Clutch 37 and pictures

This weekend has been very busy, but I got to see a clutch I have been waiting on for a long time! My only Genetic Stripe female that I bred this season finally laid her eggs, and I am very glad to see them!

She was bred to the Pastel Super Mojave, so I look forward to seeing some Mojaves and Pastel Mojaves het Genetic Stripe. Fingers crossed for a lot of Pastel Mojaves!

I am excited to see this clutch! I am hoping for a few late clutches as well, so that this isn't the last one...

And of course, I promised some photos, and I thought these pictures would be a good start to the week. These two females look similar, but they are not.

To the left, the Pastel Mojave Spider female. On the right, the Pastel Lesser Spider female.

Just one gene difference, and they look so different!

Considering Lessers and Mojaves do very similar things, I am surprised how different these guys look, and wanted to take a comparison shot. Of course, the Queenbee (Pastel Lesser Spider) decided she was not interested, and kept trying to bite the camera, but I got the general concept with this photo.

And the Stingerbees shed out, so I took some photos of them as well. To the left, an Enchi, the middle are the Stingerbees, and the right is the Spider. I really like how they look now, and I will be taking some photos individually soon.

I look forward to sharing more random photos soon as well!

Have a great week, my friends!

Sorry, but YAY!

Sorry, everyone.. I didn't take my camera to the show. It was in and out and I didn't even stay for more than a few hours.

BUT...

I do have a ton to share about what happen this weekend here at Heather's Herps!

These ALL hatched over the weekend, and I have to say, I wasn't ready for the huge group of critters that popped out.

These guys were from clutch 16, and they were hopefully going to be Albinos, but now I have a bunch of Pastels and Normals het Ghost 50% possible het Albino.

These guys ended up being: 2.2 Het Ghost 50% ph Albino, 3.1 Pastel het Ghost 50% ph Albino

And this group is from clutch 19, hatched out early...

I FINALLY got my Queenbee, and it is a girl. I am pretty excited about it!
The rest were:

1.0 Pastel Lesser, 0.1 Lesser, 1.0 Bumblebee, 1.0 Spider, 1.0 Normal and 0.1 Queenbee.

And clutch 20, the clutch that I didn't even expect, hatched out with EVEN MORE than I didn't expect!!! It came early, it came small, and it came out BLAZING!

The female is a Het Axanthic, and I managed to get my Pastel Axanthic out of it.

End results were: 1.1 Pastel Het Axanthic, 0.1 Axanthic and 0.1 Pastel Axanthic.

Clutch 15 was also a huge surprise, and they came out on Friday..

Six Genetic Stripes from Seven eggs from Visual male to Het Female. I saw it and needed to blink a few times... But I am stoked for this one!

4.2 Genetic Stripes, 0.1 Het Genetic Stripe. Would have loved to have more females, but hey... I can't complain!

So now I'm done for now...

Enjoy the week, I will get much more stuff to share soon, and I hope you have a great day, my friends!

Being Lazy

I need some help here guys, I am being extremely lazy. Not that I don't feel like I deserve it right now, mind you, but also because I feel like a slug, and have been for a while.

I am getting chubby and I need some suggestions as to what to do to slim down and get myself active again!

Of course, this has nothing really to do with snakes, although I can tie it in by saying, they can get fat while I get skinny! I've also been told that Genetic Stripes tend to look like slugs... I don't agree, but there you go, that's why I put this gal up on this particular blog. Also cause she's smoking, but that has always been the case.

HAH! I did it. There is your integration into snakehood, my friends.

I need some suggestions, and I am reaching out to the blog reading community to get some.

I don't tend to have an enormous amount of free time on my hands, although this week I do, but I do want to see what you out there do to keep fit and active, especially in the post-winter early spring months.

Of course, to top it all off, I want to slim down for my wedding, which is not for another year yet, but still.. better now than starving a few months before, eh?

So while I go off snake poop cleaning and dealing with the rodents, I'd love to hear your suggestions as to what you do in your life to get yourself fit.

And not like a slug.

