All was going well with the incubator I built up to about day 50 of incubation. I had read that a ice-chest, aquarium heater and a humidity/temperature gauge works well. So I got one of out ice-chests and filled it up with 5 gallons of water. I put the aqurium heater in the water and created a stand for the hatching box to sit on. I placed the eggs in one of the recommended substrates (perlite) once they were hatched and set the temp/humidity probe in the hatching box. I closed the lid and adjusted the temp on the aquarium heater until it was staying in the 78o-80o range. The eggs were growing real good and the humidity was staying up in the 90's where it needed to be. Then about day 50, while I was at work our AC broke... By the time I got home the incubator had risen to around 100o. I don't know how long it had been at that temp but I opened the lid and pulled the hatching box out trying to get it to cool down as quickly as I could without hurting the eggs if they survived. Sadly a few days later all of the eggs on the top started to deflate. Well, they usually hatch somewhere between 60-75 days so I was hoping maybe it was just because they were about to hatch. Unfortunately that's not why. The temperature spike killed all the eggs that were on top of the clutch. Basically we had 18 eggs. 4 of those 18 were underneath the other 14. Apparently, those 14 on top and the moist perlite below insulated those 4 and they survived. Yesterday, 2 of the survivors pipped (used their egg tooth to cut the eggs shell). Over about the next 24 hours, they absorbed the yoke from the egg and finally fully emerged today. So now I have 2 that should pip anytime now and these 2 cuties. 1 will stay with us, 1 will go to my daughter in Ogden and the other 2 will be sold.
This is the first out of it's egg. This is the one we will most likely keep and has been named Dobby which is the name it will keep if it stays with us like we think it will.
This one has been temporarily named Ginny and is the second to fully emerge from it's egg.
And these are the 2 that are remaining in the hatch box that should pip and emerge within the next couple of days.
We did better than our last 2 tries, where we didn't have a incubator that allowed us to control the temp/humidity instead relying on ambient temps which is a little lower than recommended in our house. It isn't a unhatchable temperature, but it would have extended the incubation time to more like 90-105 days. Those 2 clutches died about halfway through from mold growth . We might try again next year and see it we can make it through without the AC breaking again....
[This message has been edited by Khw (edited 08-17-2014).]
LOL! Really these guys are neat snakes. The color variations you can breed with them are numerous. You can breed to get stripes instead of saddles or no stripes or saddles. Plus they are rather passive snakes. They are of the constrictor family so you don't have to worry about fangs or poison. I'm not saying they can't cut you if they bite you, they can easily when adults, but if you handle them regularly and feed them outside their tanks they won't expect food when you reach in to pick them up. They don't get bigger than a garter snake, actually usually a foot or so less than a garter can grow to be.
Anywho, here's a better pic of Dobby to show how tiny he is and how pale.
Here's Mommy and Daddy.
Draco (dad)
Belatrix (mommy)
If we breed them again next year Lucious here will be the daddy.
Then we also have our Ball Python Severus.
And our Bearded Dragon Tonks.
Did you catch on to the naming scheme of all our reptiles?
------------------ Ron Count Down to A Better America: http://countingdownto.com/countdown/196044 Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun?
My Uncle Frank was a staunch Conservative and voted straight Republican until the day he died in Chicago. Since then he has voted Democrat. Shrug
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 08-18-2014).]
I like them to . No, no Harry yet. Maybe depending what the next 2 come out like or in one of the future hatches if we incubate more. It all depends on how much trouble we have selling the 2 that will be left after the one we keep and the one my daughter, who lives on her own, wants.
On a side note, all of our fish are South Park names.
quote
Originally posted by maryjane:
QUICK, BRING ME THE HOE!!!!!
I figured you'd post something like that with what happened to you and all. I'm glad you came out of that bite okay, but I still bet it hurt like hell. Do you have any problems now in the bite area? Lingering pain when it's cold out or anything?
quote
Originally posted by theBDub:
Wow, Ginny is beautiful.
