Update on our little kinked hatchling

Just thought I'd update you all on our little kinked female YB that we hatched out in May of this year. She was the product of a boob egg that I didn't even know would hatch or not. We're in our first successful breeding year and hadn't dealt with a boob egg before but were told to give it a chance.

Well out popped this little beautiful yellowbelly female. A bit smaller than her clutchmates at only 54 grams but really not that awfully small.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...rdra3-FYB1.jpg

Unfortunately she was born with this kink....

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...YBtailkink.jpg

She's done really well though right from the start. She started eating as soon as she had her first shed and is usually the first of our 11 hatchlings to snatch up her dinner. She seems determined to prove that no little kink is ever going to hold her back LOL.

She's a beautifully patterned snake, not the best of our YB's as far as flames or anything and with that kink maybe some wouldn't even keep her but she's got a home with us for her lifetime. She's gone from our smallest hatchling to the 2nd biggest of the hatchlings and nothing is stopping this little female! Mike and I can't resist any little snake whose as determined as she is to thrive. :)

Here she is...all 107 grams of her....

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...207-24-081.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...207-24-082.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...207-24-084.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...207-24-085.jpg

We haven't found the just right name for her yet. We like to pick either celtic or gaelic names for all our ball pythons so I'm on the search for a warrior queen type of name for this fierce little girl. :)

Excellent job with her Jo! She looks great!

Just a question, is the kink just before her cloaca? Are you going to attempt breeding her in the future, or is it thought it would impede the laying of any eggs? Nonetheless she'll be a beautiful pet.:gj:

Wow its to bad you are keeping her!! Cause i want her!! LOL. I love her pattern. Are you going to breed her when shes older? Either way, post LOTS of pics, I want to see her grow up!:D

Yep the kink is above her vent area. We quite honestly aren't sure what her future might be as far as breeding goes. What we are planning to do at this point is have her ultrasounded when she's about 6 months old to see how things look inside her. Then we'll repeat the ultrasound when she's breeding age and see again how it looks.

We've been told that all in all it's a very minor kink and since there's no depression of her spine (on physical exam) into her body that likely it wouldn't impede her laying eggs someday. We've also been advised by two very experienced breeders that she would not be a snake you'd want to breed light but rather to give her lots of time to grow up and really mature before even contemplating breeding her.

The fact is though that even if she's never a candidate for breeding it really doesn't matter. We fell for her (even though I swore to Tim Bailey that I was NOT getting emotionally attached to a boob egg just in case :oops:) pretty much as soon as she came out of her egg. We are planning to feature her this coming school year in our snake presentations. She'll help us talk to the young kids about being born "different" and how it hasn't stopped her doing anything that her clutchmates do and she's still a very cool snake even if she's got a funny bump on her butt end. :D

Now the poor little thing needs a name. I really must get on this as the whole family calls her "Kinky" and that just won't do LOL.

She is stunning! She is a very lucky little girl.

I name my Ball Pythons Gaelic and Celtic names too. :D

I like the name Quinlan, pronounced KWIN lin, meaning "beautiful shape".

Oh that is a pretty name! Finally someone else who picks names that are hard to spell and even harder to pronounce LOL.

Here's our ball pythons so far.....

Females:

Brannagh
Orlah
Kyna
Rionnach
Ailish
Morag
Muirne
Cara
Dacey
Daimhin
Danu
Saorise
Kennis
Doireann
Liadan
Ardra
Niamh
Fianna
Darra
Pandora (husband insisted on that one LOL)

and the males....

Malachi
Riordan
Liam
Torin
Buddy (hey a 5 year old named this one...it's his snake! :rolleyes:)

I think that's all of them. :confused:

Oh plus the 11 hatchlings and the 7 eggs in the incubator LOL.

I like her! love the tail pattern!

ahhhhh she's soooo beautiful jo. i love your company name... scale kids!

I love that you get involved with things, in this case, using that adorable girl to talk to kids about being 'born different'. I don't know many people that would even have the initiative to do something like that, and for this, I give you two thumbs up!:gj::gj:

:D And fyi, there's nothing wrong with the name "Kinky". :P I think it's just as adorable as she is!

That is great to see, great job! :)

Jo she's really looking awesome now! Gotta love that little fighter spirit in her! :D

Congrats Jo. She looks like she is doing very well. I think she will grow to be a great pet, and if the kink doesn't get any worse, I think she will breed just fine if you choose to do so.

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Originally Posted by mcavana

I like her! love the tail pattern!

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Thanks Mike. Quite a few of Riordan's offspring from both of these clutches have interesting almost "melted" looking patterns. :)

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

ahhhhh she's soooo beautiful jo. i love your company name... scale kids!

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Thanks Aleesha! It took well over 2 years to finally come up with a company name that just fit our family and our vision for the snakes.

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Originally Posted by SnakieMom

I love that you get involved with things, in this case, using that adorable girl to talk to kids about being 'born different'. I don't know many people that would even have the initiative to do something like that, and for this, I give you two thumbs up!:gj::gj:

:D And fyi, there's nothing wrong with the name "Kinky". :P I think it's just as adorable as she is!

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LOL I just can't see going to a kid's snake presentation and talking about "Kinky". I think I'll come up with a nice gaelic or celtic name for her but she'll likely still get called "Kinky" anyways. :rolleyes:

Mike and I really enjoy watching our own children learn about life through working with and understanding snakes so it's a natural extension for us to share that with other kids. :)

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Originally Posted by Sputnik

That is great to see, great job! :)

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Thanks so much.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Jo she's really looking awesome now! Gotta love that little fighter spirit in her! :D

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Thanks Robin. :) She's definitely a little spitfire and very determined to exceed everyone's expectations.

