Black Magic?

[Quiet Tempest]

I've had a lot going on and haven't been on the forums much lately. I did want to share this, though.

I paired my mojave female with both my mojave male and my black satin black pastel male. She gave me five eggs and I allowed her to maternally incubate as I do with all of my clutches. I went out of town for about a week near the end of their incubation and came back to find one of the eggs had deflated rather severely and was becoming discolored. The rest were all still full and white so I didn't have high hopes for the deflated one. After being back home for just two days I found the clutch had started pipping so I snapped a pic. A little mojave had already left his egg and is hiding behind his mother's head in the pic below.





Since the four healthy eggs had pipped, I decided to open the fifth one. Unfortunately, that one did not make it. S/he looked a bit black pastel-ish to me but given the circumstance, I wasn't sure. Still, it gave me some hope that my black pastel may have sired the clutch and that there was a possibility of hatching a black magic.

I know not everyone wants to look at deceased babies so I'll just include a link if you'd like to view him/her.


One pipping head looked a little different than its siblings and since I already had my scissors out, I opened its egg a little more. This is what I found inside...










I'm anxious to see the rest of him or her! I'll get more pics when everyone is out.

[Wapadi]

wow!! Come out little guy!!

[Quiet Tempest]

Still waiting for them to come out...

[Southern_Breeder]

Congrats on the clutch! Cool to see someone that lets the mom incubate.

[don15681]

congratz, can't wait to see that one! don

[joebad976]

Looks like you may have some magic in that clutch...Congrats

[rascal_rascal_99]

Does the mom not fuss at you for messing with the hatching eggs like they do when having the eggs pulled right after they laid them, or are they not nearly as defensive about protecting them by hatching time?


What's the black satin black pastel you mentioned...is that the satin gene proved out by Mike and Mike, or something else?

[Quiet Tempest]

Does the mom not fuss at you for messing with the hatching eggs like they do when having the eggs pulled right after they laid them, or are they not nearly as defensive about protecting them by hatching time?


What's the black satin black pastel you mentioned...is that the satin gene proved out by Mike and Mike, or something else?

It varies from mom to mom. This is this girl's first year and she's been really laid back throughout incubation. I have a normal girl that gets hissy when she's gravid and/or on eggs but most of them have become accustomed to me checking in periodically to spot clean, refresh water, feed, check eggs, etc.


Black Satin is VPI's line of black pastel and I really, really love the way they look. Mine came from Raul Campos of West Coast Jungle. I think the color and contrast in the satin line is beautiful. I'll see about getting a pic of my guy on here tomorrow.

[Marrissa]

Very neat thread. I can't wait to see the babies out.

[Diamond Serpents]

Can't wait to see that one come out!! Do you have any plans of holding anything back this year or hoping to produce to hold back? Congrats on the clutch.