YAY PROVING OUT THINGS!

So these guys hatched out last night, and I am pretty stoked, yet still somewhat bummed about this clutch.

Let me explain.

This was the clutch from the Mojave Pied to the Pastel possible het Pied female I have been growing up over the past few years.

Here is everyone, above. The Pastel proved out to be Het Pied, but....

Here are the males...

I have been having a hell of a time getting female visual Pied combos at all. I don't have ANY to hold back so far.

Lots of 'penes though. LOTS of them.

I was also hoping to hit on the Pastel Mojave Pied, but that was a whiff.

They are super cool looking though. Two Pastel Pieds and a Pied male..

And my lone girl. This gal is sticking with me, just cause I am bitter about not hitting on the combo pied female. Well... not just cause of that. She is pretty danged sweet looking.

Plus she has the striping that I love!

So there we have it.

Lots more Combo Pieds for me to offer up!

Have a great day, my friends!

Laying... and Pied Comparison

Well, my last clutch is being laid. Problem is, she is having a problem passing the eggs. I pulled the one egg in this photo, and there have been none since. The egg as well is infertile... Well... Fertile, but not going to go to term.

This makes me sad for the last of the season...

Fingers crossed at more good things. There are four more eggs on queue..

And of course, the long awaited Pastel Pied versus Pied blog!

Pastel Pied

Here we have my Pastel Pied male, and he is around a year old. Pastel Pieds tend to dull out as they age, and Pieds in general tend to mellow out as well. It's an interesting contrast, so I put my Pastel Pied with another Pied his age.

Pastel Pied and Pied

Here we have both side by side. You can tell the subtle nuances of color between the two. Yes, the Pastel Pied is brighter, but not by much! It is heightened even by the fact that I used my flash.

Pastel Pied and Pied

Here we have a more realistic color comparison. Yes, the Pastel Pieds are more yellow, but the basic pied on its own has a gorgeous golden tone to it as well.

And of course, the question about the eyes...

Pied eyes

I have to admit, eye color unless striking has never been a quality I pay much attention to... Granted, Spider eyes are awesome in their green cat-like tone, but for those like the Pieds, I never paid much attention.

So of course, I did. And I noticed in ALL of my Pieds, (basic Pieds) the eyes are deep rich tones. You cannot see the pupil much at all, and they are basically deep brown or black.

Pastel Pied eyes

 

 

Now let us take a look at the Pastel Pied eyes...

You can't see it very well in the photo, but they have a tinge of gold green, and you can see the pupil. They are lighter, and yes, they are Pastel-y.

Pastel Pied Eyes

So what did I learn from this?

The eyes are windows to the soul... and I should pay attention to them more often.

I hope this helps in your Pastel Pied to Pied comparisons.


Have any other requests? Shoot them to me!

Have a great day, my friends.

Clutch 35!

Whew! All the Albino stuff is coming together in a group. This gal is a Het Albino bred to an Albino. Simple enough, and yet five eggs in and we shall see if there are some visuals in the clutch. Fingers crossed! I'm pretty sure this female is a proven female, but hey... You can never be too careful.

So yeah, there are five eggs in there. You can't see them (AGAIN) in this photo, because I was tired and didn't get the exact angle to get all of the eggs in line.

No worries, I know its there.

Anyway, random photo time!


This gal is my Pied het Hypo that I hatched out this season.

I can't wait to plug her in with her father, the Hypo het Pied... But until then, I have another female I hope to see if I can prove.

Double recessives are a tough project, my friends. Don't mock the prices on these. It takes a LONG time to get them.

I'm already kicking myself about the Snows... I am considering just giving in and buying one. We shall see what happens this year and if I should or not.

There are a lot of what-ifs again, and I'm trying to get myself to sit down and focus while hatching and having fun.

.... Soon enough....

Have a great day, my friends!

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!

Bleh on waiting

Black Pewter

 I am waiting.

Waiting on eggs to be laid, waiting on eggs to hatch, waiting waiting waiting.

