Eddy's date....dialup warning!

[RPlank]

I am trying not to break my own arm patting myself on the back, but I'm particularly proud of this sequence of pics! They turned out great, (except for a couple slightly blurry ones) and Eddy cooperated wonderfully, although Zeus is showing the stubborn eater side of Ball Pythons!

Here goes your guided tour, starting with Zeus, who is a '03 male, possible possible het for piebald (425g)-----

Zeus is demonstrating for us how you know when your snake is NOT hungry.....




Zeus refused last weeks meal, too.

Our next series is courtesy of Eddy, who will demonstrate for us how you know when your snake IS hungry....

Notice the appetizers that the main course has provided to whet Eddy's appetite!

The S-curves in the neck area (Do snakes have necks?:roll is a good indication that a strike is imminent.


Notice the difference in the two photo series'. In the first, Zeus didn't even pause to say "hello," "get outta the way," or anything else to the rat as he passed by. In the second series, Eddy decides to communicate non-verbally, saying, "I think you should come over for dinner!"

Eddy was nice enough to invite me over to photographically document his dinner with Ms. Ratty, who incidentally weighs....er....weighed....81 grams. Eddy's weight before tonight's supper was 312 grams.

Here is Eddy greeting his female dinner date at the door with one of those European kiss-on-the-cheek greetings...

Followed by a nice bear hug, to show his affection for his date...

Which leads to some pre-dinner neckin'....

And a little tongue....

Oops! Eddy got a little carried away with the tongue action!

"Uh-oh! What have I done?!!"


BELCH!


Oh, well, Eddy is a good lookin' guy. I'm sure he can get another date next week!

[BallKingdom]

That last pic was awsome! Sweet pics Randy.

[Hoomi]

Great sequence of shots, though I'm guessing some of my family members would likely not enjoy them as much as we do. (My wife and son both think the snake is cool, but have insisted that they will not feed him. That's my job...)

[Ironhead]

The S-curves in the neck area (Do snakes have necks?) is a good indication that a strike is imminent

And the little brown dropping's laid behind the young rat means it know's that it's time is limited. I just had to add that. Love the pic's. My daughter begged me to let her see the next feeding so i waited till she got home from school. She jumped when Monty struck the little dude but watched the entire feeding cycle. Now she want's to put the next one in for him at the next feeding.

[Jeanne]

Randy- I was lookin at the pics-cool. But, I noticed how he grabbed the rat, then looked at pic 3 while he is coiled around it...if you look, it looks like he may have gotten bit by his dinner in #3. To the right side of his head, it looks like blood. I only mention is cause Buddy use to grab them kinda funny and get bit from time to time.

[RPlank]

I thought that too, when I was getting ready to take that picture. When I looked closer, and from a slightly different angle, however, I saw that it wasn't a rat bite. It is actually the rat bleeding and snotting from the nose, which is kind of hidden behind the sloppy mess. You can make it out better on the full size pic, but I had to reduce it to put it up. Anyways, it's rat blood/fluids, not Eddy's, although I have had my snakes bit by rats before. One (Ros)was bitten inside the mouth just a couple weeks ago, as a matter of fact. It wasn't bad, and she's ok, just not wanting to feed again yet.
Thanks for the concern. Eddy was on step 4 of Randy's 12 step plan. Next week we try a twitchin' critter, not a stunned one!

[BallKingdom]

I love feeding my bp's, it's always fun when they grab and wrap them. But since I'm an idiot and don't use tongs I fear one day I might get bit, again.

When the babies are not feeling like eating I typically stick it in their faces for a few seconds, they try and turn around but I keep it right on their nose, after a minute they just take it.

[RandyRemington]

Randy,

Have you checked Zeus for sperm plugs? At 425 grams and less than 5 months old that wouldn't be my first thought but it might be possible. Not sure if I would risk a female bombing on such a small male even if he looked and acted ready but maybe you could follow him up with your 2nd choice and then look for babies that look like Zeus. Or maybe switch back and forth between him and your test run normal male on that female that is already breeding and see if you get any stripe belly females in 2004. Might be fun to try and see just how early they can go. I’ve got an apx. 850 gram 1+ year male that doesn’t seem to be producing sperm yet but fortunately he is still hammering food so I’ll get him to 1,000 grams before cooling him and giving him a try. It might vary a lot between individuals.