Houdini... Freaking me out

So once upon a time, there was a Queenbee female that I had acquired over this past season that I had put in the smallest tubs.

She was good there for a long time, without any ill effects and without any issues. After coming to me, she ate, she drank, she had no problems with anything.

Over the course of the month or two that I had her, I kept checking in to make sure she was good, to make sure she was still thriving like the others.

No problem.

And then, one day (aka Friday), the tub she was in was open.

Now, its been a crazy week (as you could see from the lack of blogging over the last few days), and I could not figure out if it was me being absent minded and left the tub open, which is VERY unlikely, because I have dealt with MANY tub things over the years, and my habits of leaving things closed and double checked is ingrained into my brain...

OR...

The dreaded thought..

She managed to get out.

.....

NO WAY... This snake didn't try and get out before, and I had had her in that tub for a while...

So after a slight surprise and a tiny bit of dismay for having to crawl all over the room looking for her, I did.

Fifteen minutes later, I found her across the second level of a set of vision racks, near the heat cord.

Okay, little miss Houdini, let's put you back in the tub.

I triple checked that I put that snake back in the right tub, with the tub closed.

Crisis averted!!!


Saturday rolled on by, and Sunday is the super cleaning day of the week!

So I go in, sleeves rolled up, ready to roll.

I turn to look at the baby rack and WHAT???????????????

This is what I see:

I am annoyed, a bit freaked out, and more than anything fed up.

HOW THE HECK DID THIS SNAKE DO THIS??

I know now that it was NOT me last time, that this freaking snake has found a way to get out of the smallish tub by doing some type of contortion act to push it open. She was larger than necessary for the tub, but I tend to give the newer animals smaller tubs to make sure they eat well first.

This girl is getting a bigger tub as soon as I find her scrawny ass.

So here I go again..

I take tubs out, I use a flashlight, I crawl on the floor, I stand on my step-stool.
I move racks around, I move things around.
I check the closet, I check the tops of racks, I check the bottom of racks.

Around thirty minutes later, I find her.

She is wedged between the wall and the tub of the TOP tub of one of my Boaphile racks, clear across the other side of the room, and on the top.

Did I mention the TOP? This rack has ten 32 qt tubs in it, and somehow she manages to get from the floor to the TOP tub. We are talking like 6 feet off of the floor.

How the heck these critters do this is absolutely beyond me.

All I know is in my several experiences looking for lost snakes, they tend to end up in the weirdest places.

So learn from me, my friends. When in doubt, look in the weirdest places ever! You will probably find them there.

Her name is officially Houdini now. And she is in the Vision baby tub rack with plenty of space, and no way to get out!

Have a great day, my friends!

Getting there

Gargoyle

It has been an interesting week already.  In the midst of doing all the normal things I do every day, work, class, home stuff, snake stuff, I have gotten into trying to do things early and often.

One of those things is the blog, and the other is photography and social media. Now, don't misunderstand me when I say getting to do Social Media early and often. I actually have been trying to stear clear of Facebook more often, as it tends to get under ones skin, but Pinterest, for the sake of my plannings and sharing with others, I have been trying to get more involved.

Queenbee in Shed

Pinterest, being that of both photography and social media, is an interesting place to be. You post up photos you like, and people comment and like them.  Since I have been trying to take more photos, I have been sharing things on Pinterest more so than before. (NOTE: I have not posted up the snakes anywhere but this blog)

Thus comes this quote I found on Facebook that I found amusing.

I pinned it up, and went on my merry way.

Within an hour, it went VIRAL on Pinterest.

I got so many likes, pins and comments my head started to hurt. I think the count right now is around 14,000, which for any of my other photos on my board, is HUGE.

Why am I bringing this up?

Well, I got some HATEFUL comments about this.


"This is idiotic and otherwise known as an "Excuse To Be A Heinous Bitch"

"attitude is a selfless choice that you make to serve others whether they deserve your wrath or not, When you act with grace despite them your attitude becomes your character which in turn reflects your personality and who you are. Its sad that so many people like this quote...."

"This is such a bunch of crap. If you are allowing your attitude to be affected by others then your personality is pathetic. You can change your personality and should be in control of your own attitude!!!"

