Dang... but YAY!

Well, apparently the camera that we used to take photos of the show is acting up and we cannot download the photos as of yet.

We will keep trying!

But right now, I can update you on some pairings..

This here is my Silver Bullet, Lucky, with a Pastel Lesser female. She had no interest in anyone so far, but Lucky got lucky and made it happen.

This here is a pairing that I was debating on doing this year, but since the opportunity arose and they seemed interested, I paired them up.

These are siblings from back in 2010, my Double Het Albino Pieds...







And just for confirmation, look! There is a lock.

There is one more female that I may pair up with him. I'm not sure exactly what I plan to do as of yet, as this pairing was not planned anyway...

Hmmmmmm

This pairing is another sibling pairing, a pair of Spotnose het VPI Axanthics... If I hit on the VPI Axanthic Powerball, that will be SWEET!

Fingers crossed on that one.

And last but not least, a non-related pairing this time. Mojave Spider male with a Cinnamon female. I am not a huge fan of the Cinnamon Spiders, but a Mojave Cinnamon Spider should be pretty sweet. We shall see, eh?

Anyway, that is what is happening so far... Nothing super outstandingly amazing, but nothing too shabby.

Last clutch of the season should be popping up in another two weeks, and then I can turn the incubator off for a few months.

It will be a relief for a bit not to worry about eggs and to worry about breeding.

Have a great day, my friends.

Patternlessness

I'm spending more time in the snake room trying to get myself back on track. It's been a few days of being "off" due to all the things that are going on.

While centering myself and breathing, I like to spend time in the snake room taking photos. Beauty offsets any problems I am dealing with at the time for the moment.

So here we have a photo spread of some patternless animals I have shown occasionally, now more adult and more colorful.

Above we have a Silver Bullet, which is in this case a Black Pastel Cinnamon Pastel. I love the grey tone that this female exudes. The one thing I regret is not having a Super Cinnamon or something to compare the shades of grey, but I do have a Super Pewter below that is stunning.

Super Pewter is a great name for this snake, since it really is Pewter toned, almost silver.

And the yellow splotches, grey and black patches and white spots are all just icing on the cake. Just so interesting looking at such a "patternless" snake with a bunch of random dot pattern.

I really like looking at these two together. Just a brighter lighter grey between the two (Silver Bullet and Super Pewter) and the great comparison. Always a fun thing to look at. 

And of course, this gal here has not been shown often, but she was looking amazing. This here is a Pastel Super Mojave female. She is epically yellow right now, and of course her head looks fantastic as well. I had to take many photos, and how else to incorporate her into the blog but to add her with the other patternless critters. 

So pretty!!

Anyway, enjoy your day my friends. Have a great one!

Clutch #10

And we have reached the double digits!

Here we have my original Het Red Axanthic female of whom I produced Chipo. This gal is a HORROR to breed, as it seems like she always manages to get a nice looking clutch that goes to hell in a hand basket later on.

Hopefully this won't be the case this year, but already it doesn't look to promising.

 Here she is on her eggs... 

Yeah, you see that slug? Yeah...

The clutch is just not that pretty. But of the four eggs that were laid, three of them look viable (the two boob eggs and the one closest to the photo).

For some reason, the egg in the middle didn't have any veins at all. Fingers crossed on that one, but I'm not counting on it. 

So... Three promising eggs!

Here's to some Gargoyles and Pewter het Reds over here!

Have a great day, my friends!

BP and Cinny complex

I have noticed that a lot of my collection consists of Black Pastel and Cinnamon stuff. 

Is this a problem? No way, Jose!

But I do find that I have many of them. And also many combinations of them.

And I am going to share with you some pictures of some of them. 

Now we all well know that Black Pastels and Cinnamons are similar in terms of genetics. They both are dark and have an interesting pattern, as well as nice blushing and a orange-yellow undertone. They both have a solid dark snake as a Super form, and they both make similar looking animals when put with a Pastel (the Pewters). 

But of course, that is not to say that they are the same. Because they are not...

