House Guest

[katach]

I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting another forum member today! My honey and his son and I drive over to Chantel's (kibakiba) house today. We picked up Snakey for Blade to mate with. Chantel and her mom are super sweet and wonderful hostesses. Thank you guys so much for the warm welcome and hospitality. My step son had a great time playing with Lovey. Snakey made the trip to my place fine. He is settled in with Blade in our 10gal. tank. He happily ate 2 night crawlers also. I'll be posting some pics of the 2 together after Snakey sheds. I'm very excited to see the offspring that these two produce.

[kibakiba]

Snakey is going to beg and beg for food now that he knows you'll treat him right ;)

It was fun meeting you guys!

[katach]

And I will probably give in must of the time. :D

I had a ton of fun meeting you guys too!

[kibakiba]

Yeah, he's pretty good at the "I'm starving, please feed me!" face..... Haha.

[guidofatherof5]

Garter snake escort service.:D
Good luck with the breeding project Kat.

[katach]

Thanks! I'm hoping for some healthy ones. I would love it if some turned out to be as red as Blade too. :)

[PINJOHN]

from me too, best of luck with the project, i know that between you and Chantel we wont go short of updates

[chris-uk]

Sounds like a good project, it's great to see when the forum community helps each other out with these projects. Good luck, and I hope you get the babies you're looking for.

[katach]

Bill said he saw some possible courting this morning. Fingers crossed!

[guidofatherof5]

Bringing flowers to the front door.
How sweet:D

[katach]

:D

[katach]

Snakey shed this evening. One whole piece, both eye caps, and the whole tail. He is very shiny now.

Question: I' ve noticed that it smells a smidgen like musk in there. Is that normal? They have fresh bedding and clean water.

[guidofatherof5]

Some snakes defecate and or musk in the shed.
Haven't seen it much with my snakes but I've heard other forum members mention it.

[kibakiba]

Snakey has musked in his shed before... He actually jumped when he saw the face part of it after he had gotten it down near the tail... Haha. Poor Snakey... :D

[katach]

Awwwwww poor little guy. He is a bit jumpy.
They were snuggled together last night at bed time. It was sweet. :)

[guidofatherof5]

Awwwwww poor little guy. He is a bit jumpy.
They were snuggled together last night at bed time. It was sweet. :)

Yeah, sweet. Until someone gets dragged around by their wherewithal. Then it's not so sweet.:D

[katach]

Yeah :D

[chris-uk]

Yeah, sweet. Until someone gets dragged around by their wherewithal. Then it's not so sweet.:D
After witnessing that for the first time yesterday, I agree, it's not so sweet.

[ConcinusMan]

Thanks! I'm hoping for some healthy ones. I would love it if some turned out to be as red as Blade too. :)

Could take 4-12 months for red to show up on babies. Don't forget to simulate the seasons. They are most likely to be "in the mood" in fall and early spring after brumating. Especially after the girl sheds during one of those two seasons. Sometimes they can be tricky and mate but not produce. Also, they can retain sperm from several matings, from several males, for several years before they decide to go ahead and have babies. So, the babies won't necessarily have the same father, or be fathered by the male last used.

This does make it kind of a pain to selectively breed northwesterns. And even if you manage to do so, the resulting offspring are still somewhat unpredictable due to polymorphism. Also makes it impossible to accurately estimate the due date. After mating, the babies can come anywhere from 60 days, to a year or two later.:eek:

Just some things to keep in mind.;)

[katach]

Thanks Richard. This a new thing for me so any advice and info is always helpful.
I know that the babies are polymorphic, but a girl can hope. :)

[ConcinusMan]

Well think of it this way: While getting "snake eyes" by rolling two dice is just lucky, breeding two red northwesterns is like taking one of those dice and making sure that there is a one on two sides of it. It does increase the odds.

[kibakiba]

Getting 2 blues from a red/white pair was surprising enough for me... Unfortunately the really blue one died... That makes me sad. Azul has been losing colour, so I can't say he's blue anymore.