WOW! I was floored. Seriously.

While I understand where they are coming from, I interpreted it in a way more open minded way, and found it to be a positive spin on something that could be often misconstrued. How often is it that there is that one person that just drives you nuts, and you knowingly are just more trite with that person? THAT is the type of understanding I got when reading this... 

But apparently it was blown out of the water in terms of establishing an opinion on it.

I am still shocked at how passionate some people are about this saying.

So I present it to you, my blog friends.

How do you interpret it?

I want to hear from people that I know more so than those random faces on Pinterest. I want to know what you think.

And of course, with a sprinkling of pretty snakes to boot.

I will still post to Pinterest, and so far have done so with other quote photos right after the photo quote above, and they were received with much less viral tenacity.

It's interesting how that works...

So with that, I bid you a good day, my friends.

Think on it, comment on it.

It's interesting to think about.

Have a great day!

Mojave Spider

Reflection

I have to say that with the legislation doing what it is doing, I have time to reflect on why I am working with snakes in the first place.

I am allergic to many creatures, as is my Mother. I grew up with exotics as pets because I had to. I never got to own a snake, as my Mother was afraid, but I did get to have various types of fish, birds and the occasional try at a hamster.

So why then did I end up with Ball Pythons?

Cause they are gorgeous and fun to work with. End of story.

Snakes are all beautiful in their own way, and with patterns and colors that rival the rainbow, (and some that are named after the rainbow), how can anyone not value them as creatures worth keeping and enjoying? 

Yes, they eat live animals, and yes, they are somewhat intimidating.

It is mainly in ignorance that much of the fear is spread.

This is true of many things, and especially true of the new Legislation.

 

I will be the first to admit that yes, the Burms are in Florida. That is an obvious fact.

But why is it that Yellow Anacondas and "African Pythons" are included in this?

And why is it that we are banning these animals instead of controlling the current wild population?

How will this help things?

I have no idea. 

And of course, as I can, I try to be as fair minded as possible. I understand and see where the government is going with this. They need to find some way of controlling the invasive populations that are in Florida and other states. 

But how is this new legislation on current domestic animals going to help?

I don't see how it does. I see it as more people, afraid of getting in trouble, letting more animals go into the wild. 

And THAT will be even worse. 

Then what?

More legislation....

A never ending cycle. 

Let us hope that things turn around.

And do what you can to help people see the error of this, professionally and courteously.

No sense in swearing and yelling. That doesn't do much good but make us all look like fools.

Let's do this thing, folks.

Have a great day, my friends.

H2O

H20...

The most glorious of all the chemical compounds, essential for living and a delicious part of the world as we know it.

We as humans are basically water bags, more than half of us made up of those wonderful three letters (and that one number isn't a letter, I know).

So why am I speaking about the glory of that clear liquid that we all know and love?

Because it is very important in the care of your reptiles.

There are some animals that can do without for a while, but most cannot. Ball Pythons included...

I know some people tend to not check on the water levels of their animals for days at a time, given the fact that they have large water bowls. That is no problem!

But it is when they are small animals, ergo babies or just small critters in general, they need more care and more water checks. This means once a week is more than likely not enough...

So what am I mentioning something so obvious for?

Because depending on the familiarity with some other creatures, one needs to remember to try to care for individual types of animals as they need.

What happens if a Ball Python doesn't get enough water?


Symptoms include:


Dry shed, wrinkly saggy skin, lack of movement and muscle tone, pronounced spine and tail, and wrinkled eye caps.

I realize that some animals (Uromastyx, tortoises, etc...) do not need much water at all, but Ball Pythons do.

Common knowledge, right?

Not when you care for other creatures and you don't change your habits...

But I digress.

What do I do?

I check the babies every two days, I check the adults every five..

My water bowls are large and obnoxious, but of course there are times that even large and obnoxious don't do enough.

So of course, I fill up often. And so should you.

Take care of your critters to the best of your ability!

Have a great day,  my friends.

I got Bitten!

It's been a LONG time since I've had this kind of mishap, and honestly, it was my fault.

It's been a few weeks since my rodent provider has had mediums, so I have been feeding the adults rather small meals, and I only get a delivery every week. 

