2014 Pastel het..

Pastel pied clutch was laid tonight. Pairing was pastel pied X pastel and 7 good eggs were laid but there was a roll out. No boobs or slugs. I am so proud of this girl bc this was a virgin clutch of hers. The male is a proven 2013 pastel pied. The six eggs candled with great vein structure but I didn't candle the roll out. Rushing to get the eggs into the incubator and just forgot.http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...ge_817907.jpeg

Congrats! I sure hope you get the Pastel Pieds that you are looking for. :)

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Originally Posted by Reinz

Congrats! I sure hope you get the Pastel Pieds that you are looking for. :)

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Thanks Reinz! The best I will get out of this clutch should be super pastel 100% het pastel pied. But I'll take it and be in a better position for the next project. Lol. :)

Grats!! Looking good!

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Originally Posted by Kokorobosoi

Grats!! Looking good!

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Hey Koko, thank you very much! I was awestruck when I saw this clutch bc the eggs seemed huge. Really excited to see what hatches out of them. :)

Good luck to you on the long term goal.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Good luck to you on the long term goal.

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Thank you Pit! I need all the luck possible. Hope the odds gods have a super pastel in one of the eggs for me to hold back. I think there is a 25% chance.

Congratulations mate, Fingers crossed for a nice super pastel het. pied to holdback

Congrats AL an best wishes for another stellar clutch.

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Originally Posted by ARBallMorphs

Congratulations mate, Fingers crossed for a nice super pastel het. pied to holdback

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Thanks AR, that is really what I am hoping for. Of course I want them all to be healthy over all else.

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Congrats AL an best wishes for another stellar clutch.

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Thank you EL! I appreciate the support.

Congrats on the clutch!

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...ge_377656.jpeg

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Originally Posted by stickyalvinroll

Congrats on the clutch!

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Thanks sticky! Good luck with your eggs too! This pastel female is a 2014 Petco purchase who really never stopped eating until she became gravid. And to think if I knew then what I know now about big box stores I never would have purchased her.

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Originally Posted by Albert Clark

Thanks AR, that is really what I am hoping for. Of course I want them all to be healthy over all else.

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Yeah but we both already know we think a like about health first

Hey community, had a unfortunate occurrence today with this clutch. Went into the room basically to do routine cleanings and when I looked at the thermometer in the tub that contains six pastel het pied eggs I almost collapsed. Temperature was at 103.0F! Humidity was 99%. This clutch is at day 55 and most of my other clutches began pipping at day 53. The 103.0F was rather disturbing, so I rushed in and took the lid off and also the press and seal and was able to gradually get the temp down to 92.2F. Ironically the other tub with one egg in it remained at 88.7F. IDK how long the temps were that high but I last checked the eggs on 6/20/16 when I vented the tub. I am really upset and afraid I may have lost this clutch. The temps now are 88.7F and 88.3F in the single egg tub. Checked the incubator and connections all seemed in order with the incubator. I am checking temps every half hour now. Any other clutch I had pipped at day 53. Scared!

This is horrible. I think if it happened to me my thermostat would meet its demise against the wall. Hopefully things do not turn out as bad as they sound right now. I'm pulling for you.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

This is horrible. I think if it happened to me my thermostat would meet its demise against the wall. Hopefully things do not turn out as bad as they sound right now. I'm pulling for you.

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Thank you J, I know as the eggs near pipping they start to generate their own heat but I don't think nor have I ever seen the temps be that high! Hopefully it wasn't like that for two days and maybe it just occurred. All the temps seem to be stable now around 88.3f - 89.0f. I guess I'll know soon enough how much damage was done. Thanks for the support.

congrats Albert, agree nice clutch for virgin female! I'm thinking the odds on with you on this one ... :)

hey Albert, the spike is a concern but by day 55 they're almost developed, you should be fine ... just keep things stable.

Hopefully they will be ok, it's really hard to tell with such a big heat spike.

Since they are near due date I would probably go ahead and cut.

Crossing my fingers for you.

Fingers crossed!!

candle and look for movement or cut

Crossing my fingers for you! Hopefully with them being so close, it'll be ok...

Sent from my Z820 using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by fatSNAKEs

congrats Albert, agree nice clutch for virgin female! I'm thinking the odds on with you on this one ... :)

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Thanks fat, that's encouraging.

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Originally Posted by fatSNAKEs

hey Albert, the spike is a concern but by day 55 they're almost developed, you should be fine ... just keep things stable.

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Thanks again, even more encouraging.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Hopefully they will be ok, it's really hard to tell with such a big heat spike.