[katach]

They are curled up together inside the paper towel tube in the tank. It's so cute!

[kibakiba]

He's a very snuggly little boy, that's for sure!

[katach]

Pinkies are ordered from Layne Labs. They will be here friday. They were very nice. Chantel, they are splitting the order before they package it so it's easy to divide for us. I'll bring your half when we bring Snakey home.

[kibakiba]

Awesome, thanks Kat!

[katach]

You are very welcome. We saved $23 each by splitting the 500, rather than each ordering 250.

[kibakiba]

Money saved is always a good thing... I buy stuff in bulk (depends on what it is) for that reason... :D

[katach]

Snakey seems to know it's that time for Blade and is hiding in the corner hide.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg193/scaled.php?server=193&filename=dsc03090vi.jpg&res=medium

[katach]

I woke up this morning to see the tank in complete disarray. The leaf hid was in the middle of the tank, the wood hide had been moved and the paper towel roll was in the water. Do you think they may have locked-up during the night?

[guidofatherof5]

That's funny.
Tell Dad to get his shotgun :D

[kibakiba]

They may have, or snakey may have been chasing her trying to court her.

[katach]

They are very snuggley with each other today. Snakey has been following her all over the tank.

[kibakiba]

That would be typical courtship ;) He's a big softy. Haha

[katach]

What a romantic little guy he is. :)

[kibakiba]

If he were a human, he might freak some ladies out by following them everywhere ;)... Unless he was a really smooth talking charmer of course.

[katach]

I can just picture that..... :D

[kibakiba]

I've had a guy do that... It didn't end well to say the least. It was extremely creepy, being that I had no idea who he was! Haha.

[katach]

If that happened to be it would end in pain, lots of pain!! :D

[kibakiba]

You know, if I hadn't been shy at the time he probably wouldn't be able to have any children after he touched my shoulder. There are soooo many creeps here in GF

[katach]

Thanks for the warning. I'll be sure to stick close to Bill next time we come over, if we stop anywhere. :)

[kibakiba]

It's usually in town that people get weird, it's 8 miles up the highway from me, so you shouldn't have too much of a problem. Too bad my Christmas present will be spent on finding a job in that area... :rolleyes:

But hey, when I start getting some money I can go to the gym! Creepy guys beware of my uber-strong arms!

[katach]

:D I can see guys walking around limping and holding their arms in pain!

[kibakiba]

Heeheee. Maybe I can get the old clothes I wore in middle school, chain pant band tees and other gothicy things... I was kind of feared at the beginning of 8th grade... Dunno how that would work on a grown man but it would be worth a try and possible horrified face from someone trying to hit on me! :D

[katach]

That's funny!!

[kibakiba]

Indeed... ;) Most people cant see a blondie, gamer-dancer woman like be being gothic but I had thw whole black hair, red highlights, lip piercings, thick eyeliner and black eyeshadow thing going on at one point... :D

[katach]

I think this is a good sign!

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/6281/dsc03141f.jpg

[kibakiba]

Tail holding is a courting thing, so it is a good sign! Hopefully they'll lock up!

[katach]

I hope so too!! They have done this a few times. I was just able to catch it this time.

[EasternGirl]

This is better than a soap opera...come on Snakey and Blade! What happens next...I'm hanging on here guys...

On a different note...you guys were talking about it smelling like musk when Snakey shed...I often notice Cee Cee smelling musky...but she has never musked me per se...she just often smells musky...what do you think that could be about?

[katach]

Could just be how she smells. Willow (one of my other girls) has never musked me and she has a kind of body oder I guess you could call it.

[EasternGirl]

Aww...Cee Cee has snake B.O....

[kibakiba]

Mama always smells like nachos, or tortilla chips... Haha.

[guidofatherof5]

My radixes smell like beautiful meadow flowers. :D

[EasternGirl]

Nachos or tortilla chips! Lol... Of course they do Steve...they're radixes...;)

[RedSidedSPR]

Mine smell like... um.. they don't smell. Ever.

Hope they lock up!

