Mojave..Spider...Pastel

Clutch 14 is out, and all 10 eggs were fantastically fine! My odds were good in terms of morphs, as there are no normals in the clutch, but I have to say, my sex odds had a little to be desired.

That's alright though.

Here are the males...

One Bumblebee, One Mojave Spider, 3 Mojaves, and a Pastel Mojave Spider...

And what about the girls?

A Spider, two Mojaves, and a Pastel Mojave Spider (who is of course, staying here)

I am in love. I really do like this combination... I look forward to seeing her grow up.

I am glad to have the opportunity to have a gal...

YAY for more SPIDERS!

Swimming in more Spiders, and I am alright with it!

The next clutch doesn't hatch out for another week, so I am lacking in topics somewhat.

Suggestions? Comments? Concerns?

What have I not touched on in a while?

What do you wanna see?

Let me know, and have a great day, my friends!

Yawn....

I am tired.

There are things that are happening in life that are getting pretty busy, including the snake stuff, and as you all well know, the more stuff to do, the busier one is, and the less time for sleep there is.

Thus, I am tired.

I get up way earlier than I used to, drive farther than I used to, do more stuff than I did before, and come home and do all the snake stuff, as well as the family stuff and the plans for the future stuff.

Sometimes I wish I had a pause button... Wouldn't that be great?

Take a pause moment, do what needed to be done, sleep in a bit, etc....

Play with snakes without worrying that there is not enough time to do it.

Ahhhh, that would be awesome.

But sadly, this is not the case, life runs faster than ever, it seems, and sleep is a luxury I cannot afford right now.

But that is somewhat acceptable.. Somewhat.

The more time I work at snakes and real life, the more time I get to enjoy them later!

Especially all of the new cool babies I get to watch hatch out and grow in the next few months.

The Mojave Spider to Pastel clutch is pipping, and there should be some awesome stuff in there to share very soon.

Until then, however, send all good wishes and energy you can to me. I'm going to need it.

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

Revamping!

Well, yes, I have come to a turning point in my collection, and I have to say that I am officially running out of room.

I do not have much more space to keep EVERYTHING, which is why I am selling off a few breeders to compensate.

While that is happening, I am basically smooshing animals together.

What does that mean?

Well, it means I am taking projects that have several animals and combining them into one to make things more conducive to productivity.

Pastel + Genetic Stripe = Pastel Genetic Stripe

Spider + Pastel Lesser = Queen Bee

Etc... etc...

So of course, I have to move those animals that do not quite fit into the smooshing plan. Which is a shame, because I have raised some animals from egglings.

Makes me sad... But with the lack of space... it has to happen. Such is the way of an expanding breeder.

But on the flip side, new stuff is always fun to plan with!

So welcome to the fold, Pastel Genetic Stripe. You are awesome, and I will have many females that I have raised from egglings for you next season!

Don't be sad. My Solid Genetic Stripe line is still strong! A few eggs should be hatching soon from Mister Solid, and I have several females that are growing up.

So there you go. Revamping, moving on... such is life, my friends. Have a great day.

Clutch 32

I am always so glad when females lay eggs. The waiting is done, the eggs are there, and then the other wait....

But at least the first part is done.

This is my Pewter female, and she gave me a good six eggs this year from either Mojave Spider or Pastel Super Mojave. Should be a great clutch!

Other than that, I am still trying to wrap my head around the last Mystery clutch, and basically trying to see what is going on with the next few clutches to hatch. The next one due is Mojave Spider to Pastel, so that should be a good one!

I can't wait to see what that one brings.

And as for me, working full time again has brought a few time constraints on me, but I am trying to keep up! Forgive me if I don't respond to your e-mails as quickly as I used to...

Have a great day, my friends, and check out my available page for cool stuff!

Clutches and How WONDERFUL!

I have to say that doing Mystery clutches has again baffled me. This clutch was SUPPOSED to be bred by my Mystic or my Spotnose. Somehow, this clutch ended up with two normals, a Pastel Mojave and a Mojave.

I have no idea what happened in this clutch.

