Getting A Vietnamese Blue Beauty!!!

[SWDK]

I'm quite excited about this. I just purchased a hatchling female blue beauty. It's shipping out from Texas tomorrow. Here is the pic from the breeder. I'll post updated pics once she arrives on Thurdsay. Thanks for looking!!

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/hiker4twenty/Snakes/14CD6459-8830-40F3-8D4F-825EC760BB6A.jpg (http://s146.photobucket.com/user/hiker4twenty/media/Snakes/14CD6459-8830-40F3-8D4F-825EC760BB6A.jpg.html)

Here are pics of the parents.
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/hiker4twenty/Snakes/78BA3725-FBCE-4DDC-8626-CE22ED10679E.jpg (http://s146.photobucket.com/user/hiker4twenty/media/Snakes/78BA3725-FBCE-4DDC-8626-CE22ED10679E.jpg.html)
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/hiker4twenty/Snakes/B1F93F22-12F7-479F-A644-2AD020488814.jpg (http://s146.photobucket.com/user/hiker4twenty/media/Snakes/B1F93F22-12F7-479F-A644-2AD020488814.jpg.html)

[EL Ziggy]

Congrats on the new Beauty SWDK.

[Jim Smith]

Congratulations! These are snakes I've had on my wish list for some time. Please keep us posted with plenty of photos as she grows to maturity.

[eminart]

Congrats! Cool snakes. Big colubrids are my favorite.

[sirtalis]

So cool, any blue reptile is in my top favorites.

[Klinger]

Sweet! It looks like yours in more of the blue/gray that is expected, mine stayed a greenish yellow. you will have fun with her....

[SWDK]

Thanks everyone! I'm really getting the colubrid fever lately. When I kept snakes years ago I primarily kept Aussie pythons. Now I've got quite a few colubrids and I'm amazed by them and the vast variety. I'm eyeing up a yellow tail cribo pair. They're quite pricey so I'm not sure about pulling the trigger.

[SWDK]

Sweet! It looks like yours in more of the blue/gray that is expected, mine stayed a greenish yellow. you will have fun with her....

Thanks Klinger. I've been reading over your thread about your VBB as well. Still a gorgeous snake you've got there. Any pointers for me? I've never even seen a VBB in person so they're all new to me.

[Klinger]

Tips, sure! They have surprisingly small heads, but can eat fairly large feeders. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ181oOqCpU

They stay a bit nervous, mine is 1.5 years old and only false struck at me once, about a month ago(my fault). Keep them fed and they will stay happy! Give it lots of room, and don't fret the humidity too much. Mine has no complaints.

Good luck taking pictures though, bring a friend to help with that!

[SWDK]

What kind of heat and humidity do you have your beauty at? I've been reading all types of different info on them.

[IW17]

I keep mine 82-83 warm side, 75 cool side/ambient(room temp), and keep the humidity over 70%. In my experience temps a little too low isn't a huge deal, but too high will give your snake an attitude problem.

[poison123]

The old worl rats are the best looking. I have a big appreciation for wild type animals. I cant stand morphs.

[SWDK]

Here's a pic of the little girl after unboxing yesterday afternoon. So far she handled well. I had her out again today after work and she did fine. Moves around pretty fast and rattled her tail a few times, but no bites.

