# Baby Snakes Hatching



## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

Ball Pythons- two spider (color variety) and one normal so far!


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

ewwww!!!! Sorry...hate snakes...they give me the shivers!!


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## jfisher (Dec 29, 2005)

Effie,

You breed balls?! Did you know Chris and I breed BCI? I have a small collection of balls too that I'm starting this year! So cool seeing another GSD enthusiast slash snake breeder!

Congrats on the hatchlings! I really like spiders. Please send me some pics when they're out of their shells!










-Jackie


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## jfisher (Dec 29, 2005)

Here's a pic (I don't have many on this comp...It's just a loaner while my laptop gets fixed!) Though it's from 5 years ago. We don't breed burms anymore...Too much hassle esp. here in FL. It's a het albino granite. We had albinos, albinos het. granites, and albino granites in that clutch.










-Jackie


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## LadyHawk (Jan 19, 2005)

Beautiful wee things aren't they??


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## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

Hey, cool! No I didn't know that. I am in Florida too!


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## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

I have morelia too (GTP and jungle carpet) and a BRB


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## jfisher (Dec 29, 2005)

Ahh! This is too cool! (Yeah, I'm a dork!







) Where in FL? (You can PM me if you'd rather keep that private) We're in Archer, 10 min. from Gainesville.

Did you make Daytona this year? We purposely skipped it, cause we were broke and that's just WAAAYYY too tempting!









I love ALL snake species, but we've never had any morelia or rainbows. Chris is more of a "stick to one species" kind of guy, but I'm always trying little side projects with everything! LOL! I have a pair of reverse Oketee corns I'm trying this year too. That'll be a first for me in addition to the balls. We have nine female BCI ready this year, we're gonna be REALLY busy here come springtime!









-Jackie


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## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

I am in Tampa Bay, not too far! I know right where Archer is. I've been to the vet clinic up there plenty.

So cool! I am a dork too! hahaha

We skipped Daytona for the exact same reason!

We have two pewters, three black pastels, two albinos, two pieds, a het pied, six normal girls, a pet normal boy, two pastels, one spider, the three spider hatchlings, three normal hatchlings, a het albino, two mojaves... I think that's all of them... lol


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## jfisher (Dec 29, 2005)

OK I'm going to be contacting you this or next year!!!







I need a co-dom male and I'm thinking the Mojaves are my favorites. And my favorite ball morph period is the pied, so I'm TOTALLY jealous!







Like I said, right now the balls are just my little side project but the whole reason I started is because I totally LOVE the ball morphs, I think more than any other species. Chris isn't crazy about them, in fact he teases me about them. After keeping the females I have for 3 years now, I think they may turn out to be more than just a side project for me! I really like them.

I lost count of how many BCI we have...I think it's around 30. I know Chris wants to take pics today after he gets home from work so if you like, I'll send you a bunch. Hopefully this year we'll get a little bit of everything...The only morph we're not currently working with is Motleys, but that'll be soon enough!









We're going to have to meet up at a show sometime!

-Jackie


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## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

Oh yeah, that would be awesome! I want to see any pics you have for sure! I'd love a BCI some day, but I am scared of IBD.

OK I want to show off my crew... here ya go:



























































































Ok, there's more but you get the idea! lol


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## jfisher (Dec 29, 2005)

LOL OMG DROOL! Hahahaha, now I have to get up and go take some pics right now! BRB!









-Jackie


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## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

Yay!!!! lol I love pics.

What balls have you got?


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Could you explain some of the abbreviations for us non-snake people? And when you say 'spider' I'm assuming you mean a pattern of some kind? I have NO clue about snakes other than they are pretty!


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

I am clueless about snakes as well, but they sure are pretty!

I would love to see more pictures!


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## jfisher (Dec 29, 2005)

WOW...OK, apparently all my boas are having fat days today because NO ONE wanted their pic taken! Every one decided to be difficult! So, I got a few pics, but not what I wanted! First here's our setup...First two are the snake room and third is the living room overflow LOL!

(Excuse the newspaper sheets in the cages, we just fed and we use newspaper sheets to feed on so they don't ingest aspen)




























-Jackie


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

W-O-W

Okay, now that is a lot of snakes!