One small rodent a week for some is not enough.

So last night, I finally got some mediums, went thru the adult rack holding medium live rats by the tail. 

I had a rat in one hand, and was opening the tub with the other. Apparently, my hand was more appealing than a medium white and black rat.

 

The snake flew out of the tub, mouth agape. 

Imagine my hand, thumb and pointer finger holding the tail of a rat, facing this mouth.

I couldn't move fast enough. 

She got my hand right at the meat, and started to STRANGLE MY HAND.

Anyway, she would not let go. 

This is a FULL GROWN ADULT female Ball Python, granted a bit skinny from laying eggs, but still. She enveloped my entire hand, and did not let go.

At first, I grabbed the Chlorhexidine and sprayed her face. I heard that Alcohol does the trick, and that was as close as I had at the moment. It didn't work. And no, Alcohol is not Chlorhexidine or vice versa.

But at the time, it seemed like a good idea.

Anyway, I then realized after a few spritzes that it wasn't working, so I walked to the sink, turned on the water, and put her face under it.

It took a good 30 seconds for her to let go, even under a constant flow of water.

She let go, I put her back in the tub and fed her immediately, and she subsequently ate two medium rats.

My hand has the marks to prove it, but it didn't hurt too bad, nor did it bruise or bleed too much.

It does have the mark of a mouth, however.

Cool story for the Office, eh?

This has only happened once before, when I went to rescue a Normal from a home that wasn't feeding their animal properly. Same story, pretty much.

The snake was smaller in that case, and we pried her off with a pencil instead of water (this was over 6 years ago, and at a strangers house). It worked, although the pain was worse in that case due to more manipulation of the jaws on my hand.

And what's funny is, Bitey (the name of the critter who I rescued) is still with me!

Ahh, the good ole days.

So that is my story to lead up to the weekend, my friends.

Be careful, feed well, and love your snakes.

Have a great weekend.




SIDE NOTE: We will be vending at Sacramento on October 29th and 30th. It is my birthday that weekend, and I decided to "work"! Hope to see you there!

Collection Update Update

So I am working with my web guy to get my site up to snuff for this season.

I am working hard, while working hard with other stuff.

YAY WORKING HARD!

One of my tasks that I had to do was get a list of my collection to be able to get things up to date, as well as photos (which have yet to be done).

But I do have my list!

And here it is, for your viewing pleasure! (In no particular order, since I was just writing names down)


Pastel
Spider
Pinstripe
Mojave
Lavendar Albino
Albino 
Pied
Pewter Bee
Spotnose
Pastel Mojave
Pastel Super Mojave
Super Pastel
Sulfur Mojave
Super Mojave Super Fire
Pastel Orange Ghost
Black Pewter
Black Pastel
Pastel Het Red
Bumblebee
Honeybee
Pewter Het Red
Pastel Crystal
Crystal
Super Pewter
Pewter
Spinnerblast
Spinner
Pastel Pied
Cinnamon
Genetic Stripe
Hypo Mojave
Yellowbelly
Pastel Yellowbelly
Super Pastel Lesser
Pastel Calico
Pastel Lesser
Silver Bullet
Sable
Butter Enchi
Red Axanthic
Mystic
TSK Axanthic
Special
Enchi
Black Pastel Het Red
Woma
Het Red Axanthic
Tequila
Clown
Hypo
Fire
Firefly



Yeah... And that doesn't include the Hets.

I have my work cut out for me. 

And I'm off to do it.

Have a fantastic day, my friends!

What I've noticed over the years

Well, I am never going to be comfortable saying that I know EVERYTHING about Ball Pythons, nor am I going to tell someone that they are wrong about their own personal experiences.

But here are mine, and I'd like to share them with you!

In general, babies eat well. Some tend to be more picky than others, but usually when you get them to start, they are good to go for a while. Every 5 days? No problem...

Mouse hoppers are great starter food sources for pain in the ass feeders. Rat pups are my main go-to, but wiggling around and twitching doesn't quite do it for some feeders, and mice are the way to go after a good month of trying.

Water... Water is a very very very important part of husbandry, as all living creatures need it. Make sure to provide plenty of water, or else your snakes may not eat. Never a good sign...

