Snakes and Stones

Photo #368
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ked_fi8k1r.jpg
A tumbled/polished Thunderegg, with a 66% Het Clown/50% Het Blade ball python.
This one is an oddball: Shattered alien heads, high saturation black pigment, light head stamp with white nose scales.
If I wasn't working with a dozen recessive genes-I would hold this one back to prove it out. :)

So my Clutch #8 had reached 71 days yesterday and still had not hatched @88F.
I noticed two of the eggs were darkening-so I was uncertain if they were goners.
This morning I get up and I see this:
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ked_c3tyut.jpg
With a Parental Cross of (Het Lav Albino/50% Het Pied) x (Het Lav Albino/50% Het Pied), 2 Lav Albinos produced with only a 25% chance each! Whooo! :)
Now, the question is: With the breeding pair-I'm fairly certain I used Heterozygous Piebald markers correctly to choose the male, but, the females I used whatever I had....sooooo...is one of these going to be Dreamsicle...more suspense!

As for my Clutch #9 the last egg has not finished hatching, but, *spoiler alert* I see the neck and I think VPI Axanthic Bee is likely!
Again, I will post a photo of Clutch#9 together when they are all together.

I was also working on my rock tumblers this morning and I was ready for another batch of rough stones. I choose which stones to tumble based on which shipping box in my garage bursts due to the compression weight of those stacked on top. It looks like I'm going to be doing a lot of Montana Agate! This is also a relief because it is so much easier to tumble hard stones than soft stones, and Montana Agate takes forever, but, comes out awesome...
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ked_wqk3jn.jpg

After a long wait: Clutch #9
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ked_yxmc4i.jpg

Worth the wait, I'd say! :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Worth the wait, I'd say! :D

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I would say so! :)
My Clutch #21 might have been able to do 'better' than an Axanthic Bee, but, it doesn't look like it is going to make it.

In the meanwhile:
Photo #369
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ked_dxb3wi.jpg
Tumbled/Polished Fossilized Layered Cyanobacteria (stromatolite) with a 66% Het Clown/50% Het Lavender Albino Ball Python.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lord Sorril

I would say so! :)
My Clutch #21 might have been able to do 'better' than an Axanthic Bee, but, it doesn't look like it is going to make it....

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:( Sorry... win some, lose some. Still :( though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

:( Sorry... win some, lose some. Still :( though.

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Yep yep...I've had a bunch of win so far, so I can take a few hits and not slow down. :)
9 Clutches hatched and I have lost two eggs-this luck doesn't hold out forever.

Photo #370
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ked_epqk8h.jpg
66% Het Clown/50% Het Lavender Albino Ball python with a piece of Jasp-Agate from the Southwestern USA.

Breeders Note: No piebalds in Clutch #8, but, I see Het Pied Markers on at least one of them. I have a few more clutches upcoming which should allow me to pin down the Het Piebald status of some of the breeders.

Side Story: My gf and I went to Southwick Zoo today (in Mendon, Massachusetts). I was talking with one of the zookeepers who specialized in hyenas. She let us watch them get fed and as they were eating their raw meat (bones and all)-it occurred to me that all that extra calcium had to go somewhere. Snakes eat their prey whole and they excrete the extra calcium in white pellets...do hyenas do the same thing? The answer is yes, yes they do (pun intended).
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ted_btecmz.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ted_pzrmmb.jpg
How many people can say they examined Hyena Poop today hmmmm? ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lord Sorril

.....

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ted_btecmz.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ted_pzrmmb.jpg
How many people can say they examined Hyena Poop today hmmmm? ;)

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Not many...and even fewer would admit it! :rofl: (For some reason, this made me think of that old movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy"- wherein the biologist Steyn is studying the wildlife dung & thought to be quite crazy by the locals. :D )

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Not many...and even fewer would admit it! :rofl: (For some reason, this made me think of that old movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy"- wherein the biologist Steyn is studying the wildlife dung & thought to be quite crazy by the locals. :D )

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Lol, I never saw that movie. I imagine a lot of people would think that breeding ball pythons is quite crazy as well. :yes:

In other news: It is cute how sometimes an entire clutch will just have their heads sticking out of the eggs... It is a cruel world out here...I would stay in my egg as long as possible too....
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ted_l4njjr.jpg


GHI/Fire/Lesser: seems like a simple combination, but, only 3 on MM.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ser_cgpq1q.jpg
I suppose adding a brightener like 'Fire' to a dark patterned snake is an unusual breeding goal.
I do like high contrast though...:)