Since they are near due date I would probably go ahead and cut.

Crossing my fingers for you.

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Tyvm Deb! I guess that is mostly all I have is hope. :(

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Originally Posted by Kokorobosoi

Fingers crossed!!

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Thanks Koko, I appreciate that. :)

Hey, I candled all six and see good vein structure in all of them. Also I see move to and a lot of shadows in all the eggs. Do you think I should still cut or wait?

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

candle and look for movement or cut

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Thanks Pit! I candled and saw movement in all the eggs. Should I still go ahead and cut?

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Originally Posted by kylearmbar

Crossing my fingers for you! Hopefully with them being so close, it'll be ok...

Sent from my Z820 using Tapatalk

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Thanks kylea! That's really what I am hoping for as well.

Hoping for the best for you!

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Originally Posted by Eric00

Hoping for the best for you!

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Thanks Eric! Nice to see your back in town. Bp town! Lol.:)

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Originally Posted by Albert Clark

Hey community, had a unfortunate occurrence today with this clutch. Went into the room basically to do routine cleanings and when I looked at the thermometer in the tub that contains six pastel het pied eggs I almost collapsed. Temperature was at 103.0F! Humidity was 99%. This clutch is at day 55 and most of my other clutches began pipping at day 53. The 103.0F was rather disturbing, so I rushed in and took the lid off and also the press and seal and was able to gradually get the temp down to 92.2F. Ironically the other tub with one egg in it remained at 88.7F. IDK how long the temps were that high but I last checked the eggs on 6/20/16 when I vented the tub. I am really upset and afraid I may have lost this clutch. The temps now are 88.7F and 88.3F in the single egg tub. Checked the incubator and connections all seemed in order with the incubator. I am checking temps every half hour now. Any other clutch I had pipped at day 53. Scared!

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Hindsight is 20/20.. but I do know my Herpstat has both high and low temp alarms as well as high and low humidity alarms. You might want to consider an investment in equipment with alarm capability (or enabling the capability if its not already in use). I can appreciate that they are costly, but it would be reasonable to use for "higher risk/higher reward" activities like incubating..

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Originally Posted by Doggtyred

Hindsight is 20/20.. but I do know my Herpstat has both high and low temp alarms as well as high and low humidity alarms. You might want to consider an investment in equipment with alarm capability (or enabling the capability if its not already in use). I can appreciate that they are costly, but it would be reasonable to use for "higher risk/higher reward" activities like incubating..

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Thanks Dt, I appreciate the sentiments but I am using the ZooMed reptibator as the incubator and this machine has a built in proportional thermostat. All my racks and quarantine tubs are on herpstats. I have 5 of them. The reptibator has a alarm setting but it wouldn't have triggered because the problem was in the tub that housed 6 eggs and wasn't the incubator malfunctioning as far as I can tell. The tub that was adjacent to the problem tub was sitting at 87.6f in the incubator. The way I found out about the high temp was when I looked at the thermometer. I had positioned the thermometer probe in between the space at the base of the clutch.

So I did go ahead and cut the eggs this morning and they are all alive and moving. I lowered the thermostat setting to 86.0f and the interior of the tub temp is at 87.2 with just the press and seal and no lid. The other tub is sitting at 87.2f steady. 99% humidity. Swapped out the thermometer and will see what readings I get. I am glad they are all moving and alive. Thank you to everyone who weighed in. Appreciated.

Just got back to the incubator after being outside for several hours and saw that the temps are stable at 88.3F in both tubs. Phew! Humidity 99%.

Glad they made it! Haven't commented, because I didn't have anything helpful to interject. Now I look forward to seeing pictures of the little squirms when they're out!

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Originally Posted by Caspian

Glad they made it! Haven't commented, because I didn't have anything helpful to interject. Now I look forward to seeing pictures of the little squirms when they're out!

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Well, actually the well wishes are helpful. Thanks Caspian!

Okay community, seems like I found the culprit in this whole disaster! A faulty thermometer was giving me the 103.0F reading. What I did was use the temp gun on all the eggs and came up with readings of 82.5F - 83.5F on different eggs! So by turning down the thermostat to 86.0F lowered the egg temps as well as the ambient tub temp. Once I confirmed the egg temps I then turned up the thermostat to 89.0F and immediately began to see increased movement and bubbling inside the eggs. Hopefully when I get home later they will have their heads pipped out. Thank you to everyone who weighed in with the kind thoughts and well wishes and especially to Deb and Pit for the decision to candle first and also to cut.

