"Milagro" (translation "miracle")

[Bogertophis]

Milagro is already back to basking on her branches, fat pinkie-filled belly & all. Always seems to know exactly what she wants & what she's doing...

[dakski]

I haven't written on this thread too much, but I've been following along.

I am thrilled at how well she is doing. Good thing she's got such a great Snarent.

[Bogertophis]

I haven't written on this thread too much, but I've been following along.

I am thrilled at how well she is doing. Good thing she's got such a great Snarent.

Aww, thank you, that means a lot. I'm just taking one day at a time- her entire existence was a surprise to me and I thought my days of raising snakes were all in the past, lol.

[Bogertophis]

Time for some updates:

Milagro is doing great...she fed again on 11/3/19 in a side cage, no less; I decided to feed her while I was busy cleaning her home...her f/t was ready and so was
she, & typically rat snakes are less bothered by "eating out" than the shyer BP's most of you are used to, but normally I feed all my snakes in their own homes, fyi.

AND SHE NOW HAS 2 SIBLINGS FROM LAINEY'S 2ND CLUTCH! So now there are three... The other remaining eggs failed to hatch or went bad.

So far I have chalked up Milagro's existence to parthenogenesis, since I've had these now-adult Florida rat snakes (2.2) for some 10 years, they were about 1.5
years old when they came to me, & they've NEVER been together since in my care. So either this is parthenogenesis, or there was some early fooling around before
they came to live with me & somehow that premature fertilization has lasted for 10 years???? I'd love to know your opinions on this- haven't yet sexed the hatchlings.

#2 (hatched 10-29) is robustly sized, with a much lighter & aberrant pattern, but sadly has some kinks, one mid-body one that's fairly severe, & some in the tail that
are of far less consequence. She shed & took her first pinkie last night, but I'm not sure about her future, want to see how she digests & may get x-rayed to assess.
She's somewhat calm like Milagro, but to get her to taste the pinkie, I teased her with it using tongs, & then she correctly decided it was edible after a few bites, lol.

#3 (hatched 10-30) is the smallest of the 3, normal dark pattern similar to Milagro. (these rat snakes change pattern from blotches to striping & their yellow+ colors
take a year or so to gradually come in). She just shed also, but refused a f/t pinkie last night and I'm waiting for live pinkies soon. She is the shyest & was actively
coiling & striking to scare me off. This is normal rat snake behavior, I might add, & it means little about their adult personality. Hatchlings that aren't defensive
may not get to grow up if they fail to scare off their predators. (this one has no kinks that I've seen)

So....that's what I've been up to lately. Expected ZERO snakes to hatch from these "infertile" eggs, but got THREE!??

[richardhind1972]

That's great news milagro got two new play mates
shame about the kink in one

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

[Gocntry]

Expected ZERO snakes to hatch from these "infertile" eggs, but got THREE!??

Wow what are the odds.....

Glad Milagro is doing great

Hope #2 makes it, sounds like the odds aren't to good on him/her But you never know

Hoping #3 Grows up Big and Strong

[Bogertophis]

Thanks everyone...yeah, this is crazy, that there's 3. Just checked on #2 & she appears to be digesting OK...just coiled up in her hide.

Hoping to have a live pinkie soon to try on #3, but it was likely just too soon after shedding & that one felt too stressed. May take f/t now or soon, I'll keep ya posted.

[Bogertophis]

Now I'm puzzled: I just saw #2 out of hiding, she was flicking her tongue & trying to investigate (me looking at her), and when she turned to go back I no longer
saw the mid-body kink??? Is it even possible that her backbone was just "stuck" from being in the egg, and that maybe (?) the passage of this pinkie thru her
digestive tract made it pop into the correct position??? I don't want to pull her out now for a further look, but all I can say is that as she retreated, her body was
lengthened & rippled like any normal snake that was stretched out and going forward, with no sign of the "fairly severe kink".

*If I'm right about this, it means that many breeders may be putting down hatchlings that have such "defects" that may actually work themselves out. It's not as if
there are any chiropractors for snakes. Thoughts? (Now I really wish I'd measured the angle of the kink she hatched out with.)*

I just saw her out exploring again...I can hardly believe my eyes but there is no evidence of the kink. It was there when I fed her 2 days ago, but not now.
She's going to be VERY gently handled while she grows stronger...I hope her back doesn't "go out" again, but needless to say, I'm very optimistic for this cutie.

[Gocntry]

Alright #2 !!! Uhh she needs a name please, so we dont have to keep calling her #2, That just sounds wrong

[Bogertophis]

Alright #2 !!! Uhh she needs a name please, so we dont have to keep calling her #2, That just sounds wrong

LOL! Her new name is Wundertat (miracle in German) or Wunder for short...

I still can hardly believe this, but I'm excited! She's personable, like Milagro is, & I saw her exploring her humid hide (moss-filled) too. Snakes that don't feel good or have pain & trouble moving around don't do that stuff.

So I guess #3 might as well be Mirikel (miracle in Hebrew), for future reference.