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Introducing: The Kisatchies!

Floof

New member
Well, it's high time I do a proper introduction for this lovely pair.

These two are Kisatchie corn snakes. Also known as Slowinski's corn snakes or Pantherophis slowinskii, for those who aren't aware, they're a species of rat snake native to Louisiana and eastern Texas that are quite closely related to our "Common" Corn Snakes.

It's a bit of a long story how I came to possess them... But, to keep it short, my roommate acquired them from a local snake owner who was getting out of snakes (won't even get into how much of an idiot she is, and how glad I am she's done with snakes). She decided to breed them and, a few months later when the eggs were halfway through incubation, decided to get out of snakes completely. (Another person I'm happy to see done with snakes... Hopefully this time for good, because this is the second or third time she's gotten out of the hobby completely!)

The male is named Vrael. She actually gave him to me not long after she acquired the pair. Don't know why--some subconscious instinct telling her she wasn't going to keep him long, anyway, or just the fact that I fell so hard for him the moment I met him. Either way, he's an awesome snake and I'm thrilled to have him.

First up are a couple quick pics from July. They are so pretty in natural sunlight!
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And a couple pics from today, taken indoors with flash.
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He is SO chunky! He weighed in at 806 grams today... Granted, he just ate a couple days ago, so that's not an "on empty" weight. (My hands are tiny and he was slipping out of my hand, but still gives an idea of just how thick he is)
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Then there's the female. Barely a week before the eggs were due to hatch, Roommate decided to just give the female and the eggs to me. Roommate had named her Clove--she's a big fan of the Hunger Games. Personally, I really dislike that name, so I've been trying to decide on a more appropriate name. Currently leaning toward Kialandi, or some other name from the Eragon books, to match Vrael.

Back in July...
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Today. This first picture is in the exact same basket as Vrael is in above. She's SO much smaller! She weighed in at 428 grams today, again not quite on E.
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She's the one who got to move into a planted viv earlier this month. She LOVES to burrow, and has been doing her best to completely uproot her pothos plant.
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Despite her constant burrowing, the plants are both doing great. They both even have new growth! The planted viv has been working very nicely for her!
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Well, there you have them! I'll probably post pictures of the hatchlings in this same thread shortly. Thanks for peeking!
 
Pretty snakes, love the chocolate color and how big that guy is! The girl just looks so dainty and sweet :)
 
The hatchlings...

As I mentioned, when she acquired them, my roommate decided to breed them. The female laid 17 eggs in June, 16 of them fertile, and they began to pip on August 11th.
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The result was 16 beautiful, healthy hatchlings, averaging 7-8 grams. Two months later, I have 2 non-feeders, several sporadic feeders (though live is seeming to work nicely on these, and chicken scented on a couple others), and a few who are finally eating consistently. One of the most consistent feeders has already found a great home.

Here are some of the wee babies...

This is #2. So far has popped female once, and recently, after being a long-time non-feeder, decided that live pinkies are the bee's knees. I'll be trying frozen/thaw soon, and have high hopes! This was taken last Sunday. She was SO honed in on this pinky that I was able to pick her up gently to replace her paper towels and snap a few pictures without her even flinching. (Hence why I have such high hopes!)
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This is #3. This little male was my very best feeder from the start, until he went into his second shed and stopped eating. Finally, a couple weeks after his second shed, he decided food is acceptable again. Hopefully he keeps it up.
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#5 was my other great feeder, who also decided food wasn't appealing any more when he went into his second shed. He hasn't started eating again yet, but we're working on it. This is right after his second shed... I had to sneak a quick picture while the sun was still out!
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#16 is one of the two non-feeders. Took a single pinky after her first shed, and hasn't eaten since. I do hope she decides food is good. She has a stunningly silver background color, much sharper than her siblings, and I'm very eager to see how it develops. This is after her second shed.
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I'm really enjoying getting to work with these babies, even if most of them are total jerks about eating... Lol. I hope you enjoyed the peek at the babies!
 
Nice, what are you gonna do with all those babies? They're in good hands, I bet they'll eat soon.
 
Pretty snakes, love the chocolate color and how big that guy is! The girl just looks so dainty and sweet :)

Thanks! They're fantastic snakes. Both are very easy-going and great lap snakes when they feel like it.

The female can be a total live-wire, though, if you try to restrain her! She'd probably be much better about handling if I held her more, but I'm usually content to just watch her cruise around her tank. She's always up to something, or at least peeking out from under a clod of dirt somewhere. As I type, she seems to be contemplating the meaning of glass and that strange beam of light that lights her world. Or praying to the food gods. She's so silly.

As far as the babies, once they're all eating consistently, I'll be finding homes for them. The only one who will be sticking around will be #16... I'm way too curious about how her colors will develop as she grows.
 
Praying to the food gods, lol my black rat does the same thing. I don't handle my corns a whole lot either, I like to observe and they don't seem to mind. You kind of feel a better connection with them when you're not holding them, because it's obvious most don't like being picked up, but rather, just to be. I do however, enjoy chilling with my dumerils, my big guy will curl up beside me on the bed and my little girl likes crawling around on me, she will not leave my lap, she always comes back. I got pics I need to post. She even curled up on my foot under my laptop when I was sitting indian style on the bed.
 
Aww, your Dums sound like such sweeties. As strange as it may seem, the BEST lap snake here is my gopher snake. He will literally curl up wherever you set him and just sit there for hours. So easy going.

Woohoo! Tonight, not only did #2 take her first frozen/thaw, but #5 decided to break his 2.5 week fast (which felt like a LOT longer than that, lol) and eat! I'm a happy snake mom tonight... :p Now if all the live feeders eat without fussing tomorrow, my whole weekend will be made!
 
Wow, they are all so darling! I love that picture of the female sticking her nose out from the dirt. :3
 
Thanks! The Kisatchies seem to be rather underrated... Like most rat snakes, actually. It's a shame! I'm actually toying with the idea of picking up a Silverleaf or a het Silverleaf pair down the road... Talk about stunning. :)
 
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