Clutches and Boo...

So I've been taking more of a hiatus, since I am counting down to the wedding and it's getting ridiculously close. There will probably be many more hiatuses in the next few weeks, but in June, I'll be back, BABAY!

I went into the snake room to feed and clean on Friday night, and found several clutches.

Here is the first one. This female is a first time breeder for me, and the first Hypo I have had lay eggs!

Yes, I've been behind in my Ghost-ness, and I still am.

But this female was bred to the Enchi Butter het Hypo, so I'm really hoping to jump into Hypo awesomeness with this clutch.

Should be good, although she did give me a slug. Sadness... 

This sight was exciting, although I am pretty sad about the egg count. She was a big girl, around 2500 grams before she laid..

She gave me four good eggs and a slug.

Oh well.

Better luck next time, eh?

But she was bred to Mystery males, so this clutch of four will answer several issues, including what exactly she is! Should be a fun one.. 

And on Sunday, I caught this girl on eggs. I didn't even expect her to go, and of course, with that in mind, I took her off her clutch. 

ONE EGG.  FOUR SLUGS

Ouch.

Again, oh well.

First time breeder, first time laying eggs for me. 

This is a boo-boo clutch, but hopefully something awesome will pop out of the one legit egg.

All in all, not too shabby, but still could be better. Slugs galore, so far. This is kinda painful.

Anyway, have a great week, my friends!

Clutch 36, and Clutch 21 hatchings

Welcome to the world, Clutch 36! I am completely shocked by how well this female, my original female, has produced for me. She has always been a big clutcher, but I gave her the year off last year and now, my biggest clutch of the season!

She gave me 11 good eggs this year, and that is fantastic, but again, I have no idea what she was bred to....

I put her in with several co-dom combo males, so we shall see what is in there.

And Clutch 21 hatched out this weekend, my Firefly to Black Pastel clutch.

This one was an odd one in terms of odds, but I will take the sex odds for sure!

0.1 Normal, 0.2 Fires, 0.1 Black Pewter Fire

I really do like what the Fire does to the Black Pewter, and look forward to seeing the real colors after she sheds.

The first time I saw her, I thought that she looked a lot like a Sterling.

Gotta love the Fire gene for lighting up animals.

Here's to many years of watching her grow and develop. She is one of the lookers this year for sure.


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!

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!

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!

Clutch #22 and babies!

Clutch #22 is on the ground, and I am a little annoyed with this one. This Spider girl is the one that gave me eggs last season and all went bad from my Queenbee clutch. 

She gave me five good eggs this season, but not without making the tub absolutely disgusting and laying in her own waste. And of course the eggs are in the waste as well. 

I got them pretty quickly, I think, so here we are. 

And I also have no idea what the heck are in these eggs. 

I bred this female thoughtlessly. 

She was a female that I was debating about giving a year off, so I never wrote on the tub what I put in with her. 

AT ALL.

So of all the Mystery clutches I have, this one is the biggest mystery.

 These eggs better survive...

You can kind of see where they were in liquids?

Yeah.. Not happy about that. 

Anyway, here is clutch #1 shed out!

Again, we had 1.1 Pastels, 1.1 Super Pastels, 1.0 Super Pastel Lesser.

They look good, eh?

I will be putting them up on the available page soon.

And Clutch #2 has completely hatched out.

I am not going to call what they all are, because I do want to make sure I'm sure. Shedding is required for this clutch, so that I don't mistake things for other things.

But I did get two female Crystal Thingies, 1.1 Mojaves and 2.0 Thingies.

The reason why I am not calling both of them Crystals (the pink one I am sure of) is because of the color... The one on the right is just much darker and I'm not sure how it will turn out after it sheds. I am hoping its a Mystic Potion, but I'm not completely convinced. And since this is my first hatching of the morph, I am not 100% sure.

The same is being said of the normal looking animals. So I will wait and call them when they hatch out for now. Caution is important for morphs like this.

What do you guys think?

Have a great day, my friends!

Clutch #11 and fatties

So Clutch #11 is on the ground, with Clutch #12 more than likely being laid right now...

But let's discuss Clutch #11 first.

Clutch #11 is an enigma wrapped up in a conspiracy, deep fried in a nutty coverup!

Well, not really... But I am not sure who the father is.

I know who the mother is, obviously... But I have no idea who I put with this gal that sired this clutch.

This gal was a "Oh crap, I'm not sure who would be the best bet for this gal... so lets throw a few things on her" female of this season.

So I did.

And I wrote them down, crossed some out, and the sticker on the tub is basically a bunch of scribbles where there should be a guaranteed father or fathers to be.

I can make a few things out, like Mojo Spider and Bumblebee... But I'm not sure why I crossed them out. This is basically a fail of records and organization for Heather.

For shame...

But we did get six glorious eggs out of the deal, and I'm sure they will be fantastic animals, no matter what pops out.

Mystery Clutch #1 for the season...

And of course, it looks like within the next few weeks, I will have the second incubator running full blast.

Here are a few fatties that I found in nesting position.

You gotta love the symmetry of it all. Beautiful little round buns..

Some a bit more fiesty than others...

And some much more nonchalant.

But all uncomfortable and due to give me eggs in a few weeks to a month.

Bring it on.

Have a great long weekend and day, my friends.

Clutches 3 and 4...

Clutches 3 and 4 were laid this weekend, and I have to say that I am really glad. Clutch 3 was found on Friday, but honestly I think they were laid a day before (as you can see the wrinkles in the eggs on the side. I usually just write down when the clutch is found and put in the box, however, just to avoid confusion.

This clutch is from my male TSK Axanthic het Albino to a non-proven Het TSK Axanthic female. With 8 eggs in the clutch, she will either make it or break it. Lets go, Axanthics poss het Albino!

