Everyone knows what this means....

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...exshipping.png

Anyone have any guesses what it might be? ;)

I love that feeling!! The countdown is on!!

I haven't experienced that myself. Up til now I've always bought in person...
....but I'm excited for you!

Are you gonna keep us guessing on the specifics of said packages contents?

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

I love that feeling!! The countdown is on!!

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Oh yeah! This is something I missed out on getting last year (missed the availability and didn't have a setup ready for it).

Been waiting for it to be ready to go home, so the last month has been killer...

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Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

I haven't experienced that myself. Up til now I've always bought in person...
....but I'm excited for you!

Are you gonna keep us guessing on the specifics of said packages contents?

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Almost all of mine have been in person purchases... but this is something I would have been win-the-lotto lucky to find in person at an expo. (This and what I said in my last reply I think are good hints... haha)

I'll post what it is if anyone gets close or just in a little while. I only have the breeder picture for it and one of the parents.

It's gotta be an anaconda!? Is it? Is it? I can't wait to see your new anaconda! :pinkele: LOL...

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

It's gotta be an anaconda!? Is it? Is it? I can't wait to see your new anaconda! :pinkele: LOL...

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Hahaha! Not an anaconda. Wouldn't eggs for those still be incubating most places?
The timing is the best hint I've got that wouldn't be a dead giveaway. ;)

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

Hahaha! Not an anaconda. Wouldn't eggs for those still be incubating most places?
The timing is the best hint I've got that wouldn't be a dead giveaway. ;)

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Anacondas are closely related to Boas, being a Boid means the young’uns come out of the oven already hatched, i.e., live born.

The guy I was going to get a Anaconda from should had some a few months ago. And Megan, the Anaconda Queen had some born 2-3 months ago? I’m not saying Spring is their season, but that’s how it worked out for those two breeders.

p.s. I decided against an Anaconda, my snake workload has reached it’s limit.

And congrats on the exciting news! Hope all goes smoothly. :)

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Originally Posted by Reinz

Anacondas are closely related to Boas, being a Boid means the young’uns come out of the oven already hatched, i.e., live born.

The guy I was going to get a Anaconda from should had some a few months ago. And Megan, the Anaconda Queen had some born 2-3 months ago? I’m not saying Spring is their season, but that’s how it worked out for those two breeders.

p.s. I decided against an Anaconda, my snake workload has reached it’s limit.

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Wellllll.... I blanked on that... oops. Still not an anaconda though, haha.

You can tell I've done soooo much research on my future anaconda! ;)

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No more guesses?

I'll post the reveal in an hour or so. :)

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

Hahaha! Not an anaconda. Wouldn't eggs for those still be incubating most places? ....

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Who's talking about a "hatchling" (neonate)? I figured you were taking in a 10' footer at least...you know, an unwanted "rescue"? :D

Well, time for the "big" reveal.

Tried to include a few hints, but I think the best one got overlooked entirely. I purposefully left the gender neutral since this is one of not terribly many possibilities where sexing is not done for babies. ;)
Additionally, not too many options that are available and sold out within a month around May/June every year.

I'm getting a Northern Blue Tongue Skink! :D

We have tentatively named "him" Spud Skywalker. Spud because they're big potato lizards and my husband loves the idea of that name, and Skywalker because the birth date was May 4th, 2019. (Couldn't resist :cool:)

I had 24 babies to choose from from among 3 litters; one classic litter, one from dark line parents, and one from lighter/gold line parents. We got one from the gold line parents.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...4_-_5.4.19.png

Here's "his" parents:
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil..._parentage.png

He’s a cutie, Love the name!

Perfect name...he's quite adorable, and this is an even-better choice than that 10' anaconda you first wanted. :D (JKG!)
I'll look forward to your updates...I know zip about these, actually.

Awesome! BTS rock!

A few of us have them on here. Feel free to PM me or check out Frank's thread for info on BTS. I also have a northern. Keep in mind that some people have different locales and there is difference in care, especially regarding humidity.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ighlight=frank

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Originally Posted by dakski

Awesome! BTS rock!

A few of us have them on here. Feel free to PM me or check out Frank's thread for info on BTS. I also have a northern. Keep in mind that some people have different locales and there is difference in care, especially regarding humidity.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ighlight=frank

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Yep, I've been researching for over a year now and think I've got a pretty good handle on the husbandry for a northern. I'll be sure to ask if I do have any questions though, thanks for the offer!

I've definitely browsed most of Frank's thread and I think he was the first northern I saw, even. The only BTS I've seen at expos were some sort of indo (halmahera I think) that looked in rough shape, probably wild caught ones from that and their price.

I was almost ready for one last year, but missed the baby season since I didn't have a cage set up and ready to go and these guys sell out real fast.

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

Yep, I've been researching for over a year now and think I've got a pretty good handle on the husbandry for a northern. I'll be sure to ask if I do have any questions though, thanks for the offer!

I've definitely browsed most of Frank's thread and I think he was the first northern I saw, even. The only BTS I've seen at expos were some sort of indo (halmahera I think) that looked in rough shape, probably wild caught ones from that and their price.