Oh well.

And my Pied clutch hatched, this time with no mysteries!

I am loving my odds on this one.

2.2 Pieds, 1.2 Hets.

I can't be mad at that.

And they look awesome too!

Anyway, that was the snake weekend in terms of hatchings. I got to hang out with a few snake friends, have some snake conversations, but more than anything, I got to do a bucket list checkoff.

I saw Stevie Wonder in concert.

Not just him, but a few other people as well. It was a great time at the Hollywood Bowl, and I took a few pictures to share with everyone.

The notorious Hollywood Bowl. If you watch Looney Tunes, I believe several episodes of musical Bugs Bunny was based at this location.

Stevie Wonder himself... With Janelle Monae, who recently was nominated for a Grammy last year.

Here she is again.

This guy was cool, Rocky Dawuni... Reggae and lots of soul in this man.

The man of the hour... I love his work.

And the YOLA (Youth Orchestra LA) who performed with everyone on stage. It was very moving.. Very beautiful setup.

I had a great time, got a chance to relax... now back to SNAKES!

Have a great day, my friends!

Life changes and Clutch 11

Well, things are changing a bit, and I need to re-evaluate a few projects.

The Special male is one of those animals that when I went thru the collection, I decided I could move without losing too much.

So not only do I have breeder females and males on the available page, I now have this guy up for sale. It was a hard decision, but I need to get a few things done in life, and this guy being sold will help me do that.

Damn you, real life and responsibility!

And of course, on top of that, things are hatching. My mystery clutch has hatched, and it is no longer a Mystery! The father was Spotty McGillicutty, and the mother (who we knew) was a Pastel.

Unfortunately for me, I missed out on my Killerbee. But I got some Spiders and a Bumblebee and a Super Pastel out of it!

1.1 Spiders, 1.0 Bumblebee, 1.0 Super Pastel, 1.0 Pastel, 0.1 Normal

Somewhat a sausage fest... but at least I know it was Spotty who sired the clutch!

I am swimming in Spiders again.

The next clutch due are Pieds and the Mojave x Mystic clutch... Fingers crossed for more babies by Monday!

Have a great weekend, my friends!

Clutch 10 hatched

Well this clutch completely blindsided me. I knew there were only three viable eggs, but I genuinely thought that the father of the clutch is the Silver Bullet.

It can't be the case however, since I got a normal and a Het Red Axanthic out of it. I have no idea what happened. 

Apparently there was someone else involved, but I did get a Cinnamon Het Red Axanthic female out of it.

This gal will be held back and I will get to compare the colors and growth to her half-sister, the original Onyx.

The mother was the original Het Red Axanthic female that is technically my own line, although I didn't really name it.

Wong line?

AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!

I don't like that idea.

I'd rather have my own line of something new and exciting. I hope to make it happen eventually.

Fingers crossed for something cooooool.

Have a great day, my friends!

Axanthic Spiders post-shed

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SMOJ!!!

I really am lucky with this project to have hatched out two Axanthic Spider females. I really didn't expect it to be the case. Like many things this year, it came as a surprise, and I have to say, this one was a pleasant one.

We are one step closer to doing the two projects I set out to do with this group. Snow Spiders and Axanthic Killerbees.

Of course, one of the females is het Snow, and the other is not. Thank goodness for photo genetic evidence, although these girls don't look that similar if you really know what you are looking for. The higher white one is not Het for Snow, and the other one is. The other one is also spottier, so that is also a good indicator.

I have to say, I am blessed in this project, as I tend to always get a TON of Spiders in clutches I have. (Note the Firefly x Spider clutch earlier this year?) This project is no exception. Let the Spider trend continue.

I need to perfect my photos again. Some of them are getting... shoddy.

More practice. Any suggestions on what photos to take?

Have a great day, my friends!

I have a MINION!!!!

Joel and I went out on our last day of "Summer Break" together and went to Knotts Berry Farm.
And there, I played Clinko (A knockoff of Plinko, the game where you put a disk down a studded board and need to land in a specific box at the bottom) and won the most awesomest prize a snake breeder could ask for.