And on Sunday, Mother's Day, my beloved Scar FINALLY decided to give me my eggs. She had a long bathroom break beforehand, and messed up her nice clean tub (of course). From Easter, when I assumed I would get eggs from her, til now, she has been giving me a heck of a time mentally messing with my game.

But finally I don't have to check on her or worry that she is egg-bound.

I'm pretty sure she was getting fed up with me messing with her, including palpating her to make sure that the eggs were moving down her vent. She wasn't very happy with me when I took her out. 

But of course, I prevailed and cleaned her up, as well as cleaned up her tub. Now she is relaxing and eating and being a good girl.

She was bred to the Silver Bullet (Lucky) and also my Spotnose het VPI Axanthic male. We will see what happens with this clutch. Somewhat of a mystery clutch, but not too much so. Let's go, babies!

Six very large eggs from my girl Scar. Can't be mad at that!

Happy belated Mothers Day to all you Mothers out there! I know I gave an extra pat to Scar yesterday for being such a good Mom.

Things are getting interesting over here, and I will be glad to see some babies hatching out in the next two months.

Have a great day, my friends!

It gets confusing with Mystery Clutches

Once upon a time, Heather bred some animals together, and used several males to one female.

"No problem", she thought. "It will be easy to figure out what is what, and the odds will be better for me"

She learned the hard way, and hopefully, you will learn from her mistakes.

Exhibit A:

MYSTERY males (several double co-dom males, including Pastel Lesser, Bumblebee, and others) to a large normal.

8 eggs, 3 slugs...

Hatched out??

8 NORMALS.

Impossible, one may think...

But nay, my friends, it is not. It is the luck of the draw, and she drew the joker, and he was pointing and laughing at Heather.


So she traversed on... with many mystery clutches to be had, she was still looking forward to other results.

Exhibit B:

Pastel Lesser or Sterling males to Black Pastel female.

Results look promising...

Silver Bullets, Pewters and Pastels.

But wait... one thing doesn't look right.

What is this???

Heather at first thought it was a Pewter... Now we all know that if it was a Pewter, we would not be discussing this issue at all.

It is a Black Pastel Lesser.

Heather mistook it for a Pewter. She even took it to the show and had it marked as a Pewter.

Shame on her.

Shame shame shame.


So remember, Mystery clutches do bode well, and do not. To be sure of what you are hatching and to pay attention to what it could be is KEY to breeding. 


I think that we are not going to be doing Mystery Clutches next season... Just to save me the headache.

So there you go. Learn and live and learn some more.

Hope this helps you all out, and 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.

Clutch #35: A Mystery

I did a lot of Mystery Clutches this year.

Why???

I'm going to be honest with you all, my friends.

I was lazy.

Breeding things to Normals, its pretty simple as to what you can expect, other than recessives.

So, I threw all of my co-dom males at the Normals that I didn't have specific plans for.

And with that, the Mystery Clutches were born.

Normals coiled around eggs is a beautiful sight, no matter what is in those coils or eggs.

I LOVE the beehive look.

Looks super cool, don't you think?

This female has been with me for a long time, and she is an excellent mother.

Even after I pulled her tub and got ready for egg extraction, she was not having any of it. She was coiled around those suckers TIGHT.

But being bigger and with opposable thumbs, I prevailed in acquiring what I had set out to get.

Six big eggs from a gal that has always been trustworthy to produce.

Not sure what's in them thar eggs, but I know I'll be happy with them as long as they hatch out healthy, (Males or not)!

And the other clutches that are hatching as of now are pretty interesting.

Pastel het Pied to Het Pied has given me ONE pied, one which I believe to be a Pastel Pied, but we shall see. THIS is one of the only times I will hope for a male this season.

COME ON PENES!

Pastel Lesser to Pastel is very misleading, as most things in the egg are bright and yellow, so I'm not assuming anything.

And the G-Stripe to Poss Het proves to be a dud, so she is officially now a Normal.

Now, I know I promised some other topics soon. I am working on them, including photos of said topics. It's kinda hard pinning down a ball python's head upside-down and getting good focus without losing something in the process. And as I am cleaning, I will take pictures of the room again for those who are interested.

PLUS, babies have shed out, new things to be put up on the availability page, and hopefully a few new babies to share in the next few days.

So until then, have a fantastic day, my friends.

Mystery solved! And baby feeding

Mystery has been solved as to the Mystery Male from Clutch #6.

Apparently, the Lemon Blast was the proud poppa, but so far all I see are Pinstripes. I didn't hit on any Pastels from what I could see either. We shall see the final count of what is coming out this clutch in the next few days.

And there was a question posed as to how I feed all the babies that hatch out over the year.

With patience, hunny.

I have a system (index cards) to keep track of who ate what when, and with everyone in a tub on their own after they shed, its actually pretty easy.

Yes, I have many babies after the hatching is done, but it is no big deal!

Just having plenty of rat fuzzies is the biggest pain in the butt...

But when there is a baby that doesn't eat well, however, there are three things that I do.

1) Make sure they have plenty of water. Babies can and will dehydrate VERY easily.
(This I do for any baby even if they eat fine, but this is a good point of information)

2) Crumple up paper in the tub to give them more security. This is key if they are feeling stressed out.   Give them a few days of crumpled bliss before trying food again.

3) Keep offering food every 2-3 days if they are not eating, 4-5 if they are.

 That's what I do!

I hope that helps those of you with babies that have some issues.

So there are clutches we are waiting on, including the Special female, and the Pewter... This is taking a long time, but apparently these females want to go LATE with the late crowd. I'm thinking another few weeks for the rest of the clutches, and then we can stop waiting. We shall see...

Have a fantastic day, my friends.