But they do work similarlhy, and therefgore should be considered as a complex type as well. 

I'm just not sure what they would be called.

The Black-innamon Complex?

I digress.

Now it is time to enjoy some pictures of some of the combinations I have hiding here. 

Above is the Pewter Het Red Axanthic, one of the few in the world, as I understand it. 

Below, we have a Black Pastel Lesser. Not so rare, but absolutely stunning.

I am really glad to have her in the collection. One of those combinations you wouldn't expect to look so amazing...

And of course, the Super... Kinda. 

This here is the Silver Bullet, the Pastel Super Cinnamon or Pastel Super Black Pastel or Pastel Black Pastel Cinnamon. 

Isn't that super confusing? Yeah... It is.

I'd love to have a contrast shot of these gals next to a Super Cinny or Super Black Pastel, but for some reason I don't have any. Oh well... 

So there you go.

Black Pastels and Cinnamons are awesome. 

The Blinnamon Complex, my friends... 

Have a great day!

Cuteness

The one thing I know that most people don't associate with snakes is that they are cute.

They are demonized by many cultures, as well as in the Bible and many other religious facets.

Now it takes a lot for some people to even be in the presence of a snake, and I can understand that to an extent. I have to say that there are some snakes I would prefer not to be around (ala Venomous) for the sake of my safety and my ignorance on those particular species.

But for the most part, there are many other snakes that do not fall into this category, and I find them cute.

Granted, snakes do not have any type of emotional response, which I understand has a lot to do with people's discomfort with them. They don't give you many warning signs that they are upset, other than a neck curl. Compared to a dog, they are an emotional rock. Can you imagine your snake panting and wagging its tail when you come around due to excitement? I've been told they are more like fish, fun to look at.

I digress.

Cuteness is a personal determination, and I have to say some of the cutest moments in my snake career have been seeing snake eggs pip and little noses popping out.

And of course, extra cute when they try and eat me. The smaller they are, the funnier they are when they try to be big and bold. Of course, when they are big and bold, it's not as cute... It's rather startling. But I love them all the same.

So I wonder out there in Internet Land... Do you think your snakes are cute? Or is it just me trying to anthropomorphize my critters?

I also wonder if it's a gender thing. Nurturing cute critters for a female versus taking care of snakes for a male.

Anyway, this began with my holding one of my babies that is growing up to the camera... Gotta love watching them grow! It's a reassuring feeling knowing that they are getting big and healthy and strong. I'm a proud momma. And they are so CUTE!

Have a great and cute day, my friends.

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!!!

Super Pastels? Yes!

 This was supposed to end out the week last week, and I didn't get to it, so here we are. 

Above, we have a Super Pewter (Super Pastel Super Cinnamon), my only gal, and a Super Pastel!

Below, we have a Silver Bullet, a Pastel Super Cinnamon. 

With these animals, I have to say that it is very obvious that there is a bit extra going on in the Super Pastel section of the combination.

As you can see above, the Super Pewter is SILVER. Very silver. 

And the Silver Bullet is more of a mottled darker grey. 

These animals are only a few months apart in age, so the color difference is striking without involving age difference.

With just adding another pastel element to this morph, it brings the color to a whole other level.

I have to say, it is very obvious, although given a year or so, we will revisit these critters to see what the heck they look like and if they have such a striking difference in color then. 

So again, what to take from this?

Super Pewters and Silver Bullets are awesome. 

Also, if you want a brightening element to a morph, Super Pastel-ling it would be a good idea. 

Of course, as we touched on before, other highlighter morphs are also worthwhile to integrate, such as Fires, Vanillas, etc...

But Pastels, being a base morph that is easily accessible, I suggest starting there for those who are beginning out.

Pastels make most things awesome. 

Super Pastels make most things even more awesome.

How can you go wrong?

Have a great day, my friends!

SOOOPER!!!

Once upon a time, Heather dreamed about what some of her project goals were...

And she came to the conclusion that Super Pewters were one of them.

So she tried and tried, and hatched out Silver Bullets (Super Cinnamon Pastels), but never the elusive Super Pewter... 

