Snakes and Stones

[Bogertophis]

As someone from the medical field: I do my best to defy Nature.

While I could stop breeding this female: Her mother just recently produced a solid clutch of 6 healthy eggs-which would suggest that past performance is not indicative of future results.

In addition: The clutch from this female has a 1 in 8 'egg chance' of meeting one of my final project goals (my first focused breeding goal-which I started 15 years ago).

Just in case: I have two females next year that will be reaching maturity from a separate breeding line, they will have a 1/16 chance of meeting the same goal...however I would prefer not to produce copious amounts of Hets if I did not have to...

I figured you'd have a bunch of reasons to keep trying- And yeah, I take your point. Better luck next time then.

[Lord Sorril]

Photo #350

Hypo Mojave (+Het VPI Axanthic) with some Atlantis Wonder Jasper from Utah, USA.

Photo #350 conveniently marks the end of my 2023 breeding season. My 2024 picture series to begin in a few weeks.

[Lord Sorril]

Just for fun: Here is a brownout color comparison between two of my Pastel VPI Axanthic Ball Pythons.
The one on the left is from 2022 (~2 years old-Photo #280), and the one on the right is from 2018 (~6 years old-Photo #31).
Tempest Fugit.

Note: I seem to fail to add Fire every breeding season-2024 included-lol...

[Lord Sorril]

I was concerned that a 24-36 hour temp. drop down to 80F might have impacted my first few clutches: I checked the eggs today and they all seem to be in good condition.

I also have my first pip of the season!

This one is a winner for me-as the cross was: Het Clown/Pos. Het Lav Albino x Het Clown/Pos. Het Lav Albino...
Which means I just locked down the genetics of the parents as both being 100% Het for Lav Albino!

[Homebody]

I just went on Morph Market. Lavender albino clowns fetch a pretty penny. Congrats.

[Lord Sorril]

I just went on Morph Market. Lavender albino clowns fetch a pretty penny. Congrats.

Ahhh they do, but, this one is out of the egg today and is not a clown- it is a Lavender Albino/66% Het Clown only.
I have 2 more clutches by this male with additional Het Clown/50% Pos. Het Lavender Albino Females...so there is still the possibility of a double recessive.

To hedge my bets: I also have another set of 3 clutches incubating by a separate Het Clown/Pos. Het Lavender Albino Male x Het Clown/Pos. Het Lav Albino Females.

I'm just happy that one of my males proved to be Het Clown/Het Lav Albino-This makes it easy for me to breed him with all my females in that Grail project next year.

[Lord Sorril]

I went to the New England Reptile Expo in Manchester NH this morning 07JUL2024. It was relatively quiet as far as the reptile expos go.
I was able to take a bunch of photos right up until my gf filled my arms with so many purchases that I could no longer raise my camera...

I did not see much in the way of unusual ball pythons-so I did not take many photos of them. Regardless: ****Image Heavy****


























OK, so what did I buy my gf?
2 Captive Bred Amazon Milk Frogs
2 Bags of Magnolia Leaf Litter
1 UVB Bulb
1 Big Cork Round Section
1 3D Printed Iridescent Rainbow Devil Skull Planter
3 Unusual Begonia Plants
1 EarthStar Plant





And what did I buy myself?

1 Female Pastel Bamboo Ball Python for $100

[Bogertophis]

Thanks for sharing...all except for the dead rattlesnakes in bottles, which I'm quite sure did not die from natural causes...

[Homebody]

How could you pass up a bargain like this? If the egg sac comes with it, that works out to about a penny per. Raise them up and sell them for $20 per. Now, that's how you make money!

[Lord Sorril]

Thanks for sharing...all except for the dead rattlesnakes in bottles, which I'm quite sure did not die from natural causes...

Yeah...I talked with the girl and she insisted that all of the animals in jars were pets that had expired... A quick examination of several species I am familiar with showed no sign of unusual body condition...of which I would expect from a sick animal. Prices were also much higher for a preserved specimen than a living one...this always makes me very uncomfortable...

How could you pass up a bargain like this? If the egg sac comes with it, that works out to about a penny per. Raise them up and sell them for $20 per. Now, that's how you make money!

How could I lose?? People are just lining about to buy Black Widow spiders!...
I mentioned it to my gf and she said that most people want the females only...so that cuts your projected profits right in half...

In an unrelated story: Last night I woke up at midnight and thought I smelled a chemical burning scent. I traced it to my gfs frog room. She runs an air conditioner in there at night to keep them from overheating in the summer. She has a lot of electrical lines to various terrariums. It was late and I just wanted to sleep: so I went down the basement and tripped the circuit breaker to the room turning everything off until I could examine it better in the morning. When I went back to our bedroom my gf heard the uncanny silence (no water pumps running) and asked me what I did: and when I told her-she was Furious. We then had a sleepy lethargic midnight battle over animal care vs. home safety. Regardless of my concerns: she had me re-enable the circuit breaker. About a minute later: the air conditioner stopped working and the room started to fill with smoke. No complaints were had about disabling the electricity the second time...

Photo of the culprit below. A short due to deteriorating protective sleeves on electric wires.
Luckily we weren't away on vacation-this had also started burning a hole in the wall.