First Clutch of the Season

It just might! I’m in a similar position. I’m presuming that Victory isn’t het Amel, since none of the eight noses I’ve seen is pink or yellow and the sire is an Amel Cube. Two more to go, plus a couple in a second clutch. I don’t consider it definitive until the completely arbitrary number of 20 eggs. At this point I do think it’s highly unlikely, but then so is having triplets.

2 Likes

Chalupa and Chimichanga have had their first sheds! Looking nice and bright. I’m going to give them both a few days before I try offering their first meals.


4 Likes

This sweet little baby, Picadillo, had her first shed today too.

3 Likes

Absolutely gorgeous little ones!

3 Likes

They’re quite bright and beautiful! I like their headstamps, too.

3 Likes

Two babies have taken their first meals (one refused).

And one more baby shed today, little Gazpacho:

4 Likes

It’s so incredible how stretchy they are! Hooray for babies, and double hooray for babies who feed! I hope the other one takes the next offering. Gazpacho is adorable :heart_eyes:.

2 Likes

Now everyone has finally shed. Even though they’re ‘just’ amels, I still find them beautiful!

Here are Chorizo and Churro:

I will be attempting a feeding for a few of the babies tomorrow evening, as well as offering the two previous eaters their second meals.

4 Likes

I find them beautiful, too! Good luck on the feedings.

3 Likes

Bunch of full bellies tonight. Only one hasn’t eaten yet (two attempts). I’ll probably give her one more regular attempt before I try braining or boiling. A few are already on their third meal.



Some of these babies have me scratching my head a bit. Dad is a fire (high expression masque, but low expression diffused), so I expected roughly half of the babies to also be masque. There are several with masque head patterns, but totally normal checkers. I’m debating whether I should even label them masque at all. Here’s one of them:

Masque head:

Regular belly:

4 Likes

Love to see those full bellies! I am always happy to see those!

I do see what you mean with your Masque babies. Masque is described as having very varied expression, and family lines can show it to wildly differing degrees.

I don’t think it’s necessarily usual to have the Masque facial markings without the Masque belly, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t carrying the gene. I believe they are, just expressing it in an atypical way. I have a couple like yours this season, too. I’m sure they’re Masque, but I’m also pretty sure that people who are less familiar with Masque might think I’m wrong. Which is another sort of problem.

2 Likes

Yeah I know what you mean. I try to remind myself that masque is one of those genes that people aren’t actively looking for, so it likely won’t influence whether someone wants to buy the snake or not. But I’m also a stickler for proper labeling!

2 Likes

Me too! And so I label Masque if they’ve got it, even if it isn’t necessarily obvious to those less familiar. Like anybody else, part of my usual pricing is based on the number of traits an individual expresses, but I don’t change the price with Masque. I guess it’s sort of a bonus.

I do actually like to see it in Diffused snakes since it has a bit of a brightening effect. I don’t specifically include it in searches. I guess that’s because not everybody is a stickler for proper labeling! :person_shrugging:

2 Likes

These two have already had three meals and have grown so much already. The whole clutch hatched out in the mid-7 gram range (with the exception of one who was over 8 grams). But these two are already 10 and 11 grams. Even though it’s just a few gram difference, they already feel so much sturdier and easier to handle.

This is Chimichanga and Picadillo:

3 Likes

And this is little Gazpacho. He was the smallest, his hatch weight was only 6.98 grams. He’s two meals in and already weighs over 9 grams. I love the ones that will just curl up into your hand! So sweet!

4 Likes

Aww, so good to see your pretty babies thriving!

I know exactly what you mean! Just a couple of grams, but it can make such a difference. It’s actually a pretty fair percentage of body mass.

2 Likes

Well, all the babies except for two have been eating perfectly, so those 7 good babies have gone to new homes. Of the two that are left, one has eaten twice for me (but not two times in a row). The other hasn’t eaten at all yet. So far I’ve tried brained, boiled, overnight in deli cup, overnight in enclosure, and washed with Ivory dish soap. Next up is anole scent, which I’ve had a lot of success with in the past, but I like it to be the last option to try since it’s a pain to wean them off of it. I haven’t tried live yet either, but in the past it’s never been successful for me, and it’s also difficult for me to find small live pinkies. Usually they’re nearly fuzzies when I’ve gotten them from reptile stores before, so I will probably be skipping that method this year.

Of Clover’s second clutch, there’s just one good egg. It’s a big one too. It could be hatching any day now, but will probably take a bit longer than normal, just like the first clutch.

3 Likes

I didn’t realize you’d already sent your good babies along to their new homes! Good for you. I’m sure if anyone can get your holdout feeding, you can. I have a couple of stubborn ones here, as well. Three are feeding well on boiled, and are just having their second shed. Going to try and switch them. One is fine with gecko scenting. Two from the last clutch have had and declined three offerings so I’ll start the variations today. Like you, I have no convenient way to get live and that’s not part of my plans. I’m super thankful that the number of stubborn babies here is proportionally small. I remember one clutch where most of them were terrible pains in the neck.

Hope your final egg/second clutch has a beautiful cooperative baby.

3 Likes

Well I am delighted to report that both babies ate tonight. Chalupa ate in a covered deli cup, but otherwise didn’t require any tricks. Marzipan happily devoured her anole-scented pinkie - her very first meal! It’s been a bit over a month of no food for her. You can see in the photos that she was starting to look a little bit thin, compared to Chalupa who has eaten previously, but inconsistently (3 feedings for her so far).

In my opinion, anole scenting is the THE best trick for picky babies. Weaning them off of it can be a pain, but once they get to the point where they’re losing weight or not looking great, it’s absolutely something that should be tried.

Marzipan

And Chalupa

3 Likes

Hooray for fat bellies! (And for those adorable head stamps, too.) I’m glad your holdout ate at last. I’m a big fan of lizard scenting, though I’m like you and try other things first because you’re so right; some are so hard to wean off it. On the other hand, those are often the ones who were just not seeing mice as food and were getting worrisome.

I’ve got one very stubborn baby I’m concerned about this year. I hope I see a fat belly there this week.

2 Likes