I won...

A Minion.

I have named him Ba-Boi.

If you are not sure what this refers to, the movie Despicable Me is a great time.

I can't say that I am an Evil Genius by any means, but I enjoy knowing I have a Minion of my very own.

So when I got home, I put him to work.

He checked on some of the breeder females...

Then he helped clean up the floor.

I was very pleased with his work. I may have to have him meet with Marty Cohen next time and both of them can do some work together... Maybe I will have a Gin and Tonic and watch them work. That sounds amazing....

Anyway, Ba-Boi found a female on eggs.

So I jumped into action.

This gal is one of my Het Red Axanthic females, and I bred her to my Lemonblast as was suggested by a friend. The combination has only been done by Corey Woods, and it is FANTASTIC.

So here we go!

Clutch 31: Lemonblast to Het Red Axanthic. Seven lovely eggs.

I can't wait to see what hatches out of these eggs.

Alright. I'm off for now. Have a great day, my friends!

Rodents revisited

I live in California, and there is not much space to have without living in the boonies, and therefore not much space for rodent breeding.

I purchase all of my rodents live from a breeder that lives near me.

It does get rather expensive, but this particular breeder is the cheapest producer in the area, and I get good quality stuff.

Have I considered starting to breed rodents? Sure I have...

Have I been successful at it? No way.

(Side note: If successful means producing rats, then yes, but not at the quantity I would need)

I am allergic, for one.

I am also lacking in time and space, and the area where I live in Southern California tends to get very hot during the summer, which does not bode well for living creatures in say a garage or location similar.

So until we move and are able to create a rodent space/building, I am going to have to suck it up and deal with it how I can.

It would be lovely if we lived in an area where a couple acres doesn't cost a mere few million, and where I could set up a property with extra facilities here and there, but at the moment, this is not the case.

So, I buy.

Live.

Frozen is possible, and honestly, I have considered it many times, but as it stands, I do not have the time to attempt to change everyone over, nor do I have the time to sit there and defrost and wiggle around zombie rats for each snake.

Time is precious here at Heather's Herps.

So with that, I will go finish feeding the critters and do some cleaning.

I have updated the available page with a TON of Proven Breeder stuff (Male and Female) as well as some of the babies that have shed out. Go and take a look at what I have in store!

Have a fantastic day, my friends!

Crisis: Quasimodo

Well, I have gone at least a year or so with out any problems in the collection.

But, of course, it happened yesterday.

I was cleaning the subadults, and caught this female with a HUGE head! Apparently she has an abscess in the upper jaw region possibly due to a rodent bite. She looks so misshapen.

I, of course, was worried. I don't tend to have this problem, and I didn't have any Baytril that was usable anymore. After I cleaned it as much as I could with Chlorhexidine and q-tips, I had to wait over night to take her in to the Vet. It was a bad night, my friends. I thought she was going to swell up and shut off her airways.

No sleep for me, last night.

But morning came, and I woke up super early to take her in.

And off to the Vet we went.

Poor puffy face got poked and prodded and cleaned out.

We got some shots of Ceftazidime and a note to clean it often with Chlorhexidine, as well as a small lecture to feed pre-killed.

I may have to look into that... Frozen thawed seems more appealing right now than puffy faced snakes.

So as of this blog, it has been a day since we went to the vet. Improvement? Not much, but there.

She'll be fine... She may have inherited the name Quasimodo, however.


HAH!

Have a great weekend, my friends!

Clutch 30 SURPRISE!

This Blurry girl has been in my collection for many years as a Dinker, and so far she has not proven out to be anything but really cool looking!

She has given me several clutches over the years, and this one was a surprise again because I don't even remember breeding her!

So of course, this is again a Mystery Clutch.

 This season is full of surprises. 

Yay.

This clutch hatched out, Clutch number 9, and I have to say I am surprised, but honestly relieved.

The Super Pastel Mojave is actually a FEMALE!

Guess what? Another holdback.

But guess what what?

ALL THE REST ARE MALES.

