Problems

This is admittedly late, and I am swamped with stuff, but I have to report that the Enchi female is eggbound.
Vet visit tomorrow.

Will update as I can.

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.

ACK!

Have a bit too much to do getting back into the swing of things.

Need a one day break.

Anticipate the Pastel Pied versus Pied blog in the mean time.

Sorry!

YAY! Second to Last Clutch

Well, here I was, Thanksgiving Evening, cleaning snakes... and I find this. 

This female is the second to last female to lay for me for the season. She is a proven Het Pied female bred to a Pied male. I am pretty excited about this, considering I need a few more Pied things to take hold over here. Plus hatching Pieds are always fun!

And of course, since I have family in town, it was that much more exciting to share this experience. And wait for said family to take a million pictures of the event.

And piss off the mother more so than usual...

But eventually, we got the photos taken and the eggs put in a box.

Seven good ones, my friends! I can't wait to see what pops out!

Here's to New Years Babies!

Have a great holiday weekend, my friends!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I want to give thanks to all of you out there that take the time to read my blog...

You guys are great, and my inspiration to keep going.

I am so grateful to have the opportunity to share my views and love for the animals in an outlet that is a resource for people.

I love the fact that in my life, I get to play with snakes, take pictures of beautiful creatures, and just share them with the world.

Snakes are fantastic animals, and I know you all know it too.

Thank you all for being there, thank you for caring about Ball Pythons and reptiles in general.


Happy Thanksgiving from Heather's Herps to yours.

Introducing.... Miss Piggy

I did it.

I finally got myself a Hognose.

I have always loved their little snouts and the face that only a mother could love. They are too adorable, and I have wanted one for a while.

This little girl came up on an auction, and I bid for her and won!

She is my only Hoggie for now, with slight intentions in the future to see where I can expand, but right now I'm just enjoying her!

She is quite the character, hissing at every little thing, and puffing up.

I love her colors! I also tried to get a face shot, but it was hard enough to get her to sit still for the photos she is currently in.

This was as good as I could get it to get her face. Oh, Miss Piggy.. You and I will be having a great time together.

And no, I'm not giving up on my beloved Ball Pythons. A girl can dabble, right?

Have a great day, my friends!

Breeding and Blood

As a living, breathing creature, you have blood and you have reproductive organs. Sometimes, these things end up mixing together. It's not the best situation, when your reproductive organs are bleeding, but... it happens.

Rough and tumble, bad angles... etc.

It can and will happen.

This is especially true of male ground dwelling snakes. Sometimes, they drag their junk around before it is even needed, which tends to cause a bit of bleeding and redness.

Now, as a female, I don't want to make any sexist assumptions here, but I would like to point out that if the males are doing it to themselves and they haven't stopped it from happening again, I would be a little less concerned. They can feel pain, and they should have a basic instinct not to destroy themselves.

BUT, as animal caretakers, we must limit this exposure when possible.

YES, Ball Python males drag their junk around the floor when introduced to a female. YES, they can and will cause themselves slight harm.

Is this horrible and terrible and worth putting snake diapers on them?

No...

It's part of the magic of reproduction. Sometimes you don't get it right the first time.

So if you see the blood on the vent, just pop your males and make sure there are no infections or internal foreign materials that have been absorbed by exposing and absorption. If there are either, then please take care of it, be it clean it up yourself or take him to a vet.

Blood around the vent is bound to happen... It even happens with animals that aren't even in breeding rotations.

If it is more than just a very slight crusting, I would be concerned. Any swelling, foreign objects, puffiness or hestiation to pop out a pene are all bad signs.

Blood in general is not a bad sign unless there is a lot of it. A lot will be quantified by being able to scab over something. That is a bad sign. Before that is a warning sign...

Bottom line is if you are vigilant with your males, and know what is normal and what isn't (slight crusting is normal), you should have no problems.

Keep breeding them the way you have been breeding them, but at any sign of foul play, separate and diagnose.

I hope this helps those of you out there with the same questions.

Check some of your animals and you will see that blood does tend to accumulate oddly on some animals around the vent. Take note at the amount. I will see if I can get a picture of someone soon for you all as well.

When in doubt, send me a picture and I will help you figure it out!

Have a great day, my friends!