Another integration: My friend (who dislikes the popularity of Ball Pythons) says that Ball Pythons are the slugs of the Python World. "They just sit there and do nothing... They are boring!" Well, I am akin to the Ball Python, so therefore I am too.

HELP ME!

Have a great fantastic not boring day, my friends!

What to do with Hets?

 This weekend, I went into the snake room and I moved some males around. Of course I didn't see much locking this time around (like this entire season, pretty much), but I am still plugging along. 

I came back a few days later, and I caught this gentleman somewhat side locked with his lady friend. 

So I thought to myself, what happens with the Hets that come out of this breeding? How do I identify them on their tubs?

(Well, as you know, I have a system for this and have had one for a while, but just go with the story flow)

Let me introduce you to my new favorite things to play with on tubs.

China Markers.

Now, I have had China Markers for a while, but only in black. Black is a great color, I love it and all, but when it comes down to looking into a tub that is completely dark and trying to read the lettering on it, sometimes black just doesn't cut it. 

So I got a few more colors. 

I love playing with colors.

Red, Green and White to be precise. I have used the white one on tubs that are dark with some success. I shall have to play around with it a bit more. 

Now for those tubs which are always needing to be labelled and will never change (or change infrequently), I use my Dymo label maker with white plastic labels. They come off clean and easy, and transfer well if you intend on moving that same snake over to a different tub. 

White paper labels? Not as good of an idea... (Stays stuck on the tub, adhesive... pain in the butt)

So here we are, my friends. Things that I use, tricks of the trade, that help me identify and write on my tubs. 

Use this information wisely. 

And hopefully you can find some colored China Markers too. (It took me forever to find them in a speciality art store... but again, I wasn't looking for them)

BTW: Photo identification after the first shed is also a great idea for Hets. Just FYI.

Have a fantastic week, my friends!

Blue Balls?

AHAHAHAHAHAH!

(I'm sorry, Mom...)

Yes, I caught the bluest Ball Python I have ever had the chance to see.

This is my Hypo poss het Pied male, who is in the blue. Hypos or Ghosts get VERY blue when they are "in blue" which as we well know is the pre-shed indicative state of ecdysis. So in a few days, we should see this guy nice and shiny with new skin. He is still trying to breed his one and only girlfriend this season, the Pied poss het Hypo female. Let's hope they both prove out, yes?

This particular female has five to six follicles the size of gumballs, so we should be seeing something come up real soon in terms of ovulation. I hope to catch it on camera! 

Anyway, I went out of my way to take some pictures for you guys this week, because as I recall, I had not put up any photos at all last week.

How shameful.

Anyway, here we go.

This photo is a photo with flash of my Pastel Super Mojave.

The one below it is without flash. I have yet to perfect the White Snake Photo syndrome, but I wanted to take these photos to show you the yellow overtones of her back and neck, as well as her faded head. 

She's getting big, and I can't wait to have the opportunity to decide what the heck I want to put her with!

And of course, the infamous Black Pastel Lesser that was mistaken for a Pewter back in the day. Yeah.. I won't let myself live that one down.

 

I am always so proud to show off my G-Stripes.

This gal is actually one that I acquired from another breeder, and compared to the line of G-Stripes that I work with, she is darker. But I can't complain, cause she has the complete stripe that I love, so I am glad to have her in the arsenal. 

Black Pastel? Why yes, thank you. 

This girl is Het for Hypo, so she may be paired up with that Blue Guy up above. We shall see.

And last but not least, my Pinstripe poss het Hypo. She may go with that Blue guy too. We shall see if he proves out to be Het Pied (as she is as well), and then we will make decisions based on that. 

This season should be a determining factor in a few pairings. That is always fun!

So there we go. More pictures to come, more animals to share, more stuff in general. No slacking this week.

Have a great day, my friends.

Boys on break, What to do?

I realize I haven't been sharing much of the activity going on in terms of breeding, but to be very honest with you, there hasn't been much to share!

The boys have been pulled for a few days, and although they have had their respective female partners this past week, I didn't get any real clear locks out of the whole period of time. Therefore, there are no photos.

So....

