Snakes and Stones

[Lord Sorril]

Interesting. Definitely looks a lot like a clam shell.

Yep, but, just a geology thing.
A member of the rock forum ID'd it as Ohio Flint (from Ohio, USA), and I totally agree.
The patterning combined with those ugly splotches and creases in the stone are the giveaway.

Photo #438

These are 'Brazilian Agate Nodules' that I tumbled. Impossibly pitted.
Agates are supposed to have banding, and these don't...so I guess that makes them Brazilian Chalcedony instead of Brazilian Agate.
This 66% Het Clown/50% Het Lavender Albino ball python was also 100% dedicated to biting me.
I had to put one of the stones on his tail for the photo to keep him from closing the distance between us.

[Bogertophis]

...This 66% Het Clown/50% Het Lavender Albino ball python was also 100% dedicated to biting me.
I had to put one of the stones on his tail for the photo to keep him from closing the distance between us.

Hey, whatever works!

[Lord Sorril]

Photo #439

Super GHI with a piece of local river quartz-ish material.

Breeders Note: In 2024 I produced 3 snakes that I am confident are Super GHI.
Only 1 of them came out super black pigmented (not shown)...for some reason I thought they all would...
I suppose next time I have to study Morphmarket closer...it seems that high-black specimens are not as common as I thought...

And an Update:
My Dreamsicle that got caught in the egg and suffered internal injuries in the process- has finally eaten its first meal-unassisted! Whooo!
I force-fed it 8 meals before we reached this point.
Photos of the current status below.


Internal bruising is almost gone and the dorsal scales are white again now (instead of dark purple).
I'm going to skip a ventral (belly) photo as it is still a bit gross.
I'm hoping that as the snake starts growing that the problem will become proportionally smaller.

[Bogertophis]

Hang in there, Dreamsicle! Hopefully time will fully heal this unfortunate one.

[Lord Sorril]

Photo #440

GHI with a Brazilian Agate Nodule.

You can compare this snake to Photo #439 to see the difference between the Super and Non-Super form of GHI.

Fun fact: My initial GHI ball python was an undersized/unsexed/non-eating hatchling. I think I paid $20 for him at an expo-with zero guarantee from the breeder.

[Lord Sorril]

Photo #441

Lavender Albino/66% Het Piebald with some assorted white stones (quartz + agate).

Combining piebald genes with Lavender Albino increases the saturation of the orange coloration.
Below are two Lavender Albinos-I'm sure you can pick which one has 1 copy of the Piebald gene.

[Homebody]

Combining piebald genes with Lavender Albino increases the saturation of the orange coloration.
Below are two Lavender Albinos-I'm sure you can pick which one has 1 copy of the Piebald gene.

Wow! That's a significant difference.

[Bogertophis]

...Fun fact: My initial GHI ball python was an undersized/unsexed/non-eating hatchling. I think I paid $20 for him at an expo-with zero guarantee from the breeder.

I love it when the "under-dogs" turn out to be a real gift! That's very cool...sometimes it really pays to take that chance.

[Lord Sorril]

Wow! That's a significant difference.

Yep! Dreamsicle (Lavender Albino/Pied) is one of my favorite orange ball python morphs. Super Orange Dream/Pied is also on my list. I'm working on that one too.

I love it when the "under-dogs" turn out to be a real gift! That's very cool...sometimes it really pays to take that chance.

Yep!
There was a point in time where I could find non-eating ball python morphs or 'imminent failure to thrives' at a deep discount at various breeders tables. In recent years I have not seen these at all...I did mention it to one breeder-and he said that the exposition 'rule enforcers' consider a non-eating hatchling to *not be healthy* and thus cannot be at the expo...yeah I get it, but, it still seems a bit subjective to me...

In other news I had the day off today since my car is in the shop.
I had finished tumbling that big box of Montana Agates that I had shown a while back.
Even though I'm backlogged a few hundred lbs. of stones for my vibe tumbler, I still polished some of the most recent ones.

I had an empty 12lb. barrel for rotary tumbling available, so I pulled out my next burst usps box in my garage.
Guess what I found: Montana Agate...again....lololol

I told Santa Claus I wanted 132lbs. of #46 Silicon Carbide for Christmas.
I've been a good boy, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to get it.
I will need it...