When it comes to around a year, there are some animals that eat straight thru any season, any time, anywhere... Most Ball Pythons do not, however, and will stop eating around 600-800 grams for a while. Mostly this happens during the breeding season, but not exclusively. This tends to happen, as I said, within their first to second year.

And then, when it warms up, they get to eating again. This can be a length of time up to eight months, depending on the animal. Sometimes they change preferences completely.

With females that have bred and produced eggs, this can happen, albeit unfortunately.

There is a female that I have had for a long time, and she was always a rat eater. After she produced eggs, she stopped eating... She stopped eating completely. It took her a year and a half to begin eating again. Why is that??? And how did she manage that long?

She decided she only ate mice. I only fed her rats. She turned her nose up. She may have taken a few within that year and a half, but never consistently as she normally did. But I finally gave in and gave her mice after moving her into a smaller tub, different substrate, different locations, and even smaller feed items (I even tried rat pups!) Of course she had water, and a hide and a nice tub. But she wasn't really happy... She wanted a Mickey.

Oh well.

So that is how long I've had a problem feeder. I just recently, within the last few months, have been feeding her mice. Now she and I have an understanding, and we get along just fine!

With those situations, I wouldn't suggest jumping shark and giving into mice if you don't have a steady supply. I give them a month to get it in gear with the food that I offer, and then I try new things. I have gotten very patient with bad feeders, and I have to say, sometimes, time and a new thing is all they need.

But back to those pesky sub-adults... That is a different story. For the most part, no matter what you do, they will still refuse. It is par to the course of growing up for some animals. Again, I don't say ALL, because that would be a fallacy.

MOST.

And it still sucks.

But we see the challenge, we approach it with an open mind, and celebrate when they start eating again!

So there you go. Of course, this is not all that I've noticed over the years, but I have to say, it is a big one! We'll be talking more about other things that tend to trend over here at Heather's Herps, but of course, as always, if you have a question, comment it and I will answer!

Have a fantastic day, my friends! Happy Monday!

Musings and Colors and Flowers!

It was a relaxing weekend, and although I still feel like I haven't much to say in terms of snake stuff, I am glad to have had the break I did.

I was hoping for Mother's Day eggs, but to no avail.

I am actually in the process of moving animals around for the up and coming onslaught of babies (I hope), so that I can make things work without pulling my hair out.

I didn't get as far as I wanted.

But, hopefully today or tomorrow I can get up off my duff and do it.

Now, I realize I didn't say anything about these rose pictures.

They are my FAVORITE roses of all time, and I bought them for all of my mother snakes for mothers day... (not really, but I had to have some excuse to buy them).

They are a Bicolor Rose called Circus, and they are the epitome of awesomeness in rose coloration in my opinion.

They will be my centerpiece flower for my wedding, which is yet to happen.

A gal can dream, right?

Now I really want to see if I can make a Ball Python this color without dying it.

(You know those glass fish you can buy at the store that have those obviously fake plastic neon colored lines thru it? Yeah, not like that.)

THAT is the challenge of my lifes work.

Pastel Yellowbelly with.... something red. Caramel would make it pink.... I don't know, but I will figure it out.

Or die trying.

Which gives you the idea I'm in it for a while, right?

Yeah baby.

I am.

So enjoy my roses for my snakes, and enjoy your day, my friends.

I know I will!

The importance of good photography

I was going thru some old old old photos I took of the original females I had, and the ideas I had in terms of making some really cool interesting photos of the snakes.

I took a look at them, and realized a few things that are very important in this business.

Let me share it with you.

TAKE GOOD PICTURES.

Internet photos are the world in terms of selling animals, and the better the photos are of the animals, the more likely you will be able to find a buyer.

You have to have a good camera, or at least one you know how to use. One that has auto focus, and a quick shutter speed.

It doesn't have to be an expensive camera by any means, it just has to do the basics.

When I started out, the digital cameras were still in the process of getting good at the price range I could afford.

So, I tried and failed with what I had.

Yes, it took pictures, and yes, you can see them now, but my skills with the camera now versus then are humungously different.

The colors are off, the flash was not ideal, the focus was not sharp.