What to do to pass the time?

The deluge of questions has tapered off, and I have not been overcome with a specific topic to discuss today.

So I took photos.

When in doubt, Heather, take photos...

So here we are.

Recessive fun for this blog. 

Why recessives? Well, cause they are awesome, that's why... 

This is my holdback awesome Genetic Stripe female that I produced (FINALLY) this year. I am super proud of the way she looks, and I have to say I can't wait to see how she develops into a breeder. Solid stripes for the WIN!

And these two boys are going to be big time breeders in the arsenal when the time comes. Above is my Pastel Pied male, and below, my Lavender Albino male.  I cannot WAIT to use these guys in projects. But, as my luck seems to happen, my recessive males (cough cough, CLOWN) tend to be a bit slow in developing. 

We shall see. These guys are on the puny side. They have some time to grow. 

By the way, that black spot on the Pied is not a mite, nor is it dirt. It is a birth mark, and I love it. Maybe I should name him Chip? I'm not sure...

And I could not get the best colors on the Lav boy. I'm going to have to play around with the camera some more. Not true colors on this one. It's tough to make work. 

Oh well.

Have a fantastic day, my friends!

Hey Boys! (Continued)

 So of course, I am not done with the boy introduction. 

Above is my first recessive morph boy, my Albino. He has been with me for a long time now, and I have to say, I am always floored by the colors and photos that he takes. I LOVE Albinos. 

They do so much, look so fantastic, and really just are amazing morphs. Even Joe Blow down the street appreciates the Albino morph. 

And below, my beloved Pee-Oh-Gee. 

POG?

Pastel Orange Ghost. 

He is awesome, and a great breeder. He has a date with his Spider het Ghost girlfriend from this past season.

And here is my Pastel het Pied male. He is not so bright, but he does his job, and he does it well! I really love his pattern too... 

And my TSK Axanthic het Albino male, that I hope and pray will actually make me a Snow this year. He has a date with his Albino het Axanthic girl friend. I just hope she gives me more than four eggs this year... And that she actually breeds and gives me eggs!

How can one forget my amazing male Genetic Stripe, with his solid awesome kick-ass stripe?

He has a date with his Het Gals, as well as maybe a Mojave or something? I love the Butter Stripe!

Pastel Yellowbellies are AWESOME, and this guy is no exception. He is a great breeder, and although I have no real idea what to put him with, he will be breeding with something this year..

How can you go wrong with a Sterling? Pewters and Pastels is the least he can provide... This guy is one of the prize males I have here, and I am sure I will find him a bevy of females that he will like. 

More to come again soon! 

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

Albinos! And Clutch #31

Well, Clutch number five has hatched out completely, and the odds were interesting.

I got four out of seven Albinos, but the 100% hets are ALL MALE.

So the clutch consists of:

3.0 100% Het Albinos
1.3 Albinos

I can't complain about the visual ratio, but DANG IT ALL if all of the hets are male...

I am kinda surprised by that.

But hey, Albinos are awesome, yay for Albinos, and I know some of you out there in Internet land have been waiting for some Albinos to hatch out.

Well, here they are!

And when I got back from the trip also, my friend who was watching the house and the snakes helped set up Clutch #31, which was Genetic Stripe to Poss Het, the last one to go for the year.

Apparently I failed again at letting these last girls of the year get their complete time, as there have been slugs EVERY CLUTCH since I had the last group at clutch 29?...

RAWR.

Anyway, yes, that little tiny slug is tiny, and it should have been an egg.

5 eggs, one TINY slug.

Heck, I'll even put that on the side bar of clutches.

DONE.

Next clutch is a Mystery Male clutch to one of my Normals, so we shall see what happens. I'm expecting something to pip within the next few days.

Until then, more random musings and photos and questions to be answered.

Have a fantastic week, my friends.

Everyone's out, and Axanthic aging

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SMOJ!!!

All the Stripes are out from the last clutch, and they are looking great! 2.1 Stripes, and 0.2 Hets. I would have loved a few more female Stripes, but this works!

