Snagged photos of these two little goobers today. How did they get so big? XD
I swear they were making a deli cup look huge not long ago. Hahah
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They are so pretty! Pair? Are you going to breed them if so?
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I might! I couldn’t decide between BEL or albino … So I did ask the breeder if they had a pair they could recommend.
So the albino is het BEL as well. But I may hold off cause I do see a lot of kinks in BEL capes. It could just need more outcrossing from the original line to help, but I have another year to think about it.
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What a pair!
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Oh dang, good pull with the het BEL! That’ll make things easier if you do decide to breed and aim for T- BELs down the line.
I’ve heard the thing about BELs having kinks, too, and I’m inclined to think the same. As far as I know, every BEL does come from just one progenitor animal, which isn’t ideal, but can hopefully be ameliorated by outcrossing. Certainly I’ll be keeping a close eye on any of Chester and Andromeda’s offspring, and really making a point to outcross rather than linebreed or breed siblings.
whether you breed or not, though, what a handsome pair. <3
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Okay Togo would make a lot more sense. They’re a lot more common in random pet stores than lineatus or green. Will be super curious to see pics! I believe you can usually tell between Togo and lineatus by eye size proportional to head.
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Maybe avoiding homozygous to homozygous pairs would help, like only pairing het to het? I’ve heard of people doing that with a couple hognose morphs to promote more genetic diversity.
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Well they surely make beautiful pets!
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Absolutely gorgeous. I can’t wait to see the results if you pair them, or if you buy another het to pair instead. They are so pretty.
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So with Andy up to weight and Chester showing clear signs of interest, and with my incubator and baby rack set up and ready, I decided it was finally time to pair Chester and Andromeda!
Set up a breeding bin (both of them are in bioactives and I didn’t want to risk some kind of hemipene or cloacal substrate disaster), set up a camera so I wouldn’t have to disturb them by peeking in on them one thousand times, and set them up to go.
I checked the camera this morning and Andromeda was having None Of It. Poor girl; I think she might have been a bit spooked by being out of her enclosure and in a bin she didn’t recognize. She’s always been a bit high-strung. I saw Chester try to court her on camera numerous times over the course of the night, and every time she threw him off. Seems like he’s ready to go, but she’s not sold on the prospect.
Those with some experience – does this tend to be a sign that I should leave off this year? Or was this just an awkward first date?
Pic tax, shortly before tucking them into the breeding bin:
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Not 100% sure on African House snakes, but corns need spring breeding.
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I’ve asked about it elsewhere while I was getting my research done on breeding, and heard from a number of breeders that capensis can and do go any time of year. A lot of folks still do it in spring, as I do think they’re randier then, but they’re year-round opportunistic breeders AFAIK.
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In my experience, the harder thing is getting them not to breed.
I have an unfortunate update about Ares, my KZN Red T- cape male with the mass. Upside: he’s still alive and seems to be relatively healthy aside from the mass. Down side: he’s not eating, probably because the mass is blocking part of his GI tract, which means we either do surgery or humanely euthanize. Good news: surgery is absolutely doable. Bad news: the estimate is around $1,600, which I do not have, and they don’t do payment plans.
So… I’m gonna see what I can scrape together, I guess.
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Oh man that’s awful about Ares. Poor little guy. It’s no surprise he’s not eating, that must hurt.
Dyou have a gofundme or anything? I’d gladly pitch in for him.
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I’m so sorry to hear that your boy has a mass. Surgery isnt cheap. If you have a GFM or something we can donate to, I’d be happy to throw in what I can!
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Y’all are incredibly sweet. I feel terrible asking people for money so I haven’t set anything up, but I’m going to evaluate his QOL the next couple of weeks and see how well I think he’d do recovering from the surgery. I’ve got a few snakes available right now as well so with any luck maybe someone will take a liking to one of them and I may end up setting something up, we’ll see. I appreciate the sentiment regardless!!
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Count me in too Kayla on the GFM if iy gets set up. I’m really sorry about Ares. Does your vet take Care Credit by chance? I’m assuming if they don’t have a payment plan they don’t honor Care Credit either, which is a shame.
Is this a specialist? Just wondering which vet it is…..
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Fascinating about the breeding timing for African House Snakes. Apparently she missed the memo and needs to get with the program.
So sorry about Ares! That must be so uncomfortable. QOL is always my concern when considering surgery, too. 
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Just wanted to give an update. Unfortunately I had to take Ares to the vet yesterday for humane euthanasia. In the month since his cyst was drained it had re-filled with liquid and the other mass had nearly doubled in size. He wasn’t eating and I couldn’t in good conscience put him through a surgery he may not recover from, especially when it would divert financial resources from my other animals. I have paid for a necropsy so hoping for some answers at the very least. I will update again if/when those show anything.
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I’m so sorry for your loss. You did so much for your little guy, I hope the necropsy gets you some answers. 
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