I have to say, if I used my current camera (I shoot with a Panasonic DMC-FZ7), these photos would be much better.

And I would be more proud to use these photos in terms of displays for the website, which was what the intent of these photos were.

But... it took many different attempts, lights, flashes, colors to figure it out.

Now what do I use to take some of my best pics?

I use a white erase board as the background (which is usually clean and reflects a decent amount of light), my flash, and auto focus. 

Simple, right?

Well, it took me a few years to figure it out.

So my suggestion to all of you out there is to play with your camera (It's fun anyway!) and see if you can find your own way to get good detailed photographs of your animals. 

You won't be dissapointed. 

Have a fantastic day, my friends

Fun with Ball Pythons!

So yesterday I did a talk on Ball Pythons at the local Herpetological society. It was a lot of fun, and I wanted to share some photos with you about what I did.


We brought around Ten animals, and assumed that there were people out there that knew about Ball Pythons, but were not familiar with the intricacies of care and husbandry, much less morphs and genetics.

Clean slates, so to speak.

I brought my biggest gal, who is around 20 years old, as well as a few others. Lewie helped me show her off. 

She was a big hit. Lots of people didn't realize they got that big.

All the while, I am powerpointing about the basics of care...And morphs and genetics. Ooooh, pretty slide! (Hey, look! It's Heather!)

Here I am again, in a blurry shot taken by Joel, apparently. He's fired from photography next lesson I give. He says its because he needed a better camera to work with... 

It's the same one I use to take good pics of snakes, dangit. 

Harumph.

But I was talking about the comparison between the Pastels and Supers and other combinations they can make.

Hey Look, It's Heather again, in a not blurry shot. Apparently I was making funny faces... Holding the Pastel and a Super together. Can you see it better this time?

And some of my audience.

More of my audience.

It was a bunch of fun, and an honor to speak in front of so many excited herpetology enthusiasts.

Many had not seen morphs of Ball Pythons before, so it was a lot of fun to get things out and show people.

So this is one of two talks I will be giving this month, and the other I will have a few more weeks to prep my powerpoint to better suit all of the questions I got this time around.

Everytime, it gets better!

I had fun with it, and if you were there, thank you so much for your time. I had a blast.

Have a fantastic day, my friends.

Inbreeding

Well, in any breeding of anything, the concern comes up in terms of inbreeding and how far one should go in terms of intermingling bloodlines.

It is said that with reptiles, it is not a big issue in terms of co-mingling tightly knit bloodlines due to the fact that people rarely see any negative consequences in terms of genetic abnormalities.


The problem with inbreeding is that defective genes may be carried by the animals you are breeding together,  but is not visual. If parents and offspring are inbred, there is a strong likelihood for the bad genes to become more concentrated in each subsequent generation. Statistically there is a greater chance of the genes to match, which means that the “bad” trait appears in more offspring.

Outbreeding prevents the genes from becoming concentrated, and therefore is very unlikely to spring up as a visual trait.

In humans, of course, it is a taboo to breed with people within your immediate family. The image of first cousins marrying and having children that have abnormalities comes to mind.


In reptiles, this is not the case.

Why? People tend to personify animals and place burdens on them that would never be issues within their own populations.

Do you think that Snake A, who is grown and wandering around looking for a mate distinguishes between Snake B and C, B being the one that is related to it? I don't think so. (Would be an interesting topic of study, however...)

Anyway, captive reptile populations tend to be relatively inbred to begin with, starting off the the first morph, bred into normals, those animals bred back to the father or mother, and so on and so forth.

As much as this is common place, should YOU, as a responsible pet owner and breeder, do the same thing?


My answer to that is "Maybe."

Heather, now you are just flip flopping like a pair of sandals.

Well, wait. Let me explain.


There are times where I believe that inbreeding is important. One such case is proving out a morph dinker project. You need to be able to find your Super or Homozygous morph form, and the quickest and easiest way to do so is breed Filial Generation One (First Clutch) back to its morph parental unit. I would like to point out, however, that you don't need to do it that way. You can wait longer and make it happen with more outcrossed siblings, for example Filial Generation One (First Clutch) with Filial Generation Three (First Clutches childrens children).

There are always options.