2.0 Pastel Mojaves, 3.0 Mojaves

They look fantastic, of course, so we shall see how the shedding and growing goes for the show season.

I am already in love with this girl.

YAY for finally producing a Super Pastel combo female.

Can't wait to see her when she sheds.

So for the next few days, there will be a bunch of nothing much, since there isn't anything due to hatch for another five days, and I don't see any clutches being laid anytime soon.

Lets see if I can figure out some fun topics to discuss, shall we?

Have a great day, my friends!

Holding Back

Well, the season has already begun, and I am already in a quandry.

I have produced several morphs that I wanted over the past few years, and of course, for the sake of the collection and projects that I am working on, I am super excited for the opportunity!

But the problem lies in the fact that holding back everything that I want is not the smartest business move on my part.

So while I admire what has just hatched out and shed and fed, I am torn by the fact that if I keep everything I want to keep, I may not have very much to sell. And this is a problem, as I am trying to keep the collection self-sustainable in terms of finances and feeding costs.

What to do, my friends? What to do???

This is a problem every year for me, because I do tend to keep everything that works to my projects back for my collection (obviously, as many other breeders do).

Tunnel vision comes to mind in this case.

And the real problem is the immediate gratification of cold hard cash in the hand, or the two or three year growth of an animal you produced producing more animals that you want/need for projects.

It's a tough call, and I am in the middle of it.

Of course, I could just wait it out (which is usually what I do) until I know what else I want to hold back, and work it that way....

Or just put things out there and see who is interested, and if the interest isn't much, just hold them back for that reason.

There are many ways to work around this issue, but it is still an issue that all breeders must face, unless they have an unlimited supply of food items and tub space, not to mention time.

And so I go into the snake room, look at the babies and try and figure out what the heck I'm gunna do.

Hopefully it will come to me soon.

Have a great day, my friends.

Clutch 29 and Axanthic Spiders

I love the way Spiders look, and this gal is no exception. She is one of my favorite Spiders I own, and she is also possible het Albino.

So of course, I put her in with the Albino to prove her out this season.

I would love to hatch out some Albino Spiders.

6 good chances IF the mother is a Het. 

Fingers crossed.

And of course, Clutch #8 has hatched out with a big surprise for me.

I thought I would only get one Spider Axanthic this season.

Apparently, I get two!

The Spider het Axanthic poss het Albino was the sire, not the Axanthic het Albino for this clutch.

I attempted to prove out the Spider to be Het Albino, but apparently he is not.

He is for sure Het Axanthic, and has proved himself several times so far.

And I have another Axanthic Spider to prove it!

1.0 Axanthic het Albino, 1.1 Het Albino Axanthic, 0.1 Axanthic Spider het Albino.

Here are the Axanthics in the clutch.

I really like the new Spider female. I wish it was a Male... but oh well!

She's so pretty!

The two Axanthic Spiders next to each other.

The one on the left is the older one, which is just an Axanthic Spider, and the one on the right is the Axanthic Spider het Snow.

I will be having many holdbacks this year already... I'm kinda worried about space!

But that is a good problem, right?

Have a great day, my friends!

Clutch 28 and updated hatchlings

Clutch 28 is on the ground, and I have to say I am glad. This is the third of the possible double het Albino Hypo females that has to lay. She and her sisters are never nice, but they always do well during the breeding season. 

When I took her off the eggs, this female was the hardest to keep calm.

She struck at me at least ten times. 

Gotta love the feisty ones.

She laid a fantastic six eggs (yes, there are six, but in this photo you can only see five..)

We are going to prove her out to be Het Albino this time. Fingers crossed, since this one didn't prove Het Hypo last year.

Incubator is not full anymore, since things keep hatching!

This clutch was clutch #6, which hatched before clutch #5.

Firefly male to Spider female.

I KILLED the odds on this one, and I am so happy with the results. At first I thought I was seeing things when they were pipping, but... nope!

1.0 Spider, 0.2 Firefly Spiders, 2.1 Fire Spiders

ALL of them are Spiders!!!

I'm hoping this clutch doesn't suck up all of my luck this year... 

