My first little pippie!

[desertanimal]

My eggs were laid Aug. 5, and started denting in on Sunday, Oct. 7. This morning, I awoke to a pippie! This is from an amel x anery lav, so I'm expecting all normals. This one is normal. Luckily for me, I get to work from home today with my leg up, so I have the box sitting on my desk so I can keep an eye on what's happening. So far, it hasn't really been much, but it's still fun to see the little guy peek out. None of the other eggs have any slits yet. This is fun.

 

[Crowskin]

Awh The little one is so cute just peeking it's little snout out like that

Very cute! Can't wait to see the rest hatch out for you

 

[Eriathiel]

Awww thats awesome! What great pic's too! I can't wait to see more and hear how the rest turn out!

 

[diamondlil]

Wonderful! Pip-pip-hurrah!

 

[Roy Munson]

That's so cool. Congratulations! :cheers:

Just out of curiosity, did you incubate on those glass bead things? I see some moss stuck on the eggs, but that could have come from the lay box.

 

[desertanimal]

I did incubate on those glass bead things. I put some water in the bottom, but not enough to reach the eggs sitting on the beads, and used a sealed container. I added a patch of window screen over a previously taped-shut window in the gladware top when the eggs started denting to allow for air flow. I had made myself a viewing window with saran wrap, because I was tired of looking through the blue top. The moss is just what was still stuck to the eggs when I took them out of the laybox, which was moss.

I've now got TWO pippies. Mwah hah hah haaaahhhh!

 

[JoannaD]

Woohoo congrats!

 

[Roy Munson]

I did incubate on those glass bead things. I put some water in the bottom, but not enough to reach the eggs sitting on the beads, and used a sealed container. I added a patch of window screen over a previously taped-shut window in the gladware top when the eggs started denting to allow for air flow. I had made myself a viewing window with saran wrap, because I was tired of looking through the blue top. The moss is just what was still stuck to the eggs when I took them out of the laybox, which was moss.

I've now got TWO pippies. Mwah hah hah haaaahhhh!

I actually was thinking of those glass bead things to experiment with next year. I really want to employ a method that keeps all but atmospheric water away from the eggs. I had already decided that I'm going to incubate as dry as possible next year, even using perlite. I've seen methods where the eggs were placed on a screen over water and I figured that beads or gravel would do nearly the same thing. I'm definitely going to try a couple of clutches on beads. Thanks for the info.

 

[Tula_Montage]

Yup, great idea with the beads. Finally, a gorgeous mess free incubation medium LOL

Congrats on the lavity pips!

 

[desertanimal]

Finally, a gorgeous mess free incubation medium

We did specifically choose a color we wanted to be able to use in the bottom of our favorite clear flowervase after the pippies are done with them. So they will be stored in an aesthetically pleasing fashion until I need them next for eggs.

 

[Tula_Montage]

Fantastic! What a creatively practical way of looking at things. And it means the babies are not all dirty when the hatch, with bits of moss and dirt etc sticking to them.

 

[jazzgeek]

This is fun.

As one who just hatched out his first two clutches less than a month ago, I nominate this as Understatement Of The Year.

Congrats, Steph!! :cheers:

regards,
jazz

 

[desertanimal]

The first pippie has started to flick its tongue! I hadn't realized that I hadn't seen it do that for the first 12 hours it's had its head out. Cool.

A third pippie making a slit right now. It's funny to watch its little nose go back and forth.

 

[desertanimal]

Here's the first hatchling! It wasn't out of the egg when I left this morning, but it and a bigger clutchmate were when I got home.

This one was the first to pip. It looks pretty good, and weighs 6 g. First pic is for scale, second for color.

The bigger clutchmate has the situation with the dragging umbilicus, I haven't weighed it, but it's quite a bit bigger (this clutch had some pretty serious variation in egg size). It's in a wet gladware container now and I'm off to refresh my memory about what to do for it.

Last night, I was updating Kristi on the number of pippies, and she said it was cool. Then she asked, "So what are you going to do with all of these snakes?" (I'm not allowed to buy any more right now since my impending educational plans involve me being out of the country for two years beginning summer of 08.)

I said, "Well, I'll see if they eat, and then I'll see if any of the science teachers want them for their classrooms (I'm working with a few K-12 science teachers this semester), because they've got three hets and would make quite a mixture of phenotypes in their offspring that would look totally different from the adults, so they'd be good for the Mendelian genetics section."

She said, "Oh. Do you have mice that are small enough for them?"

S: "Yeah, I think so. I've been saving the smaller pinkies from the ones I bought for Colorado (my 07 Miami from Carol)."

K: "Oh." . . . "Are you going to keep any of them?"

Hmmm. I was planning on keeping one of two for a while, but we've had the no new snakes agreement in effect for a while, and we never talked about how snakes that were born here fall into that. Oh well, she asked, so I gotta be honest.
S: "Well, I was thinking of keeping one or two for while (shrug), just to see how they develop, and I don't actually have any normals in the collection, so maybe just until I leave, and then I'll find homes for them."

K: "Good. I think you should. I think that would be fun."

Kristi has NO interest in the snakes--she's a lizard fan, and is planning to get some panther chameleons when I'm away to give herself a fun little project, but thinks that snakes are snoooozzarrific. So, I thought her opinion that I should keep one or two of these babies was pretty much adorable.

 

[tom e]

That's how it starts! She'll be a snake fan by the time you get back! Pippy looks great!

 

[desertanimal]

She doesn't mind the snakes my any means, and thinks they're interesting for about 5 seconds usually. And some she thinks are pretty, like my amel. And she's actually quite fond of Scout, my first, an anery. Turns out she thinks these babies are cute. When she came home she got pretty excited that some of them were out of the eggs. And when I went and retrieved these two from the tub, she noticed right away that the little one was grey and she thinks it's pretty. As do I. I have a thing for grey snakes. So it looks like my amel is het anery! I LOVE aneries! Many of them, anyway. And this little one is cute. It's 4 g. Tiny.

 

[carol]

Congrats Stephanie!

 

[desertanimal]

Thanks, Carol! This has been a really great learning experience. When I want to breed for certain morphs, I will feel way more relaxed about the incubation process now. I've got two eggs with no signs of hatching, one still pipping, and 8 hatchlings out now.

I think the one with the dragging umbilicus has healed up. The first night, I snipped off the chunky, heavy end. The next morning, the tube-like part had fallen off. Yesterday it still looked open, but today it looks closed.

The first normal has already had its picture debut, but here are the individual glamour shots of the rest (sans the one with the dragging umbilicus, as I've left that one alone for now).

 

[desertanimal]

Sigh. The normals look so unattractive right now. I'll hang onto one for a while to see what happens with it, though. I have seen a normal or two that I liked the look of. Last hatchling. Until tomorrow anyway! I know these threads are SO boring for those who hatch out cool stuff, but I have to do it. It's my first clutch.

 

[Cat_Eyed_Lady]

Most of us never get tired of looking at babies.. or even bigger ones its always exciteing when someone hatchs out babies

I have a little side note... I want to thank you for the glass beads idea!! I have been tossing around a few ideas for next spring but didnt come up with anything that I was happy with.... I had a few die in the egg from drowning... so I wanted something that would help keep them out of all the 'wet' but also something that was easy to find, to clean and deal with in general. so, thank you again I was thinking I might try that next spring or maybe marbles?? I know my son would love to have them when the babies where done with them lol

Also.... on the very first pippie pic.... well, I dont know about anyone else but... the head pattern?? well.... It looks like Mickey Mouse to me!! hehe cute!!!