UNTIL NOW.

Here are two photos, pretty much with flash and without. These photos compare the Super Pewter with the Silver Bullet. The Bullet is a few weeks to a month older than the Super Pewter, but I did this more to compare coloration. 

I wish I had a Super Cinnamon or Super Black Pastel to put in there too... 

THAT would have been an awesome photo, right there.

But this will have to do. 

I am really surprised how much an extra Pastel gene does to the coloration of this morph combo.

The Super Pewter, as we well know, is a Super Pastel Super Cinnamon (or Black Pastel, but that would be a Super Black Pewter).

A Silver Bullet is a Pastel Super Cinnamon.

 As you can see, it is darker, with less Silver, but with the same general lack of pattern. They are both AWESOME looking, and I expect them to start gold speckling like Lucky did over the next few months.

The Bullet already seems to be starting to. 

What am I talking about? 

Well, this is Lucky. See his spots? They just popped up over time. They are yellow/gold.

I expect the others to do the same. 

Should be fun watching them grow up. 

So there you go, people. 

Granted, it is not a full color tutorial, but I think it works for the time being... or until I get a Super Cinnamon or Super Black Pastel. 

But I think this should be good enough.

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

BTW: I'll be vending at the Pasadena Herp World Expo this weekend. I hope to see some of you there!

Some 2010 babies

 I have had a bit more time to relax, granted without my internet still...

But I have been trying to take it easy by taking pictures.

So I have been taking a lot of them.

Above is one of the Silver Bullet girls I hatched out. I absolutely love her speckling of black, and because yesterday I shared with you Lucky, the male that is a year old, I am curious how this gal will turn out as well.

This gal here is my Spinner female. The only one I hatched out, and who was actually having some feeding issues earlier, but now is a chowhound.

 I absolutely love Spinners for their pattern. I honestly can say they are one of the morphs I like the best.

Of course, Bumblebees don't look too bad either. I really like this one, and she is so clean and beautiful. And she decided to be shy in the picture as well.

And combine the Spinner with the Bumblebee? You could get this guy, the Spinnerblast.

Again, I am in love...

And last, but most certainly not least, the Pastel Super Mojave. I need to get a Super Mojave to put next to this guy to do some education on the subject, as some people can't seem to figure it out, and it is a subtle difference.

And the colors are as true as I could get them. See the yellow stripe down the back, and the faintly light grey head? And of course, blue eyes.

Gotta love them.

So with everything for you to enjoy, I hope you have a fantastic weekend, my friends.

We shall return with a photo journal of sorts. Be prepared!



HAWT!!! And Super Pewter

So here in Southern California, yesterday and today more than likely have been the hottest days of the year.

It reached a scorching 111 degrees Fahrenheit in my area.

Yes...

That does say One Hundred and ELEVEN degrees.

Why are you complaining about this, Heather? I live in __(Enter City Here)__ where it is that hot in December!

(Cities that come to mind are Vegas, Anywhere in Arizona or Texas, etc...)

Well, my friends, I still have the incubator on... And where it is located in the house is not conducive to keeping cool, which leads to overheating incubators.

Yes, there is central air, but when it is 111 outside, it takes a LONG time to cool down.

So I was and am concerned about the next few days, as not only did I have to put off shipping (DUH) animals in the heat, I am also worried about the eggs that are due to pip in the next few days.

But, so far so good. And the max that the incubator hit was 93. This is not great, but its not horrible. Let me also preface this by saying this was the temperature IN the incubator, not in the boxes themselves. Pippers are still pipping and alive. All signs point to okay.

So lets hope today stays a bit cooler.

Anyway, on to happier subjects, while the air is on and it is cooling down...

Here is the Super Pewter.

She has not shed yet, but she is doing very well.

I took a picture with her half sister, one of the Silver Bullets I hatched out. Once the Super Pewter sheds out, we will get a better idea of the final coloration, but look at the SILVER on the Super Pewter, my friends.

Whew!

Looking forward to seeing her colors after her shed.

