Marcianus Mayhem

[thamneil]

Things have been busy in the snake room! One of last years offspring produced a surprise litter which brings my baby count up to 19! While not ideal for the female, stuff happens. I am blessed to be so lucky in the art of breeding Thamnophis. I just wish these guys would start eating. A select few are feeding strongly on worm chunks while the others are holding out. Time to bust out the guppies!

PS: For a limited time, I will be offering free albino babies to Canadian hobbiests. I would love to see them go to knowledgeable keepers! Shoot me a pm to work out details! :)

http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/527659_454715051247792_1975467211_n.jpg

[Invisible Snake]

Wow that is extremely generous of you, kudos!

[Light of Dae]

.... :@ One Picture... That's it!?!?! ONE?!?! Come on Neil. You can do better then that.
:D

Super cute! You know I want some. A nice variation like one that's very light n yellow then a darker orangey one and one that is more pinkie purple :D Three.. I think :)

[guidofatherof5]

Good looking scrubs. Congrats.

[thamneil]

Sorry! It's all I had. Here...

http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/60335_460946600624637_1605717415_n.jpg
http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/407620_460946523957978_1859104560_n.jpg
http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/404622_460946413957989_1124544525_n.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

Good sized, healthy looking scrubs. They look very good.

[Light of Dae]

Lol Much better :)

Ooh they are so cute! I'm excited!

[thamneil]

Steve, I always feel so much better about everything after having "Steve's blessing".

[guidofatherof5]

I just call em like I see em.:D

[ProXimuS]

Very cute little surprises:)

[SilasBannook]

Those snakes are gorgeous. Congrats. Good luck with them waking up to the concept of feeding.

[Stefan-A]

Congratulations.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

Cute little babas:)

[ConcinusMan]

Last year's litter a momma? am I to take it that the mother is only around 12 months old? I didn't even think that was possible. Oh, and there are no surprises if you keep the sexes separate. If you don't, then the litter shouldn't be a surprise at all, other than her age. That is weird.

[thamneil]

The fact that the snakes were so young was the only reason that they were housed together. I have certainly learned that anything is possible with gartersnakes. Looks like I'll be splitting the sexes earlier this time around.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

What sort of age and size is recommended breeding age for a female?

[thamneil]

I would prefer to wait until at least 2 years of age.

[Eddie]

When I was breeding checkerds most of my females were breeder size in one year. Nothing unusual there. I also fed the babies chopped up unscented pinky parts from the first feeding. You should try that, they seem to like it better than worms.
Good luck with them.
Ed

[thamneil]

I always try unscented pinky parts just for the heck of it. Not a single snake showed interest. The ones that are eating well are taking pinky parts though.

[thamneil]

Photo for Steve...

http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/224418_461766333875997_1216473799_n.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

Thanks Neil. Just wanted to get a look at the snake that gave birth. That's a big 1 year old.

[thamneil]

She was the fastest growing snake from her litter. You could almost see the difference in size every week. I can't imagine how big she'll be a year from now.

[EasternGirl]

Beautiful mama snake...and gorgeous babies! Oh how I wish I lived in Canada. I was just thinking tonight that I might like to start breeding one of my albinos...Hermes needs a lady!

[Invisible Snake]

Photo for Steve...

http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/224418_461766333875997_1216473799_n.jpg

Gorgeous snake!!

Was this picture taken after giving birth or before?

[thamneil]

This was taken moments before being posted.

[ProXimuS]

Aww, mama is so pretty:) Does she have some normal babies, or are they all albino? The reason I'm asking is because the normal looking ones in with the albino babies look a little bit bigger than the albinos(or maybe that's because all the normals are all stretched out and the albinos are curled up).

[Greg'sGarters]

Nice litter. Dang!!! I wish I was in Canada! Does NJ count as Canada? Same continent lol

[thamneil]

Sorry, its been a while I see! Emily, good eye! The normals as well as two albinos are from an earlier litter.

I am also happy to report that the guppies have done the trick. Every single little baby is now eating :) Gotta love those guppies! Many have already made the transition to trout fillet!

[Light of Dae]

Any updated pictures? *cracks whip* lol

[thamneil]

Update! Here's a pathetic phone photo during feeding. Pardon the poop! Time for a cleaning. After the one feeding of guppies, all are now eating trout fillet! These little fellows switched over very quickly and easily.

http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/154297_466943783358252_1924602315_n.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

Looking good.
The snakes not the poop:D

[ConcinusMan]

:cool:

[Light of Dae]

Awesome! .. That big one is my boy right? lol He is bigger then the rest :) EXCITED!!!

[thamneil]

Correct! He's in shed.