It's been a while since I last wrote, so I thought now would be a good time for an update on the season so far - and it's gotten very exciting!
Firstly, Monty (female Normal Royal), is very close to laying eggs. Last time I wrote I mentioned that she had ballooned in size and gone through a colour change, and was approaching a shed cycle, which I cautiously assumed was to be her final shed before laying eggs. Well I'm very pleased to say her behaviour since then has been very encouraging - she has been refusing food for a couple of months now, and for the last week has been laying on her back and contorting her body - this has filled me with confidence that she is very close to laying eggs.
Firstly, Monty (female Normal Royal), is very close to laying eggs. Last time I wrote I mentioned that she had ballooned in size and gone through a colour change, and was approaching a shed cycle, which I cautiously assumed was to be her final shed before laying eggs. Well I'm very pleased to say her behaviour since then has been very encouraging - she has been refusing food for a couple of months now, and for the last week has been laying on her back and contorting her body - this has filled me with confidence that she is very close to laying eggs.
In preparation for the event, and in order to minimise the risk of any laying issues such as egg retention/binding, I have made a nest box for her to lay in. This is a 9ltr RUB partially filled with sphagnum moss, with a little ventilation and a large entrance added to the lid, and placed in the vivarium. This should ensure she has somewhere comfortable and secure to lay her eggs, and the soft moist properties of the moss prevent her from getting any bark stuck in her vent during / after laying. The humidity of the nest box will also prevent the eggs from drying out before I can move them into the incubator. |
I'm pleased to say she has been using the nest box near-constantly since I placed it in the cool side of the vivarium, and I'm hopeful she'll use it to lay her clutch in. Sunday 16th of June marks the 30 day point from her pre-lay shed, so not too much longer now.
Moving on to the Corn snakes now: The last time I wrote, Rory (female Amel) had completed her pre-lay shed and was scouting round her vivarium for somewhere suitable to lay. Well, on May 10th I came home from work to find...
Moving on to the Corn snakes now: The last time I wrote, Rory (female Amel) had completed her pre-lay shed and was scouting round her vivarium for somewhere suitable to lay. Well, on May 10th I came home from work to find...
...a nice healthy looking clutch of 15 pearly white eggs, laid in the nest box with Rory looking quite defensive of them. Thankfully removal and transportation to the incubator was without issue, and all the eggs are showing healthy veins when "candled" with a torchlight held against them. This clutch should be due to hatch some time around the 5th of July.
I think it's important to touch on the negative side / risks of breeding, as it's not all excitement and anticipation - it comes with a degree of worry and concern too. Rory looked like crap after laying this clutch - very skinny, like a liquorice bootlace. She had only eaten 3 mice since coming out of Brumation in March, and prior to that stopped eating in October, so she wasn't carrying as much weight as I would have liked her to have, and used up the weight she did have in building and laying eggs. Additionally, something odd happened to her eye - it went very cloudy beneath the lens, at the back of the pupil. Observing her behaviour as the moved around the vivarium in the days after laying, I became increasingly concerned that she had lost her eyesight, as I noted her wandering aimlessly and bumping into objects, seemingly unable to find entrances to hides and coverage. She also seemed completely unaware of food being held right in front of her, bumping into it and recoiling in surprise. It's fair to say that breeding / eggs laying had taken it's toll on her, and I was quite worried. I'm happy to say that since gingerly taking a feed a few days after laying, she has continued to feed with enthusiasm, returning to her normal self and picking up nicely. Her eyesight has returned, the cloudiness to her eye has disappeared, she is putting on weight nicely with increased feeding, and looks a thousand times better than she did in the days after laying - in fact having palpated her stomach a few days ago, it seems she is not far from laying a second clutch. I'd rather she didn't double clutch as I'd much rather continue to build her back up, but it's out of my hands. They may all be slugs yet, but if they are viable I'll consider it a bonus, just so long as Rory continues to bounce back into health.
