Copperhead finally gets his Chance

[Jessicat]

Looks like Copperhead, my mysterious should be a Butter Motley but isn't, might not be quite as mysterious after this season! :cheers:

Copperhead
(not so thrilled about me butting in)

Lux
cool as a cucumber

She pretty much let me snap away to my hearts content, not showing any signs of disturbance.

Copperhead eventually calmed down as well

I think they make a nice looking pair, and I'm very interested in seeing what the heck is going on with my Orangey boy!

The best part of the whole thing: The evidence matched them!

For more information on Copperhead, who looks like an Amel Motley, but came from two Butter Motleys, read this thread.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104138

Guess it's time I gave him a chance to prove himself out!

 

[ghosthousecorns]

Go Copper! Congrats, Jessica! I hope you get more that look just like him.

 

[Nanci]

Congratulations!! I've always loved Copperhead!!

 

[Tom Tuttle]

Congrats on the breeding! If you get one just like him, I get dibs.He was my holdback until you twisted my arm.

 

[fyrefocks]

Congrats! :cheers:

 

[lajes]

Wow great shots dude!
What a great couple cant wait to see what hatches!

 

[oneirogenesis]

Congrats! I think Copperhead is my favourite of your snakes. It will be neat to see how this turns out!

 

[Caramel]

congrats jessica i hope that breeding will proove him out

 

[Jessicat]

Wow, I can't believe there are so many fans of him!! Tom, you'll definitely be in the #1 slot for little look alikes!

Jen, I will probably be calling/ texting you at some point for advice!

I'm just so glad that after 5 years Copperhead will FINALLY get to exchange his genes with a similar snake, and we might even figure out why he was so odd in the first place!!

Also, I gotta say that this is all thanks to John F. If you'd asked me 1-2 months ago what I had going on this season, it would have been nill. Thank you John so much!!!

 

[Jessicat]

I took a peek into Lux's laybox today, and lo and behold.. look what I found!

What do you guys think.. should I be concerned about the uneven surface? Are eggs layed like this, or is this a cause of the eggs dying out after being layed? I just spent the past few days at my parents house. I found the female wrapped around them, so I don't think it could have been that long since they were layed. I can't be 100% sure though. They look good to me other than the dimpling.

There are 15 of them! Most of them were clumped together, but two were separate. I placed those two (which looked fine) next to the clump. I got a small 5qt shoe box, put a layer of moist vermiculite down, then dampened some sphagnum moss. I put that above and below the eggs. As a final touch, I placed a few moist paper towels over the top layer of moss.

Here's what they looked like before the top layer of moss was put on them.

I'm already WAYYYYYY too excited!!!

 

[zorro]

Congrats, all though I'm not sure about those eggs. Be sure and watch to much moisture around those eggs.
John

 

[fyrefocks]

They look great to me, just unevenly calcified. Youll want to candle them to make sure they are viable though.

CONGRATS!

 

[Tom Tuttle]

Congrats, all though I'm not sure about those eggs. Be sure and watch to much moisture around those eggs.
John

Congrats. I agree with John on this. Hopefully they plump up & prove fertile. I'm not into candling eggs, the less movement the better.

 

[OkeeteeMom]

Hi Jessicat. I sure hope they plump up and are viable for you. Both parents are truly lovely!

 

[Jessicat]

Thanks guys! I just hope that I didn't miss them by a day. They were in the laybox, which was moist, but they weren't in ideal conditions.

I'll let them sit for a few days the way they are and then check on them. Hopefully they'll look a little better then. I may try candling them. I'll keep them in their box just in case and hope for the best!

 

[zorro]

It's nothing you did, they just lay them like that sometimes.
John

 

[Nanci]

I agree with Nate- just uneven calcium. I bet they are fine. Your moss looks plenty damp, maybe a little too damp.

 

[Caramel]

Hell yeah, congratz jessica they look fine for me too

 

[Jessicat]

I just checked on the moss, and it is damp, but not dripping or anything. There is no excess water pooled anywhere. The eggs look about the same. Perhaps the moss looked too damp because of the flash? I soaked it then wrung out the water before I put it in there. How can I tell if it's too damp?

 

[ghosthousecorns]

Those eggs look OK to me. Like Tom, I am not a big fan of candling, I like to move them as little as possible and especially not once they are set up in an incubator. If you wring out every last drop of water you can, the moss should be just right. Congrats on the eggs!