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## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

hahahah we have overflow problems too! lol

Abbreviations... GTP = Green Tree Python and JCP = Jungle Carpet. Morelia is the category of snakes both of those fall into.

BCI are Boas
IBD is inclusion Body disease, something more common in boas and very deadly to pythons, and incureable. It can wipe out your entire collection in a few months

Spider is a pattern

Morphs are any genetic color mutations


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## jfisher (Dec 29, 2005)

> Quote:Could you explain some of the abbreviations for us non-snake people?


LOL! Sorry guys! I'll let Effie explain hers but the ones I used, BCI, and het. are short for Boa Constrictor Imperator, and heterozygous.

BCI is simply used to differentiate Columbian Redtail Boas from similar redtail boas, called "True Redtails" such as Surinams and Peruvians.

Heterozygous means that that particular animal is carrying the genetic "code" to produce a specific "morph" (a color or pattern variety, each has it's own name, example: Albino) However the animal does not express that trait itself...It looks like a normal, or "wild-type" snake.

So a Normal boa het. Albino is a normal looking boa that when bred to another animal that carries the genes for albino, will produce a number of albino babies.

-Jackie


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## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

Hey ghost come to Ballpythons.net and help me educate this German Shepherd guy who wants to breed his dog who had 175 pound and 125 pound parents.... But they'll have nice AKC puppies.


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## jfisher (Dec 29, 2005)

Here are the few (bad) pics I managed to get of grumpy snakes! I'll definitely have to post more later because these pics are a sad representation of our collection! LOL!


First, an adult albino female. I assume most of you are familiar with albinism, a lack of normal pigment, resulting in a white or yellow animal with pink or red eyes.











Next, an angry little Anery female. Anery is a morph, short for "Anerythristic" meaning a lack of red pigment, making these snakes appear black and white.











The same female above right before she bit me. "NO PICTURES PLEASE!!!"



















Our largest BCI, a normal or "wild-type" female. (Note: Wild-type does not mean wild caught. NONE of our animals are taken from the wild, they are all captive bred) My hand is just there for scale.











This is a little male who's het. for Ghost. Ghost is a morph which is a combination of "Anery" (lacking red pigment) and Hypo. or "Hypomelanistic" (lacking various degrees of melanin or black pigment) so this snake will produce a baby which is basically a very light, faded grey all over the body, hence the name Ghost. He's playing hide and seek in his aspen bedding.











This is a Hypo. female, explained above. See how she doesn't have any black or dark pigmentation? Hypos are varying degrees of reddish brown.











Finally, a little Albino male, just being cute. Again, terrible pic, but it gives you a good idea how the eyes look.













I'll post better ones soon!







(Effie, hope you don't mind me sharing your thread!)

-Jackie


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## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

I love them! They are gorgeous!


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

I love all these pictures! I have like, ONE King Snake, LOL. You guys are seriously into snakes. Love the descriptions and explanations, makes it all so interesting. That last pic of your little male Jackie is just too cute!


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## gbocrafty (Apr 2, 2009)

Although I am not much of a snake person. The pictures are great and the explainations are better. 

I like snakes just don't have any. Son use to have a ball when he lived at home. Snake went with him and then to a new home.

There is a black rat snake on my property- I was lucky enough recently to catch him eating a frog-so here is the one in million shot.


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## sagelfn (Aug 13, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: gbodaneAlthough I am not much of a snake person. The pictures are great and the explainations are better.
> 
> I like snakes just don't have any. Son use to have a ball when he lived at home. Snake went with him and then to a new home.
> 
> There is a black rat snake on my property- I was lucky enough recently to catch him eating a frog-so here is the one in million shot.


lol if i saw that snake taking a picture would not even be a thought i'd run away screaming


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## jfisher (Dec 29, 2005)

gbodane,

WOW! That really IS a one in a million shot! We specifically go out searching for snakes and we're lucky enough if we even get to see one, let alone one feeding! That is something I've never seen in the wild.

-Jackie


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## JenniferH (Oct 9, 2007)

I love love love your snake pics! My first snake ever as a teen was a 10 ft burmese. We used to do reptile rescue. I have pics of my dd who is 6 years old with a few snakes. We have gotten tons off the road. I even got a dedicated bumper sticker to warn people! LOL Been thinking about getting another one at some point...