But in the case of morphs such as Albinos, Pieds, and the more common recessives, I would suggest trying to get some outcrossed bloodlines if you are concerned about inbreeding. With these morphs, however, the original morph has already been so outcrossed that you will more than likely never see any problems with them even if you breed sibling to sibling of your own group.

This is also true of co-doms.


Let us touch briefly on the genetic abnormalities that we do currently see in some morphs.

Spiders and Spider combos do have the head wobble. Why? I'm not sure, but there is a section of people that wonder if the Spider was inbred so much that it developed the wobble and then was bred out later. I disagree with this theory, but it would be interesting to find out.... I digress.

Caramels have kinking issues.

Super Black Pastels and Super Cinnamons have the duck bill.

Super Womas apparently have a fatal gene that does not allow them to live long. 

These are not inbred outbred issues.. They just seem to be issues inherent to the morphs in question. More research and breeding is needed to be able to conclude why these things happen, and if it is due to genetic inbreeding, or just a faulty gene in the morph itself.

We shall see as time goes on.

Anyway, I think I've made this topic clear as to how I feel about it.

I do breed siblings together. I do breed parent to child together. But, if I ever see a defect in the pairing, I never do it again. So far, I've yet to have such a problem. But, I try not to breed siblings together or parent to child unless it is absolutely necessary.

So there it is folks. The down and dirty.

And if you were wondering, No, I'm not breeding any families together this season.

Like I said, I try not to. If I don't have to in terms of a project, I won't.

With that weighty ending to the blog, I wish you all a fantastic day, my friends.

With everything going on, Reptiles under Fire again!

With everything going on in terms of the lack of real action going on in my own snake room, I have to say, I am somewhat at a loss as to what to discuss. Sometimes there are days where I just ramble on about random things, and today seems to be one of those days...

Of course, I am always looking for suggestions for blogs, so that I don't feel like I am drawing from random areas (including my rear end) for ideas about what to talk about day to day.

One topic that has come up recently is again the federal and state actions regarding reptile regulations.

In Los Angeles county alone, there was a proposed ordinance put forth to the Board of Supervisors in regards to the care of animals, including reptiles, in the county.

Here is the E-mail that USARK sent out regarding the issue:



Proposed regulatory changes in Los Angeles County could shut down or force relocation of Reptile & Tropical Fish breeders, dealers and pet stores. Although primarily aimed towards dogs and cats it will have a devestaying impact on the Reptile Nation in LA County.



If enacted the new regulations would require:


1. Cages would not be allowed to be stacked.


2. 24/7 staffing if have more than 50 animals in the facility. See proposed Section 10.40.010(Z). If less than 50 animals, you must have adequate staffing for at least 8 hours a day. If you have more than 50 fish, reptiles, birds, etc., or any combination thereof, you must staff the facility 24/7.


3. Records must be kept on each "Animal". "Animals" defined in Section 10.08.020 any animal, bird, reptile or fish.


4. Proprietary business information will be available to the public (that could mean Animal Rights groups).


5. The Department may also impose “reasonable conditions” on a breeding license for any non dog or cat breeder.


Click here to read LA County Regulatory Proposal: http://www.usark.org/uploads/LAcountyRegs.pdf


Click here to take Immediate Action to Stop LA County Regulatory Proposal: http://usark.org/campaign.php?id=14


There will be two hearings in LA this week. Please attend if you can. It is extremely important that as many members of the Reptile Nation show up as possible. This regulation could really hurt LA members of USARK. We can't let this happen! Go to these meetings!!


Child Support Services

Phillip Browning Room

5500 S. Eastern Avenue, 1st Floor

Commerce, CA 90040

March 9, 2010 -- 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.