Ginny appears to be a Lavender Anery like it's mom so it will look very similar to Belatrix when it's a few years old. We have no idea what the genetic history is of the corns we have being 2 of them are store bought. Belatrix was obtained when a freind who owned her couldn't keep her anymore so we bought her for $20.00 so we both knew she'd have a good home. Draco is still my favorite one, but Bela would be my second favorite because of her color and markings. By breeding and observing the type of offspring you can begin to narrow it down. For example, Dobby being a ghost means Belatrix must carry the Hypomelanistic het along with the Anery het.. I'll have to look into what can be breed with a Anery that carries the Hypomelanistic het to see if an albino would be possible or some other type like a tessera.
quote
Originally posted by blackrams:
All I'm gonna say is, it takes all kinds.
Never met a reptile I wanted to be friends with.
Do you travel with them, cause if you do, you might as well bypass my place. They are not welcome here.
LOL, a dead one huh? I can say that to an extent I agree. If it's poisonous or large enough to seriously injure or kill a person, I'm on the same page. I see a couple of rattlesnakes each year up on Mr. Carsons lots. Because they have kids and a dog that are out and about on those lots, I kill them even though I'm not supposed to. I just don't want one of them to get bit.
And No, we don't take them with us on vacations so it should be safe for me to stop by if I ever get out to that neck of the woods. I don't know when that would happen, but we are tentatively planning a vacation back to Southern California (San Bernardino County area) sometime around February next year. The snakes can go 2 weeks without a feeding so as long as we feed them and fill their water dishes right before we leave, they'll be fine. The bearded dragon on the other hand would be left with my daughter who also has one as it needs fed more often.
[This message has been edited by Khw (edited 08-18-2014).]
Well, the other 2 pipped but came out of their eggs really lethargic unlike the previous 2. One has already passed, but the other is still struggling so we will see. I went to get the mother out to let her have some exercise time outside her tank but that idea got nixed. When I opened the top, well she is in the process of doing a repeat of last year. Snakes can store sperm. If conditions are right, or they are just predisposed to doing so they can double clutch. Basically once they lay a set of eggs, they can use the stored sperm to fertilize another set and lay a second set several months after the first. She was in the process of laying when I opened her tank. So now the question is to incubate or not to incubate this set.
LOL, a dead one huh? I can say that to an extent I agree. If it's poisonous or large enough to seriously injure or kill a person, I'm on the same page. I see a couple of rattlesnakes each year up on Mr. Carsons lots. Because they have kids and a dog that are out and about on those lots, I kill them even though I'm not supposed to. I just don't want one of them to get bit.
Actually, that's not the way I feel about them. I don't mind any creatures of the wild as long as they are way over there and I'm no where near them. I don't go out of my way to wonder into their paths and I sure as hell hope they stay off mine. I don't hunt what I won't eat and hope that nothing out there has a craving for what most surely would taste like chicken. Me!
------------------ Ron Count Down to A Better America: http://countingdownto.com/countdown/196044 Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun?
My Uncle Frank was a staunch Conservative and voted straight Republican until the day he died in Chicago. Since then he has voted Democrat. Shrug
Well, Ginny has been taken off to her new home with my daughter Samantha. Dobby is still here with us and will be staying. The other 2 eggs pipped and hatched but the baby snakes weren't strong enough to survive. It kind of sad to because one of them was a extreme aberrant pattern corn. While not a "genetic" trait that can be passed on, they are more desirable because the pattern isn't "normal" saddles with a background color. I took a picture of it before we disposed of it just because it's pattern was so unique.
When the last 2 that didn't survive hatched, I went to get our adult snakes for their feeding. We had a repeat of last year with our female who was in the process of laying a second clutch of eggs. Snakes can store sperm for several months and it looks like our girl is going to be a double clutcher when we breed her. Her secong clutches are never very big, this one only had 5 fertile eggs, 2 of which had a shell deformity that I doubt they will make through incubation with. She also laid a few slugs, non fertile eggs. The 5 are in the incubator now so we will see if any make it.
Very cool thread I need to read it on a larger screen. Corn snakes are really pretty and non-aggressive (well, the ones I met were pretty mellow, at least) I had a big one poop on me once, yeccch. Very cool lizard too.
. We might try again next year and see it we can make it through without the AC breaking again....