I have her set up in a 40g breeder tank on aspen substrate with some dfiftwood for climbing, a nice big water bowl, a humid hide with moss, and 3 additional hides spaced out hot, middle and cool parts of the tank.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/hiker4twenty/Snakes/6887A16C-7F0A-469D-B729-ADE10E489665.jpg (http://s146.photobucket.com/user/hiker4twenty/media/Snakes/6887A16C-7F0A-469D-B729-ADE10E489665.jpg.html)
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/hiker4twenty/Snakes/C1CEEE36-795E-4C56-A685-384FEAA6654B.jpg (http://s146.photobucket.com/user/hiker4twenty/media/Snakes/C1CEEE36-795E-4C56-A685-384FEAA6654B.jpg.html)
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/hiker4twenty/Snakes/A75A3712-7259-41C2-A407-844863B905C4.jpg (http://s146.photobucket.com/user/hiker4twenty/media/Snakes/A75A3712-7259-41C2-A407-844863B905C4.jpg.html)
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/hiker4twenty/Snakes/5226DE47-E6D3-43ED-8567-6DB6CA337A3C.jpg (http://s146.photobucket.com/user/hiker4twenty/media/Snakes/5226DE47-E6D3-43ED-8567-6DB6CA337A3C.jpg.html)

[Klinger]

Nice looking girl! I keep the temp for mine around 75 on the cooler side, and the humidity around 40%. Lots of people say higher is better, but Jenkins has never had a shed problem, and the humid hide is always kept up. Mine balled up on my lap for almost an hour today, and yes, warm weather will make them super active. Get ready....

[SWDK]

Thanks Klinger! I look forward to her growing and hopefully getting bluer. I think the 40g tank will hold her over for a little while. The temps are 83 hot side and 74 cool side. I used an infrared heat gun to take the temps. I have a larger custom built enclosure that will be perfect for her when she grows. It's 4x4x2 which should provide plenty of room for her.

[SWDK]

I'm happy to report that she ate two ft fuzzy mice today without any issues. She didn't want to take them from the tongs. I set them near the opening of her log hide and she took them down in just a few minutes.

[poison123]

Congrats. On the feeding. I feed my beauty more often then you would your average snake since they tend to digest theirt meals much faster.

[SWDK]

Thanks Daniel. I also chose to feed two smaller size meals because she's so slender. I think she could handle a hopper size mouse but I didn't want to push it

[IW17]

I feed my young beauties twice a week.

[Klinger]

I feed my Beauty once a week, and a sizeable meal. Everyone has their preference, but I've seen a video that followed four groups of snakes over six months, and the one who ate larger meals grew faster than those who ate smaller meals more often. It wasn't totally scientifically controlled, but it seemed reasonable enough to me. I need my Beauty big...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4D6KgHSFwM

I can't find the video with the results, but the group that ate larger meals showed significant growth.

[SWDK]

Thanks Klinger. I plan on switching it to hopper size mice once these fuzzies are gone in two weeks. For now she'll get two fuzzies 1x a week. Then when she's large enough I'll make the switch to rat pups.

[IW17]

My ridleys beauty is about the same size as yours and gets fed a rat pink twice weekly. Which is about the same size as a hopper mouse.

[SWDK]

I would love to use rat pinks, but can't find any frozen available. I don't know anyone breeding rats to get pinks from either. It would be nice to feed her rat prey from the get go.
My ridleys beauty is about the same size as yours and gets fed a rat pink twice weekly. Which is about the same size as a hopper mouse.

[IW17]

I would love to use rat pinks, but can't find any frozen available. I don't know anyone breeding rats to get pinks from either. It would be nice to feed her rat prey from the get go.

Online. You'll get screwed on the shipping costs if your only buying rat pinks. You need to buy bulk to justify the $30 or so to ship a box.

[SWDK]

I have my local reptile show coming up at the end of the month. I'll 100% be able to get rat pinks there. Hope it won't be too hard to switch her over from mice.

Online. You'll get screwed on the shipping costs if your only buying rat pinks. You need to buy bulk to justify the $30 or so to ship a box.

[IW17]

You should be OK. Mine were all easy. They eat anything offered.

[toddnbecka]

Oddly enough, it seems that females in general are easier to switch from mice to rat pinks than males. I've found this to be true with my Jap rats, thayeri kings, and even my one pair of younger DRMB's. The females were just as happy to take rat pinks as mice, while the males just ignore them and don't eat. One exception is the new bull snake, he happily takes rat pinks. On the other hand my well-grown female everglades rat only wants live mice. I tried offering her f/t fuzzy rats and she showed no interest.

