Snakes and Stones

So frustrating- I guess it's time to give up breeding that one? Something's not right.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

So frustrating- I guess it's time to give up breeding that one? Something's not right.

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Yes, and again her sisters clutch is looking a bit 'off'.
I was feeling pretty proud of my current hatching statistics so far (@94.7%), but, two imminent lost clutches is going to put a big dent in my numbers. :skullbone

Photo #363
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ked_x5tfzq.jpg
Some porous Nipomo Agate with Marcasite inclusions and a Firefly (Fire/Pastel), 66% Het Clown, 50% Het Blade ball python.
The pores in some of these agates are like ant tunnels and grinding the stones down does nothing to improve them.

Breeders Note: Because I cannot identify yet which snakes are actually carrying the Blade gene...I am going to track it as a possibility until I can pin the trait down.
Parental cross was: Pastel/Blade/Het Clown x Fire/Het Clown.

Photo #364
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ked_popf8g.jpg
A piece of thunderegg that broke apart during tumble, and a Spider+Het for Gravel or YB.

Photo #365
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ked_dbtihc.jpg
Firefly Clown Pos. Het Blade, with some yellow/green Beryl (looks light blue under camera flash), and a few pieces of Amethyst.
Beryl from NH, USA.
Chevron Amethyst from Zambia, South Central Africa.

Clutch #9 Hatching - 10AUG2024
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ked_q6wqsa.jpg
Super Pastel/Spider/Het VPI Axanthic/50% Pos. Het OG x Het VPI Axanthic
Out of 12 breed age females as part of my VPI Axanthic projects: only 3 laid eggs. Next year I will have 20 females...so I guess I can expect 5 clutches then lol...:)

What do you think: Axanthic Bee in lower left corner, or bright Bumblebee? I've checked this one about 10 times in the last 2 days-suspense...

Clutch #9 is still hatching. I still cannot confirm whether that is an Axanthic Bee or Bumblebee in the lower left of the clutch. I saw a little bit more of the neck today-and I'm thinking a bright Bumblebee. I will post a photo of the clutch when it hatches out.

In other news: I went to the Londonderry NH flea market today. There was a cool guy from Florida who had all sorts of stuff he had collected on the beaches. Among those items were shark teeth, dinosaur bones, unusual shells, small rare mineral specimens, and other assorted fossils. He told me that most people on the Florida beaches are so intent on finding shark teeth that they ignore or fail to identify everything else they encounter (which makes things easy for him).

While he had a lot of interesting stuff: I only wanted a few items, a big heavy fossilized oyster (because it is neat), and some dinosaur bones (which I am going to tumble and polish). He charged me almost nothing for these items and I made sure to give him a few dollars extra. :)
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...024_tdm1gg.jpg
Lavender Albino ball python is from Photo #357. Silver coin on bottom of oyster for scale.

Photo #366
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ked_cvalmg.jpg
The stone is from the Snake River, Idaho, USA. The ball python is a Fire/66% Het Clown/50% Het Blade.
The rock was originally one piece with a crack in it, and I split it and tumbled the two pieces. I'm sure there is a joke here, but, I'm not going to make it. ;)

In the meanwhile my Clutch #9 is still in the process of hatching. Results are a bit unexpected as it seems that my female had something allelic with Orange Ghost, and my male was not Super Pastel.

Photo #367
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ked_dqbl2p.jpg
Firefly/66% Het Clown/50% Het Blade with a piece of Quartzy material I took from the Connecticut River.
Occasionally I will find stones like this with small metallic gold streaks in them...An 'expert' assured me that it was Pyrite and not actually gold. *Doh!*

I just wanted to post an image of this one from Clutch #9: Since I don't often see too many good photos of Orange Ghost ball pythons.
Most of them lose their orange as they get older unless paired with another complimentary genetic morph.
I'm not certain if this one is benefited by being a 66% possible Het for VPI Axanthic, but, it has really nice color (for now).
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...024_nlpmhc.jpg

My last egg from Clutch #9 is hatching today.
Here we go again! Axanthic Bee or Bright Bumblebee? *Holding Breath* :)
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ted_kiy9ym.jpg