Slow starters.........

[Nanci]

Wow- that one is so red already!!

 

[diamondlil]

Wow- that one is so red already!!

Thanks. I'm going to have a real dilemma on keepers this year. Of course if I'd hit the target, that would go nowhere. The christmas ghost intrigues me, but Dionythicus produced them a few years back and found they didn't end up very different to normal ghosts. I'll probably grow on all the Christmas hypos to yearling size before offering any (if at all!) for sale. They would be poss het diffused, anery.
The real problem with my project is that I still haven't got a purely diffused female, as Polly carries amel.

 

[diamondlil]

So the last of Faith's clutch hatched, another little Christmas ghost.
Annie's clutch is pipping now and so is Sundance's!

 

[MysticExotics]

Very pretty J9! Congrats!

 

[diamondlil]

Very pretty J9! Congrats!

Thanks!
Kate's clutch all weighed either 6 or 7g. all of Faith's were 8 or 9g. 2 clutches successfully hatched with no kinks or DIE. So far only 1 egg went bad, in Annie's clutch. I'm looking forwards to Belle's clutch, they are giant eggs just like her mom (Pearl) used to lay

 

[diamondlil]

Sundance's clutch are pipping, 3 hatched now including a lovely amel

 

[Tara80]

Very nice Janine! Looks like you've got quite a few cute little ones and lots of project babies!

 

[diamondlil]

And Annie's are really getting going now...........and I spy a snowy nose!

 

[diamondlil]

Very nice Janine! Looks like you've got quite a few cute little ones and lots of project babies!

Thanks. Every year I'm overwhelmed at how perfect and cute pippies are. I love the way they slash through the eggs and blow bubbles, love the anticipation, love how fierce they can be!

 

[Tara80]

Me too! It's so exciting and it amazes me how efficient they are at hatching out and getting ready to live on their own in such a huge world.

 

[diamondlil]

Only 1 last egg to pip from Sundance's clutch, a nice bunch of amels and het amels, no twins this year.
From Annie, all eggs hatched, aneries, ghosts and snows.
And the first to pip and the first to shed, here's one of Kate's het Christmas babies in his new scales!

 

[diamondlil]

Last of Sundance's babies hatched, and it's a little spitfire! Bitey little worm alert!
6 of Faith's have shed, 4 took their boiled pinks straight away.

 

[diamondlil]

Belle's clutch is pipping, and here are today's shedders.....

 

[diamondlil]

I should have about 2-3 weeks before Lil's clutch pips, then I'm done for the year. Some of the babies took their second feed today, so far 24 are off to a flying start in eating on the first attempt.
Despite unusual weather here with temperatures of over 30 degrees the incubator held steady temps. so far every single hatchling is healthy, no kinks. Only 1 egg went bad during incubation. a far cry from my heartache a few years back when heat spikes meant DIE and kinked babies.
No signs of double-clutching. I don't feed my females heavily after laying, letting them regain condition slowly. It seems to work for me along with keeping them on the lean side generally, so I got nice sized clutches and no egg-binding issues.

 

[diamondlil]

More shed 'n' fed babies...

 

[diamondlil]

Here's a christmas hypo boy, freshly shed. Poss het diffused, anery

 

[diamondlil]

:dancer::dancer::dancer: This has got to be my best year ever for breeding! SO far only 1 egg lost during incubation, no kinked hatchlings, 95% of the freshly shed babies ate without hestitation and some are already digesting their second pinkies!
I've tried to work out what I've done differently this year.
1. A new thermostat and heat cable in the incubator.
2. No ventilation holes in the egg tubs.
3. A more methodical approach to rotating the hatchlings. I've only got a small baby rack, which is still partially occupied by yearlings, so I'm using the incubator as a back up. Each batch of babies get moved into the baby rack after they feed, then back into the bottom shelf of the incubator 2 days later to make room for the next batch being fed. Up a shelf when the next batch of fed babies move back into the incubator,, and so on. So I know the top shelf which still has Lil's egg tub in has the next batch of candidates for feeding day, which minimises sorting through the baby tubs and disturbing them whilst they are digesting..

 

[Nanci]

I think you forgot the best part- aren't they all pre-sold???

 

[diamondlil]

I think you forgot the best part- aren't they all pre-sold???

Yep, I forgot that bit. Everything that thrives is off as soon as it has taken 3 meals :dancer:
Except the babies from Faith's clutch. They will need careful consideration as to which will be keepers, so I will be in no rush to shift them. The 2 diffused and the Christmas hypos from her especially. I'll keep them for at least 6 months to a year before I decide.

 

[diamondlil]

13 baby snakes sold!