[macandchz]

SWDK, good luck on the new girl. nice looking enclosure,too.

[SWDK]

Here's an updated pic from earlier in the week. She's always on the move so getting a clear pic is tough to do. Sorry the pics aren't the best.

She's grown a lot in the past few months. She's gone from eating 1 fuzzy per meal to 3 large hoppers each meal. Her greenish tint is going away with each shed.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/hiker4twenty/Snakes/8DD7D3D0-45A6-44F0-A9B7-1501A7A0F58B.jpg (http://s146.photobucket.com/user/hiker4twenty/media/Snakes/8DD7D3D0-45A6-44F0-A9B7-1501A7A0F58B.jpg.html)
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/hiker4twenty/Snakes/7B5E135A-E4D2-42A1-B844-73DDC5B4B593.jpg (http://s146.photobucket.com/user/hiker4twenty/media/Snakes/7B5E135A-E4D2-42A1-B844-73DDC5B4B593.jpg.html)

[IW17]

Looking good. I love beauty snakes. Can't say that enough. Such amazing snakes.

[albertagirl]

Love these guys, they're so beautiful.

[SWDK]

Thanks IW17 & AlbertGirl! I definitely plan on adding a male to the mix in hopes of future breeding.

[SWDK]

My VBB has recently decided to turn into a grumpy mean girl and bite me for the first time. Previous to today she handled very well with some occasional musking and tail rattling. Well, today she put on her big girl pants and bite me all over. She even went for my face a few times. Not sure what has got her all fired up? She looks slightly dull and may in the early stage of going blue. Or, it could be that tomorrow is feeding day and she's hungry and pissy.

I couldn't even get pics because she kept trying to bite my phone. I'll try to get some pics later in the week. Her color is really starting to show and she's looking great.

[SWDK]

Coloring up nicely and starting to get some size.

Day 1 pic 3/31/2016.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/hiker4twenty/Snakes/04C00E7B-4519-41A9-BE0D-F2106371DDE5.jpg (http://s146.photobucket.com/user/hiker4twenty/media/Snakes/04C00E7B-4519-41A9-BE0D-F2106371DDE5.jpg.html)

Pics 1yr later 3/30/17

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/hiker4twenty/Snakes/9BC9F4CE-8844-472D-B1DE-4C33CCAC7F16.jpg (http://s146.photobucket.com/user/hiker4twenty/media/Snakes/9BC9F4CE-8844-472D-B1DE-4C33CCAC7F16.jpg.html)
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/hiker4twenty/Snakes/3C25DE04-584E-48D3-87FB-9E7CD5BD4E55.jpg (http://s146.photobucket.com/user/hiker4twenty/media/Snakes/3C25DE04-584E-48D3-87FB-9E7CD5BD4E55.jpg.html)
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/hiker4twenty/Snakes/EE791478-88E7-418B-B898-35E1CB67955D.jpg (http://s146.photobucket.com/user/hiker4twenty/media/Snakes/EE791478-88E7-418B-B898-35E1CB67955D.jpg.html)

[Scubadiver59]

No kisses since November?

[toddnbecka]

Quite a lot of growth in a year, faster than a bull snake?

[saturnascends]

She's really pretty! How big does this breed get? I'm getting the impression they're larger than the average colubrid?

[SWDK]

Quite a lot of growth in a year, faster than a bull snake?

Yeah, she grew a lot this year. Hard to tell from the pics, but she's over 6' long. She grew much faster than my female bull at this point. Unless my bull hits a few large growth spurts the VBB will be the winner.

[SWDK]

She's really pretty! How big does this breed get? I'm getting the impression they're larger than the average colubrid?

Thanks! Yes, they can get quite large. I'm hoping she hits 10', but only time will tell.

[Albert Clark]

That was a amazing pickup! Grats on how gorgeous she is.