Clutch #6

This female has been with me for a few years now, and I am so glad to see this clutch. This female I got as a Pastel possible het Pied back in the day, and she is finally ready to prove herself this season.

So what, pray tell, did I breed her to?

Well, the Mojave Pied, of course. 

Fingers crossed that she proves, but of course, even if she doesn't, I get some sweet Pastave het Pieds out of it...

Five eggs, not too shabby for a first time breeder. I hope that she manages better in the next few seasons, but she will get some time off to grow anyway, so it's all good.

So here's to more eggs very soon! I don't expect any in the next few days, but things are rocking and rolling, so maybe early next week?

Yes indeed.

Have a great day, my friends!

2011s in photos

No eggs today, and it's FrIDaY!!! I always love my weekends, as long as they aren't jam packed with stuff.

So I took some photos for the available page, as well as some available stuff for ads, and I just wanted to share them. I like these!

That Mojave Pied male is a jerk. He's drawn blood at least twice so far, and eats like a champ.
It doesn't hurt that he is gorgeous either...

Jerk.

And this is one of the Stingerbee males I have up. They are so attractive, but so hard to capture in photos.

Deep golds and yellows, melty spider pattern... Getting golder and golder as they age. I really am sad that I don't need the males.. and that I didn't hatch out a female.

Painful to see such an awesome morph grow and know I'm not keeping it...

Speaking of keeping, this here is my Calico female. She has been a ton of fun to watch grow... I really like how her whites are coming in. I expect that watching her over the years will be very entertaining. Many more photos to come of this little girl.

So there you have it, my friends.

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you on Monday!

My Secret for Photography?

HAPPY LEAP YEAR DAY!!!

I have been doing this a while, and people always ask me how I get such good pictures. Well... It's really a matter of my trying things until it worked.

I shoot with my Panasonic DMC-FZ7, which is already a million years old by now in electronic years...

I shoot with the Simple Mode (the heart) and the flash.

But what really sets me apart?

My whiteboard.

Yeah, that's it right there. Big enough to take most of the largest critters without seeing the border.

It never gets to be the centerpiece of the photo, but it sure does a good job.

And as you can see, I have fluorescent lights in the room.  So I have figured out a way (most of the time) to avoid getting the light reflection in the photo.

The other big secret?

Using the flash.

Here we have a Mojave Pied that I took a photo of with the flash.

And here we have the same animal with out the flash.

I have been trying to figure out a good midway point between both colors, but I have yet to figure it out.

Especially with the white animals, flash is a burden. It takes the color and brightens the whites, but also overexposes the other colors on the animal. It's rather annoying and I am still trying to figure it out. 

Again we have no flash...

And flash..

I don't like the way the shadows work, but I don't have any better way to figure it out yet.

I do not do anything to the photos either.

It's just snap, crop if I need to, and post it up. That's how I roll.

So there you go.

I hope that helps, and eventually when I have a bit more free time, I will get back on the "try to get better pictures" bandwagon.

But right now, I've fallen off.

And that's alright with me.

Have a great day, my friends.

Happy Year of the Dragon!

So today is the Lunar New Year, and it brings with it the year of the Dragon. It is the year of the Water Dragon, which means several things. 

"The Year of the Water Dragon (1992, 1952 and 2012) is noted for its calm, visionary intelligence, and balance of right brain creativity with left brain logic."

"This is a year when people who are extroverted and outgoing will feel in their own element. People who are timid or introverted may have a harder time keeping pace with the year.

And of course, we started the New Year with some new critters! Of course, the White Gold clutch wasn't too shabby, but I also picked up a new Calico female to add to the harem. I don't have many Calicos, and this is my attempt at beefing up the white sided critters.

Joel seems to think the Calico gene is "lame", so I kinda kept away from them for a while, but with this girl, I am pleased. Next acquisition of Calico/Sugar will be a combination male, but until that happens, I'm going to keep things simple. This is the last gal until then. (We shall see if this is true, but at this point, I am serious)

And here we have the lowest white Mojave Pied that I hatched out. I really like how he turned out! The gold really is pretty! Apparently the lower white Mojave Pieds are more valuable. Isn't that interesting how that changes depending on the morph type?

Anyway, enjoy the New Year! I shall be in new clothes and eating something sweet this morning. Bringing in the New Year right...

Have a great day, my friends!

The Dragon is the only one of the 12 animals of the Chinese Horoscope that is mythical. This indicates a connection with the transmuting power of Heaven, hence this is a year when we may be able to achieve what seemed impossible before.

A warning in the Year of the Dragon is to manage energy wisely, so you don't get exhausted. This may be hard to do in a year of abundant good energy, because it may seem unlimited. 

Contrary to some popular rumors that have been circulating in the past few years about predictions, there is nothing in Chinese Astrology that indicates that the year 2012 is the "end of times." 

Dragon years are expected to be full of benevolence and grace, especially a Water Dragon Year."

So the bottom line? This should be a good year! I know I'm excited about it, for all of the new things that are changing in my life. Bring it on, New Year! 

Last of 2011

The last clutch of the year that actually went to term has hatched out (let us not forget the Enchi clutch that died, and the female with it).

3.0 Mojave Pieds, 0.1 Mojave het Pied, and 1.2 Het Pieds.

Here are the hets all together.

I am still saddened by the fact that the Enchi clutch went bad, but this clutch has made up for it somewhat. 

I plan on keeping the Mojave female, since I do not need a Mojave Pied male. I was hoping for a Mojave Pied female, but alas, my odds were in the penes again.

Which is okay, really... I don't need to keep them, so they will all be available, which means more funds for more snakes and wedding stuff.

I can handle that.

I really like the way they look though. I wish I could keep one just to grow up and watch change. They are awesome looking...

But I have their father, who I used to produce them.

He is in the rotation to make more this upcoming season, so I can't be too mad at that.

What to do with him, eh? So many plans... So many.

I'm off to plan, my friends.

Have a great day!