I'll be doing this photo shoot again when that happens.

I have a lot to share once things shed... I'm getting impatient for new skin.

COME ON, Ecdysis. You can do it...

Have a fantastic 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.

Facility and new snakes

Well, I had an e-mail wayyy too long ago about photos of my Snake Room again.

It's been a while since I did it, so here we go!

I have shoved as many racks as I can into this room, as I have been warned repeatedly that I only get this room to work in. It's not that big, people, so I am trying to make everything work.

I use Vision, Animal Plastics, Boaphile, Jason's Jungle, and rack makers unknown. I have primarily Vision racks, due to the fact that they are local. 

I use Sanichips, and they get EVERYWHERE!

Yes, I use a labeler as well. I find it easier to find the animals with a bright white label.

I use Helix and Herpstat, but I prefer Herpstat.

If you have specific questions regarding my setup, feel free to ask! I will absolutely answer them.

So onward we go, my friends.

I am having a wierd hatching schedule for some of my animals, as there have been a few days inbetween pipping of this clutch and the lack of pippage from the other eggs.

But here is a guy that came out last night. I have three animals out, and four more eggs in the incubator not ready yet.

Welcome to the world, Spinnerblast male.

He came out after his Pinstripe sister and Spinner sister.

Here he is next to the Spinner, with the Pin hiding underneath the paper in the corner.

As much as I LOVE triple co-dom males, it seems like I am getting overrun with them!

What to keep, what to sell, what to DO????

I dunno. We shall see. He is ridiculous though.. I am very glad to have him. I LOVE Spinners and Spinnerblasts.

I'm glad this clutch actually made it to hatch, unlike my Queenbee clutch. You can't win them all.

And, for those of you who were wondering, yes, the Silver Bullets did shed out, or at least one did. This is my holdback gal. Not sure what I'm going to call her, but I like her!

She has blotches already, similar to Lucky, but he didn't have them as soon. She is going to be interesting to watch grow up.

Maybe her name should be Splotchy.

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

Fantastic!!!

Clutch 37 is here, my friends. Sterling male to Het Red Axanthic female!

I did this to replicate my Gargoyle/Onyx acquisition, however these will all be Gargoyles and Pastel Gargoyles. This should be very interesting what pops out of this clutch. I'm just a bit dissapointed it came later in the season. I wanna see them NOW!

But here is what we can see now...

Pastel Orange Ghost x Double poss Het Hypo Albino apparently did not prove out to be a Het Hypo this year. I ended up with 3.1 Pastel het Hypos and 0.1 Het Hypo.

And...

Sterling x Black Pastel ended up being a good clutch! I was kinda hoping for the Pastel Lesser to be the father, but I will take these odds any day!

We ended up with:

0.2 Silver Bullets
1.1 Pewters
0.2 Black Pewters

My girls are BACK! Maybe only for this clutch, but I'm all good with this one.

So there it is...

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

I'm feeling Lucky tonight

I find it absolutely fascinating watching particular animals grow up and change over the years, and Lucky the Silver Bullet is the one I am going to focus on today. He hatched out SILVER, very bright, solid colored and beautiful.

It has been a little less than a year since he hatched out, and he has changed drastically in terms of coloration and pattern.

He has changed a lot since he was hatched, and it is clear that there was a lot of growing to do in terms of developing into his adult colors and form. 

He has developed light gray spots on his back and sides, but has kept his paradox spot towards the midsection of his body.

His belly has become a mottled gray as well, and his head and overall color has darkened considerably. 

He is still considered patternless, as there is no distinct pattern to discern, but he does have a mottled appearance compared to his hatching colors.

I find it very interesting how drastic his colors have changed, but I really believe that he is a great example of the morph, and a beautiful male to boot. I am looking forward to using him in the future for combos and such, and also producing a Super Pewter to compare coloration again in the next few years. I'm sure it will be just as drastic, but will settle at a lighter tone than Mister Lucky, the Silver Bullet.

We shall see soon, I would hope.

Have a fantastic day, my friends.