This time of year is especially tedious, considering there are many breeders and hobbyists out there already hatching their 7th clutch or something, while I am waiting for my number one. 

Although I shouldn't complain, really. I know other people that are waiting for their first clutch to even be laid...

I know, I know... 

But one incubator is completely full, and the other is waiting for more, and I am waiting and checking in tubs and annoying my snakes.

Pastel Mojave

So what to do while waiting? 

Take requests for photos, and blog topics and sit on my hands and rock back and forth. 

Well, not quite, but idle hands are the devil's playground, and I honestly should not be associating with anyone from The Underworld right now. It's just not kosher...

So I am going to clean like I have never cleaned before, and prepare myself for some interesting clutches and babies and fun things to happen. 

YAY!

But until then, I am going to ramble on. 

And share random pictures of my snakes.

Have a great day, my friends. 

Pied

What to do....

Pied Female

I have been trying to figure out what to really talk about this week with the down time between breeding and no eggs, although I still have males plugged in with females.

Other than taking lots of pretty pictures, which I need to do anyway for the revamped website, I am at a loss in some ways as to what to talk about. 

I will be plugging in the incubator this week, I think, and when that happens, I will be going thru a "how to do it" module of sorts, but right now?

I'm relaxing. 

This week is a kick back week from most things, so there is more fun to be had and maybe a video to be made? 

I'm not sure. I'm not even sure what kind of video I would want to make anyway... 

Photos and videos and studying. YAY! 

Of course I could plan and think about what I could do with new things, but honestly, I am not in the market for new things right now. Most people aren't... They are waiting for the newest models of combination morphs to hatch out this year to help them decide what to do with thier own collections.

I am one of them. 

Granted, I know what I'd like to add if I could... a Desert something, a Calico something male and a Pastel Genetic Stripe something male, but again, right now, I'm waiting. 

I'm not in a rush... This is the time of year where I can say that. 

Now come baby hatching time? That is a different story.

I guess I should enjoy it, eh? 

I think I will. 

Have a fantastic day, my friends. 

Pewter het Red Male

Pikchurz

 Yes, I took more pictures. 

Mostly because I can't get many active breeding photos, and plus, these photos are a bit more interesting to take.

So I brought out a few animals that I haven't shared in a while and I took some photos. 

Above is the Crystal with no flash, and below is a picture with flash.

The colors are actually more legit in the photo above, just because the yellows and creams are not incredibly bright as the flash seems to indicate. It is, but not so defined. 

And of course, the blue eyes of the Crystal are in the forefront here, as well as the darker head.

This gal is one of my prides of last season, and I am really pleased to be able to share her with you. 

I have no clue what the heck I plan to do with her in the future.... Any ideas?

And do you recognize this gal? 

This is my Pied poss het Hypo female that still is smaller than she should be. 

Corazon, of course. See her neck heart? 

Yeah, she's pretty sweet. 

But she doesn't eat well. I'm hoping to get her up to size for next season, as she should have been able to go this season due to her age... but such is life. 

But I do have her sister in the mix right now to help prove out my Hypo poss het Pied male. We should be seeing some Pieds het Hypo or Hypo het Pieds soon enough. Crossing all crossables. 

I took the photo below as a "What is this" photo.

You can't see barely any white, and I planned it that way. 

But I know that you, my loyal blog readers, are savvy enough to know that this is a Pied.

Even without seeing the photo above this one. (Cheaters...)

So there you go. Suggestions for animals in photos you want to see? I have some good ones coming up in the next few days, but this is not to say that I can't go in and snap a few more. 

Have a great day, my friends!

Market Analysis

Bryan asked:

"Heather, I'd like to hear about where you think the market is going, what things always sell and what you see becoming increasingly popular to work with. If someone was to have say either a $1000 or $5000 to invest in new animals, where would you put it" 

Well... This is a very interesting question, and I have to say that this answer is of course, from personal experience. 

Here we go. 

Things that will always sell?

