It's late, and I am no where near a snake

I am in San Francisco right now on business, typing from my laptop.

It is late today, and I have to say, I have not had much time to do anything snakely productive other than talk about the show briefly during a meeting.

But, I did bring my camera, and I did bring something I wanted to share.

I brought this shirt for the Smoj that I will be seeing soon, and since I had one in the duffle, and the camera, I wanted to share.

The SHIRTS ARE HERE, people!

And here is something I am putting out there.

If you show up at the Anahiem show, and stop at my booth, and tell me that you read the blog......

Wait for it......

YOU CAN HAVE ONE FOR FREE!!

The only caveat is that I hope you wear it proudly at the show, and any other reptile event you choose to attend.

I am very proud of the way they turned out, and I hope you all like them out there too!

For all of you non-California or non-Anahiem attending blog readers, don't fret... I am actually going to be sending these shirts out to you out there for participation in the blog, to make it more fun with prizes!!

I wanna get Heather's Herps out there to the world, my friends, and hopefully, a logo emblazoned on your chest will help the situation!

I am also developing a few more shirt designs, so if you don't love this one, wait a few more months and I should have another one to share soon.

So there it is, people. I am excited to have these ready for the show... This was one of those things I was intending to do several years ago, and never had the funds or the time to do. This year is the year!

So, have a fantastic day, enjoy your Thursday, and know that the blog is here, with shirts!

Busy day, not much to share

I'm going to try and get into a blog later today... If not, know that I still love you all out there in internet land. I have not forgotten about you.

Show Prep for Anahiem

I am buckling down, folks.

I don't think a lot of you are aware how difficult doing a show can be.

Yes, it's a lovely time with lots of fun and snakes and stuff, but what about the back end?

Let me share with you a little secret, my friends.

It's complex.

To vend, you need supplies. What types of supplies? Well, here is a short list in no particular order:

Banner
Something to be able to put the Banner up with
Chairs
Tables
Something to cover the tables with
Acrylic Display Cases
Markers to mark the cases
Business cards
Hand Sanitizer
Pens
Receipt Book
Money for Change
A Computer or Way to accept Credit Cards
A Cooler of stuff to eat, cause you won't be able to move from your table
Cups and bags for selling snakes
The Snakes
Some type of record of each animal to help you tell which one is which
Your Sanity

And this is just a short list.

The cost to put on a show is large for breeders, even if they have most of this already prepared.
Time is valuable, and to plan doing a show is time well spent.

And of course, doing the show and talking and shmoozing and enjoying peoples company can be very tiring. I suggest an energy drink at around 2PM on the first day, and first thing in the morning on the second day. Donuts work well on Sunday Morning as well.

Don't get me wrong, it is a TON of fun, and I love doing it. It's just takes a lot of time to prepare for it correctly. It is much more difficult to get an item when you are stuck behind a table than it is to run around the week before to get it.

I will absolutely relish the opportunity to meet some of you loyal blog readers in person, as I have done many times before at shows. Please feel free to introduce yourselves!! I love connecting with my readers in person, I really do.

And by then, my hair will be less frazzled, my groove will be back, and I will be alright.

So bear with me, my friends. Tomorrow, I will be out and about, but there will still be a blog, just less likely to be mainly snake related, as I will be out of town on business. But I will have pictures to share of interesting stuff, and maybe some other news as well!

Have a fantastic week, my friends.

Camping, Good Times, and Caramels

Well, I'm back from my excursion, sunburnt, tired, and not very well rested, but it was worth it.

I unplugged, and it was a rather odd feeling.

We went out to Irvine, and there is a lake there. It's called Irvine Lake. This place is about an hour away from the house, and like 5 minutes away from civilization, but it worked. 

Here we are setting up the campsite.

Yes, we took the Fuzzes with us.

We actually took the whole family.

Hey, Look!!! It's Marty Cohen!

So we set up camp, had a nice night under the stars, and then did a bit of fishing..

Saw some wildlife, including a Black and White Banded California Kingsnake, but I didn't get a chance to catch it... or take a picture of it. Was too busy handling the dawgs to be able to jump into the brush. BOOOO.

But I did get some pictures of this guy.

And of these wild critters frolicking in the water while we were fishing...

And the fish I caught...

YAY Bass!

I also caught this guy later that evening in a different spot.

Catfish for the win.

They taste like dirt, but hey... They are fun to catch!

So after the trip was over and home was upon us, I got to find snake babies in the incubator. Turns out two Caramel males and four hets, with one Caramel dead in the egg. It looked kinked from what I could see, so I'm not sure what caused it to pass, but I didn't really feel like opening up the egg to find out, so... Here is what I have alive and well.

