• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Disappointment: First '07 Hatchling

Roy Munson said:
Thanks for the replies, guys.
Thanks man. No more have hatched from the dome-heads' clutch, but I got a nice little charcoal out of the other clutch I've mentioned, and some other good looking ones were pipping this morning.
Click to expand...
A good day was had by all! Here's to smoother sailing :cheers:
 
jaxom1957 said:
A good day was had by all! Here's to smoother sailing :cheers:
Click to expand...
Thanks Lee. :) There are three good charcoals out, and about eight more pipping. That clutch seems normal. I saw one more pewter out too this morning, but I didn't really have a chance to examine it.
 
Roy Munson said:
There are three good charcoals out, and about eight more pipping. That clutch seems normal. I saw one more pewter out too this morning, but I didn't really have a chance to examine it.
Click to expand...
I saw the charcoals in the other thread (Nice!). I hope the remaining pewters hatch out looking that good :santa:
 
Don't ask me how I missed this thread, but I'm really sorry to hear that Murphy has hit you hard on the first clutch of the season. I know how it is when that SOB chooses someone to basically take up residence with. I'm hoping you get some healthy pewters and that your other clutches also have healthy hatchlings.
 
I missed this thread also. Dean, I am really sorry for what has happened. Hopefully it was only a few of them and the rest are fine. Glad to hear that the charcoals are good. Keep us updated.
 
Susan said:
Don't ask me how I missed this thread, but I'm really sorry to hear that Murphy has hit you hard on the first clutch of the season. I know how it is when that SOB chooses someone to basically take up residence with. I'm hoping you get some healthy pewters and that your other clutches also have healthy hatchlings.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the support, Susan. I think the pewter clutch is a bust. I have two living pewters out of it. But interestingly, the doming of their heads diminishes every day. The first one out (the one in blue), looks almost normal now. It wouldn't surprise me if it ends up looking completely normal by the time it sheds. The second one had less doming out of the egg than the first.

Looking back through my hatchling pics, I see examples where there is slight doming in some of them (all purchased snakes, incidentally). It wasn't retained in any of them, so it makes me wonder if the hatching condition is more common than I thought, and they quickly outgrow it. I'd appreciate input on this. The greedy guy in me almost makes me wish I hadn't made all of this so public. :grin01: But seriously, I hope this info helps or interests people. There isn't much info out there about dome-heads.
 

Attachments

  • 07c01 domehead1 (8).JPG
    07c01 domehead1 (8).JPG
    63.4 KB · Views: 87
  • 07c01 domehead2 (1).JPG
    07c01 domehead2 (1).JPG
    72.6 KB · Views: 87
The first looks perfectly normal now Dean. Tell me... whats their behaviour like? Are the normal in every other aspect apart from their heads?
 
Roy Munson said:
The first one out (the one in blue), looks almost normal now. It wouldn't surprise me if it ends up looking completely normal by the time it sheds. The second one had less doming out of the egg than the first.
Click to expand...
He's looking better and better :) Does he still think he's the baddest hatchling on the block? :grin01:

If I hadn't seen the just after hatching pics, I would never had guessed either snake had a problem; they both look so good now. Have you candled the remaining eggs? How past expected hatch date are they?
 
Tula_Montage said:
The first looks perfectly normal now Dean. Tell me... whats their behaviour like? Are the normal in every other aspect apart from their heads?
Click to expand...
Their behavior is 100% normal. They're active, their tongues flick constantly, and the first one is already getting feisty with me. I don't know if it's true, but I've heard that some of the big breeders don't really look at the hatchlings until the first post-shed feed. If that had been the case here, I don't know if I would have known there had been a defect at hatching. :shrugs:
 
jaxom1957 said:
He's looking better and better :) Does he still think he's the baddest hatchling on the block? :grin01:
Click to expand...
He really is looking good! Doesn't change the deal with his would-be rescuer. He was pretty mellow today, but he did give me a nip. Since the other pewter and the 14 charcoals that are out haven't bitten me, he IS the baddest hatchling on the block. :D This wouldn't be the case if my baby rosys were hatchlings-- 3 out of 4 of them are demons. But since they're born live, they don't qualify as hatchlings. :)
 
Tula_Montage said:
It could be very possible... have these guys shed yet?
Click to expand...
No, they haven't shed yet. Those pics are from just a couple of hours ago. Number One is in deep blue and Number Two hasn't gone opaque yet.
 
Roy Munson said:
The first one out (the one in blue), looks almost normal now.
Click to expand...
Here's a collage of the head shots you've posted. The difference between the first picture and today's is considerable, to say the least.
 

Attachments

  • Domehead1_HeadStudy.jpg
    Domehead1_HeadStudy.jpg
    78.4 KB · Views: 85
Just to throw it out---none of my hatchlings from this year or last had domed heads.

So I don't believe it's that common of a thing.
 
That's interesting Dean. I know that my sixth egg in my snow/blizzard/something clutch was a D.I.E. dome head snow. Not sure if it didn't hatch because it was a dome head or what. It did manage to slit the egg on it's own but didn't get out. Interestingly enough it was the last to pip as well which doesn't fall in line with the premature hatchling thing. It's the only one I've had so far and I hope that's the last (but that's probably wishful thinking).

~Katie
 
I had to open up a bad egg last night and the hatchling inside was dead and not fully developed. But one thing that really caught my attention was the extreme dome head. And I remembered that every other premature hatchling I've seen also had an extreme dome head. Could it be that a domed head is actually normal for hatchlings until just prior to full term? And the only reason your hatchlings are showing it is because they are slightly premature, even by only a few days? That might also explain why it's getting better as the hatchlings age...like the shape of a human infant's head is "flexible" at birth to make it through the birth canal and then goes back to normal after several days.

I hate it when my one brain cell is functioning this early in the morning. The rest of me now has to try and catch up...
 
It would be interesting to know what developing snakes looked like at various stages before hatching, like when we had to dissect chicken eggs in biology. (I, of course, let mine hatch!) I still think it's a prematurity thing. The rescuer is being rewarded for his/her good deed by acquiring a hopefully perfectly healthy snake.

So, after they both "turn" normal, or finish developing, or whatever, will you still enforce the no breeding agreement?

Nanci
 
Nanci said:
So, after they both "turn" normal, or finish developing, or whatever, will you still enforce the no breeding agreement?
Click to expand...
Well, there's no real way to enforce it anyway, but there may be no need to even request it. I'll probably leave the decision to the snakes' new owners.
 
Right, but if I accepted a snake on that condition, I would stand by it.

Still- I'm hoping they are just ok.

Nanci
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top