Moving on to Cornelia (female Anery Corn): I intially thought I'd missed the boat with this pairing, so to speak. Due to bad timing of pairing the male with Rory, and his rest days coinciding with alternating shed cycles, I didn't get as many opportunities to pair this couple as much as I would have liked to in the initial weeks following from the post-brumation shed, so I was beginning to think that it wouldn't happen for her this season. Well, it seems I was wrong once again - around 2 weeks ago I felt a string of eggs being developed, and shortly after she went into shed. She's a little late following her pre-lay shed, but I'm pleased to say that - as I write this - eggs are currently being laid: 7 so far, all looking good, with what looks to be at least the same again to come. Update to follow.
As a final update: There have been a couple of new additions to the Snake Room over the last couple of months. Firstly, there is Jack, a late CB12 male Cinnabee (cinnamon+spider) Royal python. He is my first 2-gene snake, and I have big plans for him next year. He's doing quite well at the moment, feeding with a degree of consistency and growing slowly but surely. Next up, is a CB10 female Green Phase Western Hognose. She hasn't been named properly yet - still working on that. She's very hissy and aggressive, as all good hogneses should be, but she calms right down once you pick her up - that's what I love about Hognoses, so much character packed into a tiny snake. Depending on how Little Hank (male Hognose) grows this year, I may consider adding her to my breeding place for next Spring too.
Well, that brings us fully up to date - the next few months are going to be busy with more eggs, and my first hatchlings in no time!
I think it's important to touch on the negative side / risks of breeding, as it's not all excitement and anticipation - it comes with a degree of worry and concern too. Rory looked like crap after laying this clutch - very skinny, like a liquorice bootlace. She had only eaten 3 mice since coming out of Brumation in March, and prior to that stopped eating in October, so she wasn't carrying as much weight as I would have liked her to have, and used up the weight she did have in building and laying eggs. Additionally, something odd happened to her eye - it went very cloudy beneath the lens, at the back of the pupil. Observing her behaviour as the moved around the vivarium in the days after laying, I became increasingly concerned that she had lost her eyesight, as I noted her wandering aimlessly and bumping into objects, seemingly unable to find entrances to hides and coverage. She also seemed completely unaware of food being held right in front of her, bumping into it and recoiling in surprise. It's fair to say that breeding / eggs laying had taken it's toll on her, and I was quite worried. I'm happy to say that since gingerly taking a feed a few days after laying, she has continued to feed with enthusiasm, returning to her normal self and picking up nicely. Her eyesight has returned, the cloudiness to her eye has disappeared, she is putting on weight nicely with increased feeding, and looks a thousand times better than she did in the days after laying - in fact having palpated her stomach a few days ago, it seems she is not far from laying a second clutch. I'd rather she didn't double clutch as I'd much rather continue to build her back up, but it's out of my hands. They may all be slugs yet, but if they are viable I'll consider it a bonus, just so long as Rory continues to bounce back into health.
Moving on to Cornelia (female Anery Corn): I intially thought I'd missed the boat with this pairing, so to speak. Due to bad timing of pairing the male with Rory, and his rest days coinciding with alternating shed cycles, I didn't get as many opportunities to pair this couple as much as I would have liked to in the initial weeks following from the post-brumation shed, so I was beginning to think that it wouldn't happen for her this season. Well, it seems I was wrong once again - around 2 weeks ago I felt a string of eggs being developed, and shortly after she went into shed. She's a little late following her pre-lay shed, but I'm pleased to say that - as I write this - eggs are currently being laid: 7 so far, all looking good, with what looks to be at least the same again to come. Update to follow.
As a final update: There have been a couple of new additions to the Snake Room over the last couple of months. Firstly, there is Jack, a late CB12 male Cinnabee (cinnamon+spider) Royal python. He is my first 2-gene snake, and I have big plans for him next year. He's doing quite well at the moment, feeding with a degree of consistency and growing slowly but surely. Next up, is a CB10 female Green Phase Western Hognose. She hasn't been named properly yet - still working on that. She's very hissy and aggressive, as all good hogneses should be, but she calms right down once you pick her up - that's what I love about Hognoses, so much character packed into a tiny snake. Depending on how Little Hank (male Hognose) grows this year, I may consider adding her to my breeding place for next Spring too.
Well, that brings us fully up to date - the next few months are going to be busy with more eggs, and my first hatchlings in no time!