City Council Chambers

38300 Sierra Highway

Palmdale, CA 93550

March 10, 2010 -- 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
 
 
 
 
Now, I was unable to attend these meetings, but I am aware that my collegues were able to, enough to get this from a friend in regards to an e-mail he sent to the Department of Animal Care and Control in Los Angeles County in response to his concern regarding the issue:
 
 
 
Today we met with some business owners from the County who raised similar concerns as you have. You should know that we have decided to take the current ordinance off the March 16, 2010 Board of Supervisors agenda to make sure that our well-meaning ordinance does not have any unintended negative consequences to legitimate entities within the County. One of the items we will definitely address is how the new ordinance should or should not apply to reptiles, amphibians, and other animals with unique considerations.
Thank you for your input,
Ordinance Division
Department of Animal Care & Control
County of Los Angeles



 
This is a fantastic response to something that could have been devastating to many many reptile buisnesses in the Los Angeles County. BUT, it is not over (it is NEVER over), so if you have an opportunity to go to the meeting today, I would greatly suggest that you do so:
 
City Council Chambers

38300 Sierra Highway
Palmdale, CA 93550
March 10, 2010 -- 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Yes, short notice, but hey... Better late than never.

This only applies to those in the Los Angeles County region, but to the national public that reads this, be aware that exotic pet ownership is under fire from all angles. Defend your rights to own your creatures. Speak up for the animals that cannot speak for themselves.


Have a fantastic and productive day, my friends.

Sigh...

This is the time of year that I notice that many people already have eggs and some already have 2010 babies on the ground.

And it makes me sad...

Not that I am not getting babies, as I know they are coming soon enough, but because of our odd weather patterns here in Southern California, my girls tend to go late.

Late meaning eggs when other people have babies already on the east coast.

Granted, this is not true for everyone, as there are exceptions to every thing, but as it stands, I see a lot more people on the east coast having luck with eggs already than people here on the west.

Why am I even getting my panties in a bunch about it enough to write a blog?

Well... I'm kinda waiting and waiting and waiting for something to happen. My excitement stems from the fact that I have eggs coming and that in two months from when they get here, I get to see babies pop out.

Problem is, it seems so far away....

So here I sit, scouring the internet just for fun, seeing all these happy snake owners with their new happy babies and happy snake mommas... and I have to say, I'm a bit envious.

Jealous, no. Envious, yes.

What's the difference, you ask?

Jealous seems to me an angry envy.
Envy is just coveting something that someone else has.
I'm a coveter.

So here I sit, in Southern California, with my warm weather and random rain showers, hoping to see eggs on the ground soon. I know they will come... They just need to come sooner.


Have a great day, my friends!

Ovulation

Well, this is one of the first females I have caught this season that have ovulated. It is very tough to take the right picture to make it obvious, so I took a lot of pictures of the same animal at different angles.

People say it looks like the female swallowed a football.

Look above. Does she look like she swallowed a football?

Yeah... She does.

Upon closer inspection, it can look like a lump from different angles.

But from above and the sides where you see her stomach, it is rather obvious. I did not manage to catch her in her EXPLOSION phase, as I like to call it, when the female looks ridiculously oversized (larger than the photos show), but you can see that she has a large area of lumpiness, so I thought this would be good enough.

From this side, she looks like the eggs are actually pushing up against the sides of her stomach. You notice the wave of lump? She is sitting straight, but those waves are lumps of follicles being moved. (This is a day after the previous photos were taken, to show you the difference)

Here is a better angled shot to show you how lumpy she is.

So from now, I'll be expecting her to lay after her post ovulation shed, which should be in a week or so, and then a month from then, eggs will have been laid.

Incubator is on, anticipation is high, as this particular female is a Possible Het Pied Female that has yet to be proven. Her sisters proved to be carriers, so therefore, she should hopefully be one too.

COME ON, PIEDS!!!

Hopefully those of you out there waiting with baited breath to see an ovulation now know more of what you are looking for. I'm still waiting on that perfect time where I catch the HUGE ovulation, but so far to no avail. I think this is good enough for now.

Have a great day, my friends.

You Tube for Heather???

So, I did see an overwhelming demand for me to do videos of the snake stuff.

Let me explain some of the reason why I have yet to do it.

I am not sure what to do on video!

I don't know what to share in terms of what I have, and with my brain farts comes not too interesting videos.

I also admit I don't watch many You Tube videos of reptile breeders, but those that I have seen seem to be the same thing over and over again from different people.

How can I, Heather Wong, Ball Python breeder, make myself stand out compared to all the other You Tube Breeders out there?

Yes, I have different animals than some of the people out there, but overall, I don't have anything really original. I also don't think I have the face for video either. You notice I don't post me much in terms of photos? Yeah...