Albinos and Lavendar Albinos. Pieds. Pastels. Mojaves/Lessers/Butters.

These morphs are always something that even Joe Blow wants to buy, because they are different, as well as look really cool with a decent price tag. Note that these are all under $1000 at this point, and yes, that seems to really help with the people who are not particularly into it other than to have a cool pet. 

Granted it is much easier to sell females of any morph than males, this is still the case.

What is becoming increasingly popular to work with?

Enchis, Mojaves/Lessers/Butters, Deserts, Pieds, Recessive Combinations. 

Enchis and Deserts are becoming more popular due to the combinations that they have been making, and the initial cost of them is becoming more reasonable. 

Mojaves and the BEL complex morphs are becoming overly in demand for the same reason. People can combine them into everything, and the demand is up. I want to make a point that this is not true of the Het Russos/Het White Diamond, which do not have enough distinguishing characteristics from a normal for most people to take them seriously.

Pieds are the most awe inspiring morphs for most people, and they want to combine them into everything. Again, same thing as the BEL makers, people want them to make more of them. This also segways into the recessive combinations, as Pieds combined with everything else is awesome, and combinations of het stuff is always a great way to go, although a bit more difficult to sell depending on who you are (aka your trustworthiness). 

Now if you have $1000 to invest? I would say get a recessive female or a co-dominant het for something female. Grow her up, get her big, and get a male in a year. (Save up for the male!)

If you have $5000 to invest? I'd suggest getting a few females on the lower end, and get a Desert male combination. That is the one morph I do not have and I regret not having. I see a lot of demand in it, granted not something I have any experience in selling, so I can't tell you how quickly they sell, but there seems to be a lot of interest in them.

Another way to go is get some of something newly recessive, maybe a Lavendar Albino male visual and a few het females.  

Or you can go big and get a double super female and grow her up and breed her to something awesome later down the line...

There are a ton of ways to do things, but I am all about recessives as a first pick up, as it is easier to get things done when you already have a few years invested in a legitimate het female.


So there you go, my friends. I hope this helps, and maybe you guys have any specific suggestions to Bryan out there as well? What do you think?

Have a great day, my friends.

Photography and the Industry

It is extremely important to take good photos in this hobby/industry. 

Why???

Well, I don't know about you, but if you live in New Jersey, you will not be able to see my snakes in person unless you took a long trip to a show (which I think is a fantastic idea, you should totally come out here...) 

So how do I, Heather Wong, show you, Miss or Mister New Jersey, my snakes and the quality in which I produce?

Photography.

Clear cut, no blurry pictures photography. 

Pictures of your snakes can make or break a sale. 

I admit that there are some crappy photos of some of my snakes online, and I really believe that that is part of the reason why they are not sold.

Now there is no reason for you all to go out and buy the top of the line camera out on the market today. I almost guarantee it is more than you would ever need, and if you just took your decent point and shoot and learned how to focus it correctly, there would be fantastic photos oozing out of the memory card you are using in a heart beat. 

Someone asked me back in the day what kind of camera I use. 

I use a Panasonic DMC-FZ7. 

I've used it for YEARS.

Why haven't I upgraded?

Cause I really don't know how to use anything fancier. 

Now if you do, feel free to get your rocks off on a top of the line camera. 

I would LOVE to have one, but how I see it is that it just doesn't make sense to buy a new one if I have no clue. This is not to say that I don't want a nicer one, I'm just content for now with what I have. 

Yes, I just point and shoot. Sometimes I use the flash. 

Ooooooh! Fancy.

I do not do anything other than that. Sometimes I crop, but I don't have the software to do anything cool. 

Now this brings me to photographs of other more technologically inclined people.

People will edit photographs to make things look better. This happens more often than not in lizards (Bearded Dragons and Cresteds is where I see it most often), but can happen with any animal photo. 

You are out there looking for the brightest orange Pied you can find... Well, hey! I can show you one with a few tweaks of photoshop.

Doesn't mean that it is legitimate when you get the box to your house.

