Archive for September, 2008

Last Albino Clutch Hatching

Well the wait is over, the last albino clutch has hatched. This was an anticipated clutch this season. I bought the het female as a near breedable adult in 2006. She didn’t breed that season, but I bred her to a het male in 2007. Five eggs were produced with no albinos. This of course brings up the dreaded question of whether the female was indeed het because the male I used was proven to be het by me.

I trusted the fellow I bought her from and the person who originally produced her both by reputation so I really didn’t think either would have intentionally sold a misrepresented snake. I know though that mistakes do happen and sometimes in a rack of 50 babies a mix up can occur so the possibility loomed over me for a year.

This season I bred her to a visual albino male and got a clutch of seven eggs. After the long wait of incubation they finally hatched this week. The count is four albinos and three 100% hets.
Whew! That was a big worry off me. I really didn’t want to go back to the fellow I bought her from and try to convince him he’d made a mistake.

I haven’t sexed the clutch yet so I don’t know what the ratios will be but I’m fairly sure that there will be both sexes of albinos.

That was the last clutch of the season but the next breeding season is fast approaching.

Clay :: Sep.27.2008 :: Reptile Related, The Collection :: No Comments »

New Cages in the Snake Room

I went down Wednesday and picked up the new cages from Reptile Basics. I had Richard build me six 3×2 cages with heat and lights built in.
I’m very pleased with the cages. The 3/8″ thick plastic these are made of is nice, and I like these much better than the boaphile cages I’ve seen in person. The extra thickness also allows the thermostat probe slot to be routed into the underside so that there is no hole in the cage for the probe. Having the probe underneath is also good so the snakes can’t move it around and get it off the heater.

Overall my initial impression with the cages is I really like them. I’m going to use them a bit before I write a review page of them, but unless some aspect of the design I can’t see just yet makes itself known I fully intend to get some more of these cages in the future.

Clay :: Sep.26.2008 :: The Collection :: No Comments »

Post Raleigh Show Report

Well, I had a great time in Raleigh, caught up with friends I hadn’t seen in a long time and met a few new ones. I sold a few snakes too, which was a nice bonus to the weekend.

The proceeds of the show are going to buy some new caging from Reptile Basics. I know, I’ve always taken pride in the fact I’ve never bought any cages, I’m the do it yourself guy, but I finally had to admit that i just don’t have the time to build everything I need. So I looked at all the major cage manufacturers and I decided that I was most impressed with the cages from RBI Plastics. I’ve got six 3×2 cages being built now which will go a long way toward getting me out of my caging deficit.
Once I’ve used them for a little while, I’ll write a review of them and add to that section of the site.

I also got some new animals while I was at the Raleigh show. After five years of swearing off insectivores, except for my dwarf monitors, I bought four crested geckos. I’ve always liked them but until now I’ve managed to hold to my no lizards rule and resist getting any. I’m really glad I did though, they are neat little geckos and I’ve been needing something new like that to stoke the fire so to speak.

The other new addition I picked up was a pair of Lady Gouldian finches. I’ve always enjoyed keeping birds I’ve wanted some Gouldians since the first time I saw some years ago. They are a truly beautiful finch, and I plan to add another couple of pairs in the future.

All in all I enjoyed vending again after such a long break from it and I will probably do it again once next year.

Clay :: Sep.15.2008 :: Random Thoughts, Reptile Related :: No Comments »