Hmmmm, Florida isnt too far away! I'm so jealous! Snakes are awesome!


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## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

I could send you one!


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## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

That picture is fantastic!


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## JenniferH (Oct 9, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: Effie325I could send you one!


DO NOT tempt me...

a few months ago we found two baby rat snakes on a busy road and since we couldnt find a place to pull off for long enough to let them out we ran home to get set to go back out later and my dd had so much fun with them. Just begged and begged to keep them...I wont keep a wild caught snake but a ball python would do a kid good...LOL


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## gbocrafty (Apr 2, 2009)

Ghostwolf- I got really lucky. I recently had timber harvested. I have my land and sisters in a forest management program. Just happened to be checking on the foresters when I saw the snake chasing something in a small water area. I ran like the dickens to the water to see him. He/She was shaking their tail like crazy in the leaves to scare me. Sounds like a rattlesnake, but it was so hungry it ate the frog right in front of me.


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## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

We get ball pythons shipped all the time! We do have three normals. One has a home lined up, and another might. But the third most likely still is up for grabs. I have the three spiders, but we are keeping any females, and we hope they all are girls!!! We will sell any male spiders. They really are good pets. If you decided to get one from a petstore, though, just make sure it's healthy.


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## JenniferH (Oct 9, 2007)

I dont think I'll ever go the pet store route for reptiles again. Just dont trust them...When dh worked at one part time for fun we did end up taking home a beardy and a timor but that was it. Most of the ones I have had have been rescues...


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## Doubleminttwin (Aug 21, 2009)

Effie and Ghost you two remind me of my sister, myself and my old roomate. Although we own rats so snakes are not for me







We bred leopard geckos (on a small scale) and just love reptiles. It would not be unusual for our other roomate to come home to us talking leo genetics and different morphs







I want a snake sometime but never while I have pet rats, its just too mean lol I remember how exciting it was to have eggs incubating and getting ready to hatch, we did a happy dance the first time one of our eggs hatched! There is nothing quite like breeding reptiles. I love both of your pics, beautiful babies!


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## JenniferH (Oct 9, 2007)

LOL I just showed my dd and we got the ooooo's and ahhhh's! "Is that a rainbow snake?" "Oh thats pretty" "Is that the snakes bedroom?"

You have another fan!


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## CherryCola (Apr 24, 2006)

I don't know a whole lot about snakes, but they sure are pretty! This thread has made really interesting reading. Congrats on all the little ones!


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## jake (Sep 11, 2004)

I love the idea and look of snakes BUT one thing has kept me from owning one-is it true you have to feed LIVE mice?I don't think I could go there.


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## jfisher (Dec 29, 2005)

> Quote:LOL I just showed my dd and we got the ooooo's and ahhhh's! "Is that a rainbow snake?" "Oh thats pretty" "Is that the snakes bedroom?"


LOL how adorable! I love "Is that the snakes bedroom?"












> Quote:is it true you have to feed LIVE mice?


Nope! Not at all. In fact, not one single snake of ours eats live prey. There are actually companies that specialize in nothing but producing/selling/shipping pre-killed and frozen snake and lizard food. You usually have a choice of mice, rats, or rabbits, all of different ages so that they're different sizes you can match to the right size meal for each snake. We place large orders several times a year and have a full size freezer dedicated to just snake food.

There are several important reasons why it is actually better to feed frozen-thawed prey. First of all, freezing will kill any bacteria or parasites that may be in the prey animal. Second, there have been many cases of live rodents left in a snake's cage that end up severely hurting, and even killing the snake. Rodents are aggressive and have big, sharp teeth. Some WILL attack a snake, especially if they sense that the snake does not want to eat now and won't strike at the rodent. That surprises a lot of people but snakes can be very sensitive and gentle creatures, especially depending on the species. Most ball pythons curl up their heads and ball up their bodies over themselves before they would ever strike at a person, hence the name. 

Frozen-thawed feeding is simple too, especially when you get your baby snake from a breeder who feeds that way, because then the animal is already used to eating that way. We just set down sheets of newspaper over the aspen bedding (so they don't accidentally ingest the shavings) then, open the cage, set the prey in the center of the paper, and let the snake do the rest. Some snakes enjoy striking at their food and constricting it anyway, even though its already dead. These ones can be fed with long tongs or forceps, holding the rat for the snake to grab, and that's that!