Clutch #5 hatched the day after the last Spider from the other clutch came out.

This TSK Axanthic Spider is amazing! I am so blessed with this one, since I am working towards the Killer Bee Axanthic. This little female came with a lot of luck as well, and she is 50% possible het Albino to boot! I am so excited!

Apparently this will be the year of the Spider, eh? 

Clutch #7 hatched over the weekend as well, and didn't end up as well as I had hoped. 

The Hypo proved to be Het Pied, but the Pied didn't prove to be Het Hypo. 

One of the eggs went bad, (The one that fell) but the rest of them came out fine!

0.1 Pied het Hypo, 2.2 Het Pied Hypos

There is always next year!!!

Have a great day, my friends.

Clutch 27: Pay attention!

 This season is a real eye opener for me. 

Note to self: Even though you don't have any plan for Normals, don't forget about them!

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BREEDINGS!

Yeah, this was a normal female I had no plans with, but I know throws a good amount of eggs. Problem is, I threw many males into her tub, and didn't give them enough time to work their magic.

So... This is the result.

Four good eggs, and six slugs from a Mystery male.

Damn.

I'm disappointed to say the least, but honestly... this is what I get for not giving them enough time to do what they need to do.

So lets see what happens to these four eggs in there. Fingers crossed for something interesting!

Have a great weekend!

Family Time!

This weekend, starting tonight, I will be having family time.

Yes, my family is coming to town...

Which means I will be skipping/missing the Friday blog unless there are babies hatched that day.

Honestly, I feel like I need a break. I'm not sure what it is, but I feel kind of overwhelmed with things, and family time usually helps break that up.

Of course, this is the time where things gear up, eggs hatching and being laid, snake shows to happen and be at, but all of this means more politics and more community drama.

There are days where I can't help but think "Why can't we all get along?", but then again, we wouldn't be human without a bit of discord, right?

But unplugging a bit will help me get my head back on track, plus I'm getting back into the work force soon as well, so things will get busier, but more interesting. I'm looking forward to it!

So have a great day, my friends! Hug your own families today, and appreciate them.

Excitement!

Well, I was sick all day yesterday, and had a really hard time getting up and doing anything.

But I did do one thing, and I am pretty excited about it!

You all remember the Axanthic to Spider clutch that was produced, and the one egg and four slugs that came from it? Well, that one egg got cut, and this is what is inside:

Yeah, it's an ugly egg, and an ugly cut, but there is an Axanthic Spider in there and I am very excited!!

It is in with the other clutch that is due two days later, and I'm hoping this one pips soon, because I'd love to see it, but this one is taking its sweet time.

The next clutch to hatch is the Firefly x Spider clutch and that should be a great clutch as well. Fingers crossed for them too.

So I am really hoping these guys pip soon so that I can get less uptight about this one egg. Should be soon. Fingers crossed.

Hopefully there will be a few more eggs to be laid soon too.

Until tomorrow, my friends..

Have a great day!

Sorry...

Was sick all day today.

Will do a cool blog tomorrow, I promise.

Happy Fourth of July!

Well, the babies came out this weekend, and it is very obvious that they are Pastel Spotnoses.
Spotnoses are wierd looking critters in the egg, with the heads with all that pattern!

I really like what they do to Pastels, and vice versa. I thought I would be dissapointed with the way these guys were going to turn out, being just yellow and stuff, but I am actually very impressed with this morph and how it changes things!

One of them came out so bright, I was surprised! There is no way it is a Super, but then again, I have no idea what may be messing with the color other than the fact that it is possible het VPI Axanthic, and they tend to be a bit lighter. I'm honestly not sure. Plus the "Pastel" in the clutch looks like an Enchi... So I have no idea what is going on here until they shed. But it's a great clutch.

1.2 Pastel Spotnoses ph VPI Axanthic, 0.1 Spotnose ph VPI Axanthic, 0.1 "Pastel" and 1.0 Normal.

Not too shabby.

I'm happy!

So have a great fourth of July, and be safe. We'll be talking again real soon.

Have a great day, my friends.