Temps and humidity good even with no lids on the tubs. 88.3F and 95%. None of the hatchlings have pipped their heads but there is much more movements.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...age_299592.jpgUpdate on the clutch is that the cuts were made on 6/23/16 and increasing movement and viability confirmed. They all look very good actually. None of them have come out of the egg or poked their heads out as far as I can see. Temps are 88.3F in the 6 egg tub and 87.9F in the single egg tub. Humidity at 99%. Today is day 60... This is what the eggs look like today. :)

Staring at the tubs in the bator today and started seeing the heating element look like it was vibrating. Well, it must have been a mirage due to the extended focusing. What wasn't a mirage was the pipping of two of the hatchlings heads. One in the six egg tub and the "roll out" hatchling in the single egg tub pipped its head also. Happy about this.

Hey guys! Temps and humidity 88.5F , 99% respectively. I decided to swap out the old vermiculite and just put paper towel underneath the light diffuser to try and reduce some of the bacterial load in the tub. It didn't take long for the paper towels to become saturated with the water from the condensation along the sides of the tub. I did have the chance to see all the hatchlings moving and very much alive. Today is day 61.

I'm thrilled to hear everyone is alive and well! Can't wait to see them out and about!

Also cool to hear about the living 'roll out'! I hear they don't always make it.

FYI the paper towels will mold

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

FYI the paper towels will mold

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Ok. Thanks man! I will swap it out in the am. These guys (hatchlings) are already pushing hard on the inner egg shells now. The roll out one is already doing somersaults in the egg , I actually saw his tail tonight! I think they will be out soon. Lol.

Got 1 hatchling completely out of the egg today! Three others pipped and three others just moving but not showing their heads. I switched the paper towels and replaced it with eco earth. I will post pics once they are all out of the eggs. Today is day 62.

:rolleye2: I just can't wait that long for more pictures lol

Hey Albert been meaning to stop in and wish yah luck that the hatching goes well though its looks like your keeping a good eye them. Looking forward to the pics.

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Originally Posted by Eric00

:rolleye2: I just can't wait that long for more pictures lol

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Thanks Eric! This clutch has just been a roller coaster ride since day 55! I thought I was riding this one home until a problem with the thermometer in one of the tubs. I really would like to wait till I see everyone out and healthy.

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Originally Posted by EDR

Hey Albert been meaning to stop in and wish yah luck that the hatching goes well though its looks like your keeping a good eye them. Looking forward to the pics.

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Thank you EDR! I really was put to the test here with these pastel hets. Man, it ain't over til the last one crawls out I guess. It has been nice watching the heads come out though. I must say...

Two out of their eggs now! The other five seem to be playing tag in and out of their eggs. I am sure they're absorbing the yolks at this point. Today is day 64. As soon as they are all out I will take a family photo guys. Thanks for all the help and patience.

The whole clutch is just about out of the egg except for 1. As soon as this hatchling is on the floor I will put up the pictures. All look healthy and active. Average weight is 50 gms and 11". Looks like 4 pastels, 2 super pastels, 1 normal and all 100% het pied.

Fantastic, Albert! Congratulations! Seeing roller coasters like yours and those of some others on here makes me wonder if I really ever want to try breeding, myself... but I did just pick up a mini fridge with a broken motor in it the other day to start converting into an incubator, just to see how well that works for me. Haven't gotten started on it yet. I've got another year or more before I worry about breeding. I look forward to pictures of your hatchlings, and I'm really glad that they all seem to have ended up healthy!

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Originally Posted by Caspian

Fantastic, Albert! Congratulations! Seeing roller coasters like yours and those of some others on here makes me wonder if I really ever want to try breeding, myself... but I did just pick up a mini fridge with a broken motor in it the other day to start converting into an incubator, just to see how well that works for me. Haven't gotten started on it yet. I've got another year or more before I worry about breeding. I look forward to pictures of your hatchlings, and I'm really glad that they all seem to have ended up healthy!

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Thanks Cas! I think the roller coaster episodes are few and far between compared to the smooth sailing breedings overall. IMO, it's more of a waiting game than anything else and breeding is the most rewarding part of this hobby. There really isn't much that compares to reptile reproduction and the sense of accomplishment when you see those little hatchlings pipping. Congrats on picking up the fridge to convert. Sounds like a plan!

Ok! Here is the overdue crew that has given me a mini heart attack since day 55. They all are about to shed and the little super pastel got his umbilical cord caught on the light diffuser and needed some special attention for a couple of days. I will post some other photos once they shed. I think there is one other super pastel but once they shed we will see.http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...ge_656005.jpeg