'09 Breeding Season Update

The breeding season is going well so far, most of my breeders have already laid their clutches, however I have a few more still to lay. So far most all of the eggs look fertile and seem to be developing nicely...but you never know how things will exactly turn out until it is hatching time. A couple of highlights include the Mexican Baird's which came through with a nice healthy looking clutch towards the end of May which is much ealier than my Texas Bairds usually lay. Also, check out this clutch of 17 from my largest Mexican Lined Gopher female which was produced the first week of June. This girl really came through and another female should be laying soon.

The European Ratsnakes are usually the ones that lay first for me, however this Leopard Ratsnake did not lay this clutch until several weeks after all the others had laid their's.

I got a chance to do a little field herping this spring, below is a photo of a Copperhead I found under some tin in one of my old favorite spots in Guiliford Co. that unfortunately is being encroached upon by development. Sad to see a great NC piedmont herping spot in the process of vanishing. I'll update things later once all my females have laid.

A Blast From the Past

Anyone remember the Vivarium magazine? I had an ad in the second issue which came out in the late '80s. I was supposed to have an ad in the second issue but they accidently left it out so they let me have ads in the next two issues. It's fun to look back and see how things have changed in herpetoculture.

Pituophis news.....

The long wait for my P. l. lineaticollis eggs to hatch finally ended this past week. Like with many pit lovers, it has been a dream to finally produce these guys. Check out the elongated striping of this male.
Also hatching out this past week was this nice clutch of big fat Stillwater hypo Crumbly Red Bull crosses. The color of these should be outstanding as they mature.
I was checking out a few of my yearlings such as this '07 La Pine and this '07 Presidio Co. affinis sayi intergrade (a naturally ocurring intergrade)and the size difference is as interesting as the color variety we see within the Pituophis genus.

Intermontana habitat and hatching

This summer I had a chance to be in E. g. intermontana country. The above pic is a view of some typical habitat in the canyon lands of Eagle Co. Colorado.
I also had a chance to visit Rocky Mountain National Forest. No herps were seen but we did see this moose feeding in a pond near the headwaters of the Colorado River.
And here is a little Colorado Spotted Ratsnake that has just hatched. Check my Available section soon as lots of things are hatching now and I'll be listing them soon.

The past couple of weeks have seen a lot of egg laying. Below is a short sequence of my Spanish locale Ladder Ratsnake pushing an egg out. I now have two clutches of Ladder Ratsnake eggs, one from my French animals now these.


My beautiful Bandera Co. Baird's once again have come through, as seen here with this female in the middle of laying her clutch.
I am really excited about my first time breeding of these much sought after Mexican Baird's. This female came through with a nice healthy looking clutch.
Another of my western ratsnakes, this Colorado Mtn Spotted Ratsnake, came through with a nice clutch too.

More Egg Laying

This female Croation locale Leopard Ratsnake is in the process of laying four eggs. Unfortunately this species does not lay a lot of eggs but they are large and very long (like most European Ratsnake eggs) compared to the size of the adults.

Below is an '07 hatchling from this same female. Hatchlings Leopard Ratsnakes are very easy to raise and grow rather rapidly unlike what many think of European Ratsnakes.

It is Egg Laying Time

Some of my females have begun to lay. Above is a clutch of P.l.lineaticollis eggs that were dropped Tuesday, June 3rd. I have another female that should be laying later on. This beautiful "super" Okeetee also dropped a nice clutch of 14 on Tuesday. I hope several of the hatchlings will turn out as nice as their mother. This is just the start of what looks like to be a good season...several gravid females should be laying throughout this month. Check back for details.