I was almost ready for one last year, but missed the baby season since I didn't have a cage set up and ready to go and these guys sell out real fast.

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Sounds great!

Good luck and keep us posted!

Congratulations and best of luck.

Well, unfortunately for me, I had to be at work, so my husband did the pick up for me and kindly took some pictures while he checked him over before setting him into the enclosure to relax.

In the pictures, it looks a bit like there's some stuck shed, so I'm guessing that happened in shipping. We'll give a few days to settle and if there's any still there, we'll take care of it then. Looks to be along the back and not the feet, so not a huge issue there. I haven't gotten to look in person, obviously, but nothing worrisome just yet.

According to my husband, he's a pretty chill little dude considering he got shipped from PA to TX, perfectly fine to sit in his hand for pictures.

Enjoy!
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...5/1/8/bts1.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...5/1/8/bts3.jpg

And a back side close up near our diffused light window, so some really nice natural light for those colors. Man does this guy look brighter than the breeder picture suggested... hahaha.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...5/1/8/bts2.jpg

from PA? hmmmmm. i have been considering one recently but wanted to get it locally. this could work!

Very cool critter. One of my favorite lizards. Congrats on the sweet new addition!

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Originally Posted by SilentHill

from PA? hmmmmm. i have been considering one recently but wanted to get it locally. this could work!

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You might be waiting for next year, for one of these. I "pre-ordered" when they were about a week old and I think he had sold out on the babies he has this year; I know more than half of them were paid for the week I paid, so I imagine the rest went in the intervening weeks. You can certainly message him and ask, though. I got this little guy from Living Art by Franke Payne and he was very responsive to messages via Facebook Messenger.

He did choosing "first pay, first pick" style, so I got to pick 8th and all of the babies I got to choose from were fantastic. It was extremely hard to choose just one.

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Originally Posted by SilentHill

from PA? hmmmmm. i have been considering one recently but wanted to get it locally. this could work!

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I actually just was on his FB page and he had listed what might be an older one on there as available a few days ago. So it seems he may still have some he might sell. Would be worth asking, I think. :)

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Been home for about an hour and I've learned one thing for sure... this little guy does not comprehend glass and I need to grab a different feeding bowl for next time.

I have one of those shallow clear glass cat dishes and once I got him over the edge he chowed down no problem (yay!!), but initially he attempted eating through the glass like a goober. "I see it, why can't I taste it??" Small spoon with some on it got his interest and led him to the top side, so all good today, hahaha.

(Tapa keeps failing to upload for me, so no pictures for now... hopefully it'll fix itself soon, been having issues on mobile a few days now.)

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Awwww he's so adorable!

Glad he made the trip just fine...he's a cutie, even if he doesn't yet understand glass.

Managed to get the picture onto my PC to post. This is after he figured out how the bowl works.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...606_173400.jpg

Looks like he caught on pretty fast...;)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Looks like he caught on pretty fast...;)

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Definitely had to be led to it, haha.

He spooked and gave me a good hiss when I reach to put it in and when he didn't figure it out after a few minutes, I offered a small bite on a spoon so he would get the smell easier and give it a taste. He hissed and stuck his tongue out (so cute), and all in the same motion he touched the food with his tongue and took a big bite of it mid-hiss. (Clearly it tasted good & he was much less fussed by me holding the spoon, haha)

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

Definitely had to be led to it, haha.

He spooked and gave me a good hiss when I reach to put it in and when he didn't figure it out after a few minutes, I offered a small bite on a spoon so he would get the smell easier and give it a taste. He hissed and stuck his tongue out (so cute), and all in the same motion he touched the food with his tongue and took a big bite of it mid-hiss. (Clearly it tasted good & he was much less fussed by me holding the spoon, haha)

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In my experience with Frank, he can very vocal :). However, he's all bark!

He does the same thing. Leave me alone, oh, food????? Or, don't pick me up! Okay, you picked me up, can we chill?

He doesn't do it all the time or anything, but he is happy to tell me how he feels!

So glad the little guy is settling in!

Well, I'm bad at keeping people posted as it turns out, hahaha.

So update time! Spud has grown quite a bit (mostly length) and has definitely lightened up considerably from his baby picture.

I've gone through a few different substrate and cage designs figuring out what works for us both and I've settled on something I haven't really seen done before, so I want to share that here.

I've settled on indented kraft paper with the warm side mostly covered in slate-like textured tiles and an added 28qt tub full of a (organic, no additives) topsoil/reptichip mix for him to dig. Cork bark at the surface for hiding under if being buried isn't enough and he can still currently fit around the edges between the dig box and the walls. I set a few of his stones up to make stairs up to the bin edge and he's had no issues going back and forth, so it is working out well.

More bare floor is much easier to clean and a removable box is easier to clean as well. It is also simpler to change it out more often (not to mention cheaper).

Warm side
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3c3f3a0845.jpg

Cool side (buried skink slightly visible in the box)
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...81f1619999.jpg

Outdoor natural light shot
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...051fc5f185.jpg

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