I will get some pics Friday of feeding day. 

-Jackie


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## jake (Sep 11, 2004)

Thanks for reply.I really would love to know more about snakes and be able to really see them up close and natural.I realize the natural order of predator/prey but just could not be the person who bought a live mouse and fed it to a snake,just like I love chicken wings but couldn't actually kill a chicken.Anyway think snakes are really neat and beautifull --so think they are way underestimated on their abilility to think and relate to their environment and maybe the people who choose to interact with them.


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## jfisher (Dec 29, 2005)

Yep! We just think of their frozen/thawed prey as the same as us eating a frozen whole chicken or ground beef. It's really no different...Meat is meat and that's what they have to have to live.

And I totally agree with you. Snakes have such an undeserved bad reputation. In actuality, you are MUCH more likely to be attacked or bitten by domestic cats and dogs! So many people see them as "evil." I see them as gorgeous amazing creatures that are able to live and hunt with no limbs. They can definitely have personalities too. For the most part, burms are stupid (affectionate reference!







) but they're like the big dumb animals of the snake world. They define the word "DUR" LOL! Boas are smart, stealthy, and bold. Ball pythons are secretive, shy, non-confrontational, and sweet. I think they make great starter snakes because their temperaments are so mild, and they don't get too big at all.

-Jackie


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## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

Oh yes, dogs kill far, far more people than pet snakes do!

I do feed live prey, but I don't see how it's any different than feeding my dogs raw. The mice die a very quick death. Most of mine won't eat frozen, and I would rather use the space for my dogs' food.


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## jake (Sep 11, 2004)

HEY are you saying if I want to live with a snake maybe I have to look at snake breed the same way I would look at DOG breed??


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## JerzeyGSD (Jun 26, 2008)

Great pictures! WOW!


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## Steffanie (Oct 1, 2005)

Wow I didn't realize there were so many snake people here! Great collections, nice to see the babies hatching!

I have a year old JCP, would love to have a large collection, maybe even breed, but that's not something in my budget right now. Maybe one day.











> Originally Posted By: ttalldogHEY are you saying if I want to live with a snake maybe I have to look at snake breed the same way I would look at DOG breed??


Exactly! Each species of snake reaches different sizes, requires different care in regards to temperature and humidity, and have different temperaments. There are lots of snakes that are considered 'beginner' snakes because they tend to have gentle temperaments, reasonably small sizes, easy care and are pretty hardy so small mistakes won't kill them. Ball Pythons and Corn Snakes tend to be the most common first snakes.


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## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

Your JCP is gorgeous!!! I hope mine turns out that hot. Is he tame?


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## gsdlove212 (Feb 3, 2006)

I think snakes are interesting to look at....from a distance or in pics. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I have a phobia of snakes. It is totally irrational, but I have absolutely no control over it. They are neat to look at in their enclosures, but out...scares the bejeezzus outta me. Literally I freeze, can't breathe, can't move away, can't make a sound...the only thing moving on me are the tears as they fall down my cheek. LOL and its really sad I think. My boys would love to have a pet snake, but I jsut can't.


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## Steffanie (Oct 1, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: Effie325Your JCP is gorgeous!!! I hope mine turns out that hot. Is he tame?


Thanks! She's tame, a joy to hold and very tolerant - even neighborhood kids have held her and while they're not the best/gentlest at handling she's never shown any inclination towards biting or hissing. But she does have a pretty typical monstrous feeding response so once she gets a whiff of food I have to be careful; otherwise I can pick her up any time without trouble.

How's yours? Jungles have that reputation of being nippy but mine wasn't even when she was a tiny worm-like thing.

As long as they're not "kill it!"-afraid, I respect people's fear of snakes. Everyone has their fears. If they're open for a little education I'm always happy to help, but if they're not that's fine too.


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## sunfluer (May 12, 2009)

<span style='font-size: 11pt'>Interesting and ewww at the same time.</span>


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## Effie325 (Aug 19, 2009)

Mine nips a little, he's tiny! But he doesn't hurt us and he chills as soon as I hold him. He's much more reactive and jumpy than the balls, though!

My BRB has gotten me good! Love that little







!


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