And of course, because this is the first female Stripe I have EVER produced, she is staying here. I am so thrilled to have her FINALLY, since I missed out on her last year.

I LOVE SOLID STRIPES!

And all of the Axanthics have shed out, and I wanted to do a comparison regarding age of Axanthics and color change.

As you may well know, the older snakes tend to change color compared to what they look like right out of the egg.

Since I have a few generations of Axanthics, I wanted to share the comparison, as a lot of people make comments about how they brown out as they age.

This is undoubtedly true, no matter what line of Axanthic, but I can only show you TSK's line of Axanthics.

Here are, from left to right, a Normal, a Baby TSK Axanthic, an Adult TSK Axanthic, and a Subadult TSK Axanthic within the coils of the older one.

They do change drastically from the baby colors they initially have, but they still look significantly different from a normal.

I thought this photo would be most helpful to give you an idea of the colors, as you can see a slight area of adult, but mostly the focus of the normal and the baby Axanthic.

And here is from left to right, an Adult, Subadult, and Baby TSK Axanthic.

So yes, although the animals are not the SAME animal, the morph photo outline gives you more of an idea of the change of colors that you may expect as they age.

But believe me when I say, they are awesome! You may be less than impressed with the color change, but you will not be able to confuse an Axanthic with a Normal if you know what you are looking for.

Have a great day, my friends!

STRIPES

Stripes are hatching, and although this picture shows them in the egg, I want to preface any comments by saying yes, I did rip open the one on the top. I take where they have cut in, and tear open the areas they have cut open themselves, so that they don't get stuck.


So yes, there are two Stripes in the egg, two hets in the egg, and one brave soul who decided to come out before the rest of them.

HE is, of course, fantastic. Complete stripe, slight side pattern, but beautiful animal.

And yes, I did say He.

I'm hoping I don't get the same luck I did last year with ALL male Genetic Stripes, but we shall see. In the next few days, we will meet the other two G-stripes, and we will all be aware of the situation then.

And only two of the Axanthics had not shed, so I took these four that did and took a nice picture of them. They are looking good!

So here we are with the first day of the week, and we are off to a good start.

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

A little more sad, and Mobee

Well, clutch 30 is on the ground.

And again, we have slugs.

I'm not really sure what is causing it other than my backing off on using the males as much for the later females that I didn't notice going. This is what I'm thinking was the cause of these slugs, as well as the slugs from the clutch before.

This time I had less eggs to begin with, but it should be fine.

This female has not proved out to be a Het yet from last year, so this is her last chance before she gets dubbed a normal.

Crossing fingers that last year was a fluke.

And here is Mobee, the Mojave Spider, which is my understanding to be termed Mojave Bee. I am not sure if the terms have changed as of yet, but this is my Mobee.

He is a proven breeder male that I acquired, and I am very excited to use him in a few things. I can't wait to put him with a Pastel or with a Pin? THAT would be awesome.

So until that day comes, he will just be a pretty picture for now.

I'm sure I'll share him again soon.

Hey look, another pretty picture of him!

I'm kinda excited, I'm not going to lie. I like what he can do. He will be fun to work with next season.

WOOHOO!!!

Have a fantastic weekend, 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!

I lied

After I typed up the Moonshine blog, ready to go to bed, I went into the snake room to double check to see if I missed anything.

I had yet to really go thru every girls tub, and although I had marked the tubs for the house sitter that would be egg-ing soon, I didn't even glance at them until a few minutes ago.

And here it is.

I should be more vigilant, but I am about to pass out.

See?? I can't even write correct G's.

LAME.

But the proven het genetic stripe girl from last year who made those awesome complete striped boys for me last year has now laid five beautiful eggs this year, early!

I am very pleased, and I hope to have my female G-stripe in there somewhere...

And after rebuking myself for not paying more attention, I found my Cinny female, the one I could not decide on what to do with, ovulating as well. Not a great angle shot for ovulations, but... I promise. She is.

And yes, I did decide what to do with her. Cinnies het Pied, babbayyyy!!

So, there really was snake stuff to talk about. I just didn't know about it yet.

Have a great day, my friends.