This is one of the main reasons why I have yet to delve into the world of You Tube.



So... I have reservations about what to do, and what to say, as well as not having the correct materials (camcorder/flip vid something) to actually make it happen.

I will attempt it, with all of your help as to what you want to see, but first I have to get a video recorder. That is the first step.

So, I am on track to making it happen, but give me a few weeks to get things set. Until then, give me ideas of what YOU, my friends out there in internet land, want to see!

I need your help!

Sulfur Mojave Awesomeness

So yeah, I have a Sulfur Mojave, and I really really love her. I think the morph takes the Sulfur and the Mojave and combines it to make a really amazing combo that showcases both morphs excellently.

As you may well know, I like doing comparison shots with the morphs that make the animals I have.

So....

Here is a Mojave, a Fire (which is similar to the Sulfur) and the Sulfur Mojave all in the same frame for you to enjoy!



And now the Sulfur Mojave with a bit of overflash, which doesn't show the yellows as well. I hope I can work with this morph more over the next few years, as I am almost sure that the Super Mojave Super Sulfur is close at hand to be done. I hope to see it and love it and make one myself!



So, I hope you guys see how awesome this combo is, and you guys appreciate it as much as I do!

Have a fantastic day, my friends!!!

Love is in the Air on this New Years!

Happy Valentines Day and Happy Chinese New Year!

It's the Year of the Tiger, and it will be a great one!

I got a lovely day with the Joel, and we plan to celebrate the Chinese New Year today, since Chinese New Years and Valentines Day fell on the same day.



And since I've had more time to check out more of the snake room (aka every hour with the camera impatiently...) I got more lock photos!

Here is the Pastel Lesser in with a Pastel female.



The Pastel het Pied with a Proven het Pied



Pee-Oh-Gee (Pastel Orange Ghost) with a Het Ghost



The Caramel with a Ghost (not quite there, but trying his hardest..)



Lemonblast to Spider



Sterling to Spider (he's a bit confused...)



And Pastel Yellowbelly to Normal




So, love is happening, but you notice my best friend Pastel Super Mojave is not involved? Yeah... He's still being prude.

Oh well.

Happy New Year, Have a great President's Day, and enjoy your loved ones, ALWAYS.
Valentines Day is great, but don't forget to appreciate the people you love all the time.

Have a great day, my friends!

Up and coming babies

Again, another day without breeding photos, which means that there is not much action going on at Heather's Herps. I am working on a few new pairings of males that seem to not be interested in any other females with new females.

But since I have the few guaranteed males doing business, I have to say I will have plenty of Pewters...



Which is great! I love Pewters!

And I was hoping to prove out a few yet to be proven Het Ghosts to make some of these lovely creatures..



Ghosts are one of those recessives I didn't get into "soon" enough, so I am playing catch up to get my females. I do have a few, but you gotta have lots to get the recessive job done...

So I'm working on it with Pee-Oh-Gee, but he is on a break right now. So we shall see. I have to say I am excited to get more Ghosts and more Pastel Ghosts. Fingers crossed!



Aren't they beautiful?

I can't wait for eggs, and to know that I'm just missing these locks and that everyone is getting it on.

If only...

Have a great day, my friends!

Some breedings, but not enough

I don't know what is happening this season, but it is NOT going to plan.

I am getting frustrated a bit, but... WOOSA.

Some of the males aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing. I have yet to catch the Pastel Super Mojave doing anything, as well as the Bumblebee. They are making sperm plugs, but they are not locking when I look.

Even Gee, the G Stripe is getting lazy. I have yet to see him lock with any female again this year either.

But there are a few males I can count on.

The Pastel het Pied is doing his thing.



The Sterling is focusing on breeding more than eating, but he is doing his job!



And the Albino is a great breeder as well (I tried to get a Pene shot, but I didn't manage it)



So I am trying to stay positive, since there is a lot riding on a few of these males who I have yet to see breed.

WOOSA

A few males are also still on break, so hopefully I can share more different males working soon enough. But until then, random photos of the collection will abound!

Any words of encouragement would be appreciated.. I'm getting annoyed.

Have a great day, my friends!