is not to say that I am neglecting my animals... oh no, that is not the case at all.

I just don't have enough time to take photos and come up with clever ideas for the blog as much recently, and I apologize profusely. I hope I am not boring you all to death out there in internet land.

This weekend my Mother, the Smoj, is coming into town. I hope to be able to have things relatively set up and clean by then, but it seems like, due to summer and every weekend being full of fun things to do, I may not get a chance.

But she's my mother. I'm sure I'll get a tongue lashing if it isn't.

Motivation, then?

Yes indeed.

I just need to see where I can squeeze in the time.

Is it just me that has this problem? I kinda hope not.

I know you all know that I work full time on top of the snake stuff. I usually manage very well to have a good balance between the two, as they are both full time jobs.

Plus, it being summer, BBQs and Parties, and fun things to do, places to go, people to see, THAT, my friends, is where the problem really is.

Bring on the Fall, baby.

Fall is my favorite season, actually. Not too hot, not too cold, and the leaves change, people get cuddly, things are calmer and more enjoyable.

And tomorrow is Daytona, the beginning of the Reptile Show circuit. I look forward to being able to report back with some photos from other people that I know are going (if I can count on them to share photos with me), and have some info to share.

This is not guaranteed, however, as it is mainly dependent on other people... And I'm sure you know how that works out.

Let us hope.

I will, however, be attempting a trip to Tinley this year again. I am trying my damndest to make it happen.

I will be taking time to get into the snake room and take some photos, move snakes around, update the available page (which I am absolutely aware is lacking), and get things GOING, my friends.

Again, I apologize for the delay. Life tends to get in the way sometimes...



Have a fantastic weekend, my friends.

Snake Keepers

So I have been out socializing recently, and I have to say, more people that you would think have snakes and reptiles.

Why did this come up?

Well, I was in Los Angeles for an event, and a person working there asked about my ring.

Me and my fat fingers were flattered, and I explained to her that I not only love this ring, I wear it every day, and it holds a special place in my heart.

She asked me why, and I responded that I work with snakes.

The conversation ensued with what I did, how, where, why, etc etc, and then she shared with me that she had had two rosy boas previously, and they met their untimely demise at the hands of a person who was snake sitting at the time, with an oversized live rodent.

I was surprised, as this lady didn't seem the type to be having snakes, persay, but who am I to judge, eh?

I also found out on Facebook that one of my old High School buddies, who returned from the war, had just gotten a Jungle Carpet Python, and had had one before.

He was not someone I would have thought to have had snakes.

So I thought....

Do I look like the typical snake keeper?

Now that again begs the question, what is the typical snake keeper supposed to look like?

Teenage male living at home?
Scruffy bearded man who lives in a shack at the edge of town?
Tattooed woman who rides a motorcycle, and lives for danger?

Now, let me say that I have met all of these people.

And they don't even scratch the surface of what a snake keeper is.

A Snake keeper is a pet owner. A lover of snakes. A giver of rodents and water and shelter. An assister of shedding and eye cap removal. A feces and urate cleaner-upper.

A Snake keeper is me, you, and probably more people out there than you would think.

And that is fantastic.

Spread the good word, my friends.

Have a fantastic day!

Sheds and admiration

So, things are shedding out from the clutches from before, and I can't help but admire some of these critters I hatched out.

Here is the Super Pastel Lesser I hatched out. He's got a wild and wacky pattern going on... I'm intrigued!

His sister does too... This is the female Pastel Lesser I hatched out. She is crazy with the blushing on the sides.

And the other brother, another Pastel Lesser, one that I thought may have been a Super.

Also very interesting blushed out sides... not as orange as his sister. I'm not sure why, but hey, I'm not complaining!

And to complete the group, the Lesser. This guy is very very pretty. I really like him! All of the Lessers in this group came out wierdly banded and interesting.

Gotta love genetics!

And just for kicks, here is the POG that shed out.

He is the only one I have ever produced, but he is a hottie for sure!



So to console me from my recent bad luck, here I was, taking pictures of cool animals.

And there will be plenty more to come, I hope.

Here's to having more cool 2010 animals to photograph.


Have a fantastic day, my friends.

Pretty Boy and Counting your Blessings.

My Pastel Pied shed out, and I am so excited to have him here.

He is one of the animals that I planned to produce (in my dream plans) to have for the next few seasons and to use in projects.

I am very very blessed to have him here.

Why am I so thankful for this guy?

Cause it seems that my odds are now turning for the worse.

Let me introduce you to the eight egg clutch from Mystery Males (many of them double or triple co-dom) to Normal.

End result?

7 Normals, and a deformed Normal dead in the egg.

I didn't even bother sexing them yet. I was so upset with them being ALL normals, I just put them in the tub and walked away.

Those two that are really nice and yellow and banded? Yeah, still just normals. Cool looking normals, but still just normals.

So yeah...

PLUS, the Lesser Pastel to Spider clutch I was super super excited about this season?

All bad.

EVERY egg is dead.

So there will be no Queenbees or Lesserbees for me this year.

That sucks.

Sucks bad.

So I am in somewhat of a funk.

My luck has taken a change for the not so great, but then again, we are not done, so... its a work in progress. I am disappointed by the recent hatchings. Yes, it is part of the game, and yes, its not the end of the world, but... expectations were high.

And here I am, in the rubble of my hopes crashing down.

Queenbees would have been awesome to have hatched out. Really.

But I have to keep telling myself that there is always next year. Which there totally is...

So I am positive that things will get better, that this season is not that bad, cause hey, I have my Pastel Pied!!!

There is always something to be happy about when it comes down to it, and I am very happy about him. Now to get him big and fat to make him ready for the ladies next year or so. 

So I am counting my blessings.

Healthy baby snakes of all kinds, hatching out the runt egg, learning and growing in my experience.

That is something to be happy about.

Grow and learn, and know that nothing goes to plan, or to even hope.

But it all happens for a reason.


Have a fantastic day, my friends.