[katach]

Me too. I am thinking they may have once already because of the way the tank was in the morning but I can't be sure.

[kibakiba]

Blade would show it if they did, she'd have a sperm plug type thing at her cloaca. It'd be a hard lump in that area.

[katach]

I'll have to check when we get home. We are at the laundromat right now.

[ConcinusMan]

My radixes smell like beautiful meadow flowers. :D

Yeah, right! :rolleyes:

[ConcinusMan]

Blade would show it if they did, she'd have a sperm plug type thing at her cloaca. It'd be a hard lump in that area.

That doesn't always happen. But, if snakes have recently mated there will be tell tale signs of "wear" around the female's cloaca in most cases, at least for a day or two.

[kibakiba]

Well, it's happened every time I noticed Snakey and Mama getting jiggy with it. I guess I'm just... Lucky?

[katach]

I checked and no lump or bump. No "wear" either, but that was the 17th I noticed the cage was a mess.

[BUSHSNAKE]

pictures of tell tale signs

[katach]

Thanks Joe! That helps a lot. She doesn't look like that. I'll have to give Snakey a pep talk. :D

[kibakiba]

Spike the water dish with some snakie viagra!

[katach]

Do you have any?! :D

[kibakiba]

I wish! Snakey's gotta step up his game! Just don't tell him about the new baby that's waiting to meet him... It might scare him ;)

[katach]

"Are you my daddy?" :D

[kibakiba]

Hehe... That would be cute.

[katach]

Snakey is about to shed again. He is very blue eyed right now. He shed just after we picked him up October 30th.

[BUSHSNAKE]

that sounds good....right?

[katach]

Yep. That little boy loves his pinkies!

[kibakiba]

What a piglet... :D

[katach]

I just can't tell him no though. You're right Chantel, that face is irresistible!

[BUSHSNAKE]

your the ordinoides queen Kat

[katach]

I don't know about that, maybe the princess... :D I do love those little ones that's for sure!

[EasternGirl]

Aww...

[guidofatherof5]

I just can't tell him no though. You're right Chantel, that face is irresistible!

You are both weak. You'll never catc........
Back later, the radixes are calling.

[kibakiba]

What was that Steve? You're radix whipped? Oh, we already knew that... From the beginning! :D

[guidofatherof5]

What was that Steve? You're radix whipped? Oh, we already knew that... From the beginning! :D

Indeed I am.
Proud of it too. ;)

[katach]

Snakey shed today. He had a little trouble and I had to help him from the vent down, but it's all off and he is doing great. He wasn't very happy with the help, but it needed to be done.

[EasternGirl]

Cee Cee was not very happy when I had to help her with her shed the last time. Poor little snakies. Glad Snakey is doing well.

[katach]

He's excited to be heading home on Saturday.

[tress29]

His manly chores are all done?

[EasternGirl]

Yeah...is Blade preggers yet?

[kibakiba]

Even if he did, she wont be pregnant right away. They can ovulate when they want, and that could be a few months.

[EasternGirl]

Right...

[katach]

I don't think they did the deed. I think we'll have to plan ahead and brumate them. Then we can try again.

[chris-uk]

There's a bit of wait and see then, but you probably have a good idea as to how they got on. Maybe brumate both of them and put them back together in the Spring?

[EasternGirl]

Oh well that's too bad...Like Chris said...you'll have to wait and see and then if not just try again.

[katach]

Thee was some heavy courting going in this morning. Snakey was tring to get the job done, but Blade said no way.

[chris-uk]

I think Blade just needs to chill out a bit, I'm sure she'll be in the mood if she's more relaxed. Next time then.

[kibakiba]

You can keep him a bit longer if you need to ;) We'd likely have more luck in the spring after a nice long cooldown. (god knows Snakey needs a cold shower! :D)

[EasternGirl]

Ha ha...

[katach]

I think we need to brumate them. Plus we have to do the thing with the stuff for that one person.

[kibakiba]

Heheheh. Yeah we do, don't we! :D

[katach]

:D