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Originally Posted by muddoc

Congrats Jo. She looks like she is doing very well. I think she will grow to be a great pet, and if the kink doesn't get any worse, I think she will breed just fine if you choose to do so.

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Thanks Tim. I've really appreciated the talks we've had about her and this condition and your advice about getting her ultrasounded. Even if all she does is become a pet and an ambassador snake for shows then that's a pretty cool thing place for her in our collection. The kink sure doesn't slow her down - what a little hunter this one is LOL.

Jo... seriously... the thought of you and Mike NOT getting emotionally attached to any snake.:snake:

If I had any coffee in my mouth it would have been dripping off my monitor. :)

She is such a pretty snake, just a stunning girl. Nice to hear she is kicking butt. :gj:

Regardless of her future, she picked the right boob in the right clutch in the right house... I bet there are snakes lining up in heaven saying "Me next... I want to be in Jo and Mike's egg!"

Bruce

Jo she's stunning! :D And obviously has a great will to thrive! lol


Is Kinky a warrior name? :weirdface

Hey Jo heres a Celtic name for ya
A chuisle mo chroí..It old irish trem of indearment means Pluse of my Heart.

she's a cutie , love the pattern on her as well

how about Boudicca pronounced Bo Di C ah
she was a Celtic Warrior Queen , took on the Romans in Britain


http://womenshistory.about.com/od/bo...p/boudicca.htm

it's great to see that she's doing well jo

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Originally Posted by Loft Lizard

Jo... seriously... the thought of you and Mike NOT getting emotionally attached to any snake.:snake:

If I had any coffee in my mouth it would have been dripping off my monitor. :)

She is such a pretty snake, just a stunning girl. Nice to hear she is kicking butt. :gj:

Regardless of her future, she picked the right boob in the right clutch in the right house... I bet there are snakes lining up in heaven saying "Me next... I want to be in Jo and Mike's egg!"

Bruce

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Aww Bruce you're getting me all teary eyed now you silly fart! :D

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Originally Posted by Laooda

Jo she's stunning! :D And obviously has a great will to thrive! lol


Is Kinky a warrior name? :weirdface

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LOL hardly! I just knew the family was going to end up calling her "Kinky" and I'm just as determined to give her a proper name. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Hey Jo heres a Celtic name for ya
A chuisle mo chroí..It old irish trem of indearment means Pluse of my Heart.

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Oh Ed what a lovely idea! Now I'll have to go google and see if I can find out how to pronounce that properly. That's the worst with this naming scheme is getting the correct pronunciation down pat. Half the letters sound different in english...ARGHHH!

Take our snake Saoirse for instance. Now that name looks like Sor-shh or even Sor-sha to me...but noooooooo...it's properly said "seer-sha"...geesh! Don't even get me started on the pure tongue twisting torture of Daimhin's name. LOL

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Originally Posted by Royal Tartan

she's a cutie , love the pattern on her as well

how about Boudicca pronounced Bo Di C ah
she was a Celtic Warrior Queen , took on the Romans in Britain


http://womenshistory.about.com/od/bo...p/boudicca.htm

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Another great idea, thank you!

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Originally Posted by Holbeird

it's great to see that she's doing well jo

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Thanks J.R., she's a pretty determined little thing. :)

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

We are planning to feature her this coming school year in our snake presentations. She'll help us talk to the young kids about being born "different" and how it hasn't stopped her doing anything that her clutchmates do and she's still a very cool snake even if she's got a funny bump on her butt end. :D

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I really, really like this. What a great message. =)

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Originally Posted by Michelle.C

I like the name Quinlan, pronounced KWIN lin, meaning "beautiful shape".

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Quinlan's got my vote, especially since it carries on the message that different isn't different and it isn't bad! :gj:

good job with her so far!

Justin

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Originally Posted by cassandra

I really, really like this. What a great message. =)



Quinlan's got my vote, especially since it carries on the message that different isn't different and it isn't bad! :gj:

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Yep it's definitely a front runner right now because of that meaning relating to her situation. Of course all these great names suggested have been put into my ongoing list of future ball python names (yes, thanks I am THAT organized :P) so they'll all get used at some point.

We try to use each snake we show, Cass, as a sort of starting point to a conversation with the kids. Saorise helps us talk about wildlife conservation as she grew up in the wilds of Africa. Orlah with her old burn scars is an opening to talk about responsible pet ownership. Emi the milksnake helps the kids know about snakes in their garden and how they help control rodents so we mustn't hurt or bother them. She's also so just darn incredibly cute that she's our "I bet you cannot possibly be afraid of a snake like this" snake. LOL We even used some of our breeding and egg photos last school year to have a quick talk with a grade 6 class that was struggling to understand recessive genetics. One look at the VPI book and they really got what understanding genetics can do. :)

I can't wait for the school year to start in the fall so we can line up some fun presentations with the new hatchlings! Maybe even some day we will take big old Tequila in for a show.

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Originally Posted by jkobylka

good job with her so far!

Justin

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Thanks Justin! :)

Awesome!

I love the message that her life will teach children.:)

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Originally Posted by broadude

Awesome!

I love the message that her life will teach children.:)

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Thanks Deb, we do too. :)

What an awesome story Jo. I think it is great that you plan on taking her to show the school kids :)
Minerva is another name for the goddess Athena, but I must admit that I love the Quinlan name and think that is very fitting.

Thanks! We've really enjoyed the few shows we've done and are looking forward to doing more. So far we've done school and girl scout group presentations. It's actually quite funny to see how the kids are quite accepting of the snakes, even the ones that are intially afraid but it's the adults that generally are freaking out.