Sylphie's first clutch of Russian Rat Snakes

[Sylphie]

It already started, the first egg is here, so I guess that I can start a thread now.
The lock was on 17 February, the pairing was Artemis (normal) x Orion (melanistic), so all babies will be normal het. melanistic.

It was the frist time for both of them, and for me, and let's just say that was a crazy journey...

She shed on 12 March, but I'm not sure why I was soo sure that the lock was a few days before that shed, and waited for a second shed as a pre-lay shed... three days ago she started to wander a lot in her cage, and I was still headstrong about her needing to shed the pre-lay shed... Fortunately yesterday evening I decided to check the dates again and noticed that, oh gosh, she should lay a few days ago, no wonder that she's sooo active. We gave her laying box asap, and today morning I noticed the first healthy egg.

But! That's not the end of crazy mistakes.
She decided to "rearrange" her laying box, opened the lid and trashed it away. I guess she prefered the open space to lay, but... won't eggs dry without a closed lid before she'll manage to lay them all? The substrate is vermiculit + water, but the whole tank is rather room-dry (I guess around 40% humidity). Now I'm really afraid, but I don't want to stress her out and cause egg bound with messing in her tank... I guess we just need to wait and see.

I'll post pic as soon as I can, but man, I certainly learned a few things, and it's only the beginning :shocked:

[Sylphie]

One quick pic while we checked how she's doing. Excuse the mess!

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/SylphieW/t63DXfK_zpsmmu3umzg.jpg

[Albert Clark]

Congrats Sylph! Great news. I agree, I wouldn't disturb her while she is laying. As soon as it's over (egg laying) then you can go in and collect the eggs and set them up properly.

[Sylphie]

Thank you! We're very happy :D She now laid 6 eggs, and looks like she has at least 2 more. For now all are looking to be fertile and healthy, so fingers crossed! :D

And yes, I talked with a breeder of them, one of his females laid in open box too and eggs were fine, so I'm calmer now.

[Albert Clark]

Ok. Good luck and keep us updated!

[eminart]

Exciting!

Can I have one. ;)

[Sylphie]

Eminart, sure! I don't know how I'll transport it to USA, but well, we'll work something out :laugh: I'm already having people from UK, France and Italy that want babies too, so USA isn't much harder, hahaha!

[eminart]

They're beautiful snakes. We don't see many of those over here. Keep us updated on their progress.

[toddnbecka]

WooHoo, there be baby sneks in them shells, lol. Good luck with the incubating and hatching.

[Sylphie]

Eminart, I will for sure!

toddnbecka, thank you!

Final score is 9 good eggs and one slug (but I put it in incubator too, I can always throw it after few days). I guess it's a pretty good amount for a first time breeding pair.
Poor Artemis went to sleep immediately after laying her last egg, I guess she was very tired. She'll now be on a fattening-up diet, but I must say that she doesn't seem to lose a lot of it, which is a good thing.

Here is the pic of eggs, incubation temp is 80F, and the long wait begins :D In the meanwhile I need to find someone who'll teach me how to probe baby snakes...

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/SylphieW/PICT4107_zpsozqdgi3b.jpg

[Piggybuns]

Probing is something I've been afraid of, I went by my corn girl's tail and scales when I looked up a quick tutorial on it. D. I don't have a probe and even if I did I'd be afraid of poking wrong! XD Good luck if you do!

So cuuute! Good luck on the babies!

[Sylphie]

Thank you Piggybuns! :D

We're already having a waiting list with people all over the globe (Italy, France, Finland, Canada, UK)... now I need to find some way to ship the snakes, as we're not having any reptile couriers in my country :D It's funny how Russians are one of the less wanted snakes in my country and super desirable in other countries. I really didn't expect it, haha!

[Albert Clark]

Sylph, congrats again. Much easier to "pop" a hatchling than to "probe" one. Much safer too.

[Sylphie]

Albert, thank you! I don't know why but I'm more afraid of popping... It just looks more complicated... but I have time to find some breeder that will be able to teach me how to sex the baby snakes :D

[trailblazer295]

Good luck on the turn out!

What's common over there is rare in other parts of the world. I don't think I've ever seen one for sale here. No surprise someone from Canada wants one.

[EL Ziggy]

Congrats on the eggs Sylphie. Best wishes for a very healthy, hearty, and beautiful clutch.

[Sylphie]

trailblazer, EL Ziggy, thank you! :D

[Pogie]

Sylphie, your going to be a Gandma! Grats :)

[Sylphie]

Yeah, I'm super excited about it! I hope they will all hatch without problems.

[Sylphie]

For now all eggs are doing fine, so I'm very glad. We're still waiting for a lock with second female... and I hope that it'll be soon as I'm having A LOT of great offers, all the hatchlings from this eggs are already reserved (I plan on leaving two holdbacks for myself) and we're still getting a lot of inquires.

And let me tell you, there will be two really amazing trades! I can't wait to see the babies and then trade them for all this stