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--- January 1, 2012 ---
Happy New Year, everyone!
I've been pairing since October, and I've had at least one confirmed lock per pair so far. The only
ones I'm not sure about are Bromine/Beryllium because her hide is opaque, so I can't see what they're
doing. From all the outward signs, though, I'd be surprised if they haven't locked at least twice.
Great way to start the season! (I've updated the Incubator page to include which snakes I'm pairing
this year, in case anyone is curious.)
All the snakes are doing great, though most have stopped eating entirely. Bitey's remaining babies are
eating like little pigs. I'm so glad they're all on f/t!
I will soon have all the equipment I need to begin doing shipping box temperature tests. I've been
wanting to do temperature testing for both shipping containers and incubating eggs for analysis, and
I'll finally be able to do that soon. The results will be posted on the Research pages (under the
Information tab). Basically, what I plan to do is make up one of my normal shipping boxes, place
a temperature probe both inside where the snake would be and on the outside of the styrofoam (with
and without heat/cool packs), and place the box in a variety of locations at a variety of outdoor
temperatures to see how quickly the internal temperature of the box changes. I'm hoping to use the
results from this as a guide for when to use heat or cool packs when shipping snakes. Also, I'll be
placing one or two temperature probes in with clutches of eggs to to see how hatching times are affected
by different incubation temperatures.
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--- October 10, 2011 ---
Hey, everyone! Not much going on here, really. Bitey's babies are eating and growing wonderfully!
I'm getting ready to start pairing again! I think I'll start putting males in with females in about
a week! I need to do one more weight measurement on everyone and see where the girls are at. Looks
like Uranium, Molybdenum, and Europium are definitely up to weight to breed; Irulan and Beryllium,
however, are questionable at this point. Bitey is gaining her weight back enough to breed again,
but I'd prefer to give her the year off.
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--- August 22, 2011 ---
Bitey's eggs hatched! The odds weren't fantastic, but that's okay! Ended up with 1.1 VPI Axanthics
and 3.2 hets. They're all beautiful little babies, if I do say so myself! While none have eaten
as of yet (they just shed last week), I've already put them up on the available page, which I will
update as they eat and grow.
I've been doing some data collection and research on both my snakes and others'. You can see
what I've been up to on the new Research page.
The Terms and Conditions page has been updated. All changes are
minor except for one: I've removed the no parasite guarantee. This is because several recent
studies/publications have shown that many parasites are harmless and can even sometimes be
beneficial (e.g., pinworms, some flagellates).
This doesn't mean I'm going to introduce my snakes to parasites; on the contrary, I'm
going to continue to keep them parasite-free if I can. And I am still willing to work with
buyers who need to have their new snakes treated after they arrive (as long as proper quarantine
proceedures are followed).
References:
1. Infectious Diseases and Pathology of Reptiles: Color Atlas and Text,
Elliot Jacobson (Ed.)
2. Reptile Medicine and Surgery, Douglas R. Mader, M.S., D.V.M.
"Many of these [flagellated protozoa] have not been proven to be pathogens for their
reptilian hosts."
3. A Veterinary Guide to the Parasites of Reptiles, Susan M. Barnard & Steve J. Upton.
"Flagellates are often found in the intestinal lumen of most clinically healthy
reptiles, and thus it is often difficult to attribute gastrointestinal disease of ill reptiles
to the presence of flagellates in fecal samples. [...] It is possible that a predisposing
environmental condition (such as suboptimal environmental temperatures), a social stressor, or an
earlier or current presence of an infectious agent allows an abnormal bloom of flagellates within
the gastrointestinal tract."
Thanks to my friend Kim for these references!
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--- June 17, 2011 ---
Bitey laid her eggs! I was expecting five or six with maybe a slug or two in there, but she
surprised me with seven beautiful pearly whites instead! All but one of the eggs had large, extensive
veins everywhere. I was a little worried about one that looked mostly yellow with few veins,
but I checked on it again tonight, and it has veins all over now. I guess that one was a little
behind the others in development.
Yes, with eggs, the countdown clock gets reset, but I feel much better now that the clutch is on the
ground.
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--- May 31, 2011 ---
Well, Bitey should be laying sometime in the next couple weeks. It's been hard to figure
out where she is in her cycle (still), but I'm pretty sure I feel eggs in there. If not, then I
guess I won't be having any babies this year.... And that would make me a sad panda. I don't
know why she wouldn't lay, though: she's still not interested in food in the slightest, she's been
a cinnamon bun lately, and she locked up with Tungsten almost every time I put them together.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see!
In the meantime, I've updated a lot of photos on the Collection page.
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--- March 24, 2011 ---
Everything is going well, so far! Though, despite how easy it is to palpate Bitey, I still don't
quite know where she is in her cycle. She does appear to be glowing, which is a great sign, but
I can't tell much other than that. If Irulan's cycle last year is typical, then she may have already
ovulated and had her pre-lay shed. I don't really know, however...and it's driving me bonkers!
All the normals have sold (yay!), but a trade for one of the Lessers probably isn't
going to happen, so I may have one of the female Lessers (#3) up for sale again soon.
I'd like to welcome Phosphorus to the table! He's a twin Piebald male--the second pair of twins
from the same
father in two years! I wanted to get into Clowns before Pieds, but I couldn't turn down the chance
to have a twin project in the works. Can't wait until he and Helium are both ready for breeding!
Helium was one of two sets of twins in the same clutch, so my Albino Pied project will also be a
test to see if twinning is genetic.
The future is exciting!
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--- January 13, 2011 ---
Happy New Year!
Things are going well around here. Tungsten and Bitey have locked several times over the past
few months, and the baby snakes are growing like wildfire!
Speaking of which, I've updated pictures and info for the available snakes.
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--- November 22, 2010 ---
Not much goin' on around here. I've paired Tungsten with Bitey (Iodine) twice, and they've
locked both times, so the season's starting off well! It doesn't look like anyone else is
going to be ready this year, though. Molybdenum is close, but I doubt she'll go.
I have updated the weights of the available snakes. Oh, and I've added a new snake to the
collection: Argentum, a female VPI Axanthic!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
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--- September 23, 2010 ---
I've updated weights and photos for all the available snakes!
Not really much else going on here at the moment. I won't begin pairing snakes until probably
the end of October.
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--- August 17, 2010 ---
This year's babies are now up for sale! Check out the Available page!
I've modified my ToS to include a time limit for my no-parasite guarantee. I realized it
could easily be taken advantage of as it was previously worded.
I can hardly believe it's August already. That means I need to be thinking about which
females will go for me next year. Bitey (Iodine) is almost guaranteed. I have a couple
others who will reach the minimum weight in time, but they're only just over a year old,
so I'm hesitant to try to breed them. I guess we'll see! Sometime in the next couple
months, I'll replace the Incubating page with the possible breeding pairs for next year.
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--- July 9, 2010 ---
Sorry for the lack of updates...and lack of babies for sale! I'm all set and ready to put
them up for sale on the Available page. I just need to hear back from a couple people who
have first dibs, and once that's all settled, I will put them up! Again, sorry for the delay!
I'm holding back one of the Lessers; she's now listed in my Collection under Rhodium (Rh).
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--- June 5, 2010 ---
Irulan's eggs are hatching!!! Three are completely out of their eggs so far! Looks like
I got three Lessers and five normals--not terrible odds! I was hoping for at least four of
each, but it could've been a lot worse, so I shouldn't complain. I'll update the Incubating
page with the sex ratios of the babies once I know them all. I haven't decided whether to
hold back a female Lesser or not; I know at least one of the Lessers is female, but if she
ends up being the only female Lesser, I'll probably sell her. We'll see.
It's going to be a little while before I list them for sale. For one, they need to shed
first so their colors are accurate. Second, I'd like to get some food in them...though, I
may list them before then, with the caveat that I will not ship before they've had at least
three meals. The last bit--and the most problematic--is that I am not FedEx certified yet;
I will need to be certified before I can ship any pythons. Hopefully, this won't cause too
much of a delay.
It's been a great week here! Hope everyone else have been having a good time, too!
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--- May 7, 2010 ---
All eight of Irulan's eggs are still looking good! I've seen the pre-snake goo moving since
the first week, believe it or not! Just over four weeks until hatch time! Halfway there!!
It'll be nice when I have more than one clutch so I don't have to sit here obsessing and biting
my nails, waiting for this one clutch to hatch.
I managed to get Irulan to eat only a couple days after she laid, and she's eaten every week
since then! She's already gained back half of the weight she lost from laying! Go Irulan!
All of my snakes should have updated pictures now. (Added W, Pd, Be, He.) I replaced Tungsten's
picture because he's browned out a little bit, but I just can't get a good picture of him to
save my life. He either ends up looking brown or close to the right color but completely washed
out. I tried playing with the contrasts to get it closer to his real colors,
but it didn't really work out so well. *sigh* I'll keep trying...maybe after he sheds again.
I've completed some of the Genetics 101 pages (under Info above) for anyone wanting to
try their hand at Punnett squares.
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--- April 8, 2010 ---
You may be wondering what's up with the clutch that was supposed to be laid in
mid-March. My dear Irulan decided to take her sweet time, that's what! But
she finally got the job done! To my surprise, she laid eight perfect, fertile
eggs this morning! I estimate the earliest hatch date to be June 2 (55 days).
But knowing Irulan, it'll probably be more like 65+ days. Silly girl!
But hey! She laid, the eggs look good, and she seems fine! Very thin and tired,
poor girl, but fine! Can't ask for any more than that!
In other news, I've added two more snakes to the collection: Molybdenum and Titanium!
Both are captive-hatched, and Titanium looks to be an Axanthic! I do not know if
his color is genetic, and if it is, what other line(s) of Axanthic he may be
compatible with. Molybdenum is a dark snake, and I'm very
interested to know whether she passes on that darkness to her offspring. Only
time will tell!
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--- March 12, 2010 ---
Still waiting [im]patiently for eggs! Irulan should lay in a week, at the latest!
- Several snakes' photos have been updated (Fe, Eu, U, I).
- I have added a Code of Ethics page under the Information tab.
- My Terms & Conditions page has been modified to include a "Disclaimers"
section. I've also added some minor clarifications in other sections.
- I've included a page in the Miscellaneous Photos section of the Information tab
describing the intense color change that females undergo before ovulation
(known as the "glow before they go").
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--- February 20, 2010 ---
Irulan (Uus) had her pre-lay shed yesterday, and so the countdown to eggs
begins! I'll try to keep y'all updated on her progress here, but if I
forget, just keep checkin' the Incubator!
I realize that a lot of my snake pictures are out of date; I'm going to try
to update those as soon as I can (i.e. as soon as I can get the snakes to
sit still for more than a few femtoseconds).
I hope those of you breeding now will have a great season, and those who
aren't, I hope you're having a great February!
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--- January 12, 2010 ---
I have added two more snakes to the mix: Helium (a faded Albino female)
and Bromine (a Genetic Stripe male). Their profiles have been added to
the Collection page.
Irulan is in the "glow before they go" stage! I'm checking on her
daily, impatiently waiting for ovulation. Y'know, I had trouble imagining
female snakes changing color so much that it's noticeable...but not
anymore! It's unmistakable! Even one of my friends asked me if she was
the same snake!
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--- December 31, 2009 ---
Happy New Year, everyone! We are finally live!! Sorry for the delay; things
have been kind of busy.
If anyone has issues viewing the site, please let me know. I've tested it
on several different browsers, and the only one that I cannot get to work
properly is Opera. My apologies to Opera users; I will try to rectify this
as soon as I can.
Irulan, my normal female (bred to Iridium, a Lesser Platinum), is
developing follicles! I will keep everyone updated on her status!
And now, prepare to witness the power of this fully-operational website!
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