The other male has a kink in his neck, so we shall have to see what happens when he tries to eat. I will highlight the kink in another blog.

So there we have it, people.

My weekend, my free day off today dealing with more snakes and prepping for the show, and I am also going to be out of town for business over the next week, so its going to be hectic for me very soon. Anahiem countdown is now five full days away. ARE YOU READY??? (I'm not!)

Have a fantastic Labor Day day, my friends!

Naked boys and new terminology

Well, not really naked...

Shed out and ready to take on the world!

I've been waiting on this guy, the Pewterbee, to shed out just to see his colors more. They are an interesting dusty pinky bronze....

And of course, as he is "ready to take on the world", he decides to be shy...

But he and I had a talk, and he complied with the photo with him spread out.

This photo shows more of his yellows. I am very curious as to how this guy will color up as he matures. Should end up being a very nice high yellow dusky gold.

We will keep up with his aging in photos as the year progresses.

Same thing seems to go for the Super Pastel Lesser boy as well. They must have been collaborating with each other about how to look cute and shy..

He was less willing to unravel, so I just shot his sides, which are an amazing array of colors.. Yellows, peaches, purples, browns...

I love this guy.

His pattern still trips me out a bit, since he is so busy, but still so Lesser-y.

Yes, apparently there is a term Lesser-y. Lets just chalk this up to Heatherisms...

Definition: Lack of pattern, but lack of overall alienheads. Floaty bubbles (patterns that do not attach to the sides and belly) and stripes over the spine.

Thus sayeth the Heather.

HAH!

Anyway, this is going to be a long weekend, and I'm going to be honest. I NEED IT BAD.

So, I will be unavailable for most of the weekend. I need to unplug, and Joel and I are going to do it together.

But yes, there will be a blog on Monday, albeit maybe a bit later than the typical 6AM.

So, have a fantastic weekend, my friends, a glorious Labor Day for those of us who labor, and remember that Anahiem is only a week away now! ACK!

ACK!

I am running out of time.

Things are getting busy, and I have to say that I do not have enough time in the day.

Right now, as we speak, I am trying to figure out what additional things I have to do before the show, which seems like tons.

I am getting shirts printed out, I am getting more acrylic displays, I am getting new cards printed out....

Doing shows is stressful, and this is the first of many this year, my friends.

I am mentally going a mile a minute, but with everything I have to do still, I am not really prepared.

But that's alright.

I have some time, and although I have way too much going on this week and next with other non-snake related things, the snake things are absolutely first and foremost.

So, here we are.

Random update: The Clown male, Homey, is doing fantastic in his quarantine rack with a few other of his friends. I was doing water and feeding, and he was the one I had to take photos of. I am very proud of him. He looks good! I can't wait to throw him in with some females next year... just not sure what quite yet.

And this is my holdback Black Pewter het Hypo, albeit washed out with the flash. I need to work on that, but he is really really nice. I am very excited to have him to plug into the Hypo stuff I have going on.

So there it is, folks. I'm off to go do some stuff, hopefully snake stuff, and I wish you a fantastic day!

Casper the Friendly Ghost

Welcome to the fold, Casper.

Heather, why is it that you have this Ghost male? Don't you already have Pee-Oh-Gee, the Pastel Orange Ghost?

Because this guy has a bit more than you may think hidden inside.

He's even trying to hide it. 

Now, what is it that he has hidden?

Well, I got this guy at the online USARK Auction, and I have to say, I wasn't set on getting this guy, but no one outbid me. So here he is, and I can't say I'm upset about it.

He is a Hypo 66% possible het Pied male.

So yes, I am shooting for Hypo Pieds, my friends. I have that pain in the ass Pied poss het Hypo in the collection, so now this project is somewhat complete. At least I have a pair now.

We shall see what I manage to drum up this upcoming season with this guy. Not sure what I want to do with him yet, since his girlfriend isn't big enough.

Any thoughts?

Here are the hatchlings from this past day or two.

Pastel het Genetic Stripe clutch ended up with 2.1 Pastel het Genetic Stripes, 3.2 Het Genetic Stripes.
Not too shabby, but I would have loved more Pastel het females.... Oh well.

And this clutch ended up much better. Cinnamon het Pied clutch ended up with 2.3 Cinnamon het Pieds, and 0.1 Het Pied.

I am very happy about this clutch, plus I am getting some wicket striping going on on these Cinnies! One of the males is almost a solid stripe! (Top center)

So there we are. Next clutches to hatch are Caramels and the Mystery Mojave clutch. Can't wait to see what pops out then too!

Have a fantastic day, my friends.