So be aware. 

I hate to be so doom and gloom about people, but I have seen it happen, and it is worth it to be cautious rather than ignorant. 

And yes, this pied is really that brown/orange... AND WHITE!

So what do you need to take from this blog today other than the fact that I took photos?

Brush up on your snake photo taking, my friends. 

Click away, share on the forums, get some feedback. 

And do it again. 

And again. 

And AGAIN. 

It's a never ending skill you will need.

Perfect it with whatever camera you have.

Have a fantastic day, my friends!

Twins and Pieds to boot!

So all of the Pieds are out, and they are all BOYS. Of course....

The bottom two are the twins, and the top guy hatched out the day after. 

Here are the two twins close up and personal. They detached and are doing well. Should do well after their first sheds. Food is coming, you guys! 

I am intrigued by these guys, and wonder if twins throw more twins? Would be interesting to find out, wouldn't it?

So of course as well as paying attention to the hatchlings, there are the breedings to focus on as well. 

I only caught one last night, and it is the TSK Axanthic het Albino to a Pastel poss het Axanthic. I'm really hoping to get some Pastel Axanthics this time around. Fingers crossed!

 

Have a fantastic day, my friends!

Wait, What???

You know how I mentioned there were Pieds in one of the clutches that is hatching out right now?

Well, I was right... But I didn't expect this!

Two out of the five eggs that were still good out of the clutch had pieds in them. One of them that has a Pied in it has yet to pip, but the other egg had been ready to pip out for a while. 

This egg had been the first one I cut, and I left it alone. Saw white, moved on...

But now that this one pipped, something was different. 

There was one yolk, but two babies!

This is my second clutch with twins EVER, and the second clutch with twins that are genetically Pied.

Here are the two het pied gals from last year that hatched out.

How WIERD!?!?! Same father and everything, but different mothers.

I thought this was really interesting because when I pulled these guys out, one was still in the egg, and the other was out. So I removed both of them, and this is what I saw...

They were still connected!!!

Obviously, this is how they developed, sharing a yolk and not an umbilicus. I have never seen this before, and I am so intrigued!!! I am glad I got a chance to take a picture before they disconnected from each other.

These guys are both boys, and they are small... runts obviously, but they will be great males when they get bigger and more established. I'm excited to work with them!

So there is one more (I think) Pied in the clutch that is due to hatch out, and three more het Pieds. 

So far we have 2.0 Pieds, 3.2 Het Pieds.

WOOHOOO!

Have a great day, my friends.

Hey Boys!

 I went a bit overboard with what I was planning to do last night.  I had originally intended to check on the girls... but what I ended up doing was playing with my boys.

It helped, in a way, cause I know what males I can use this season in the mix. Let me introduce you to a few of them today.

This guy is Mobee. The Mojave Spider. I am really excited about using this guy, since he is a newer addition, and I have GREAT plans for him. At least a few Pastels and maybe my Pinstripe? I'm not sure.

This guy is also a newer addition to the group, and I only have one female that I know for sure he is going to. This guy is my Hypo possible het Pied. And who is his girlfriend? 

Well, my Pied possible het Hypo.

Can't wait to see them both prove out!

And Carmine, a resident male here. He is going to be making more Caramels, and hopefully some females this year... And some double het Caramel Glows!

My not so amazing Lemonblast male... He is a great breeder, but not too much to look at compared to some other Lemonblasts I have. I am not quite sure what I'm going to do with him this season... He has great potential, I'm just not sure what. Maybe a Mojave or two? And a Pastel? Yeah, I'm not sure.

This guy right here is my stud Pied male. He has been with me forever. He will be with a few leftover possible hets that I have sitting around, and I'm not sure what else I want to put in with him. I love love love some Black Pastel Pieds, so maybe that will be a good place to start. The great thing about Pieds is that anything combined with them is usually pretty awesome!

So of course, there are a few more boys to be introduced, but right now, these guys should be enough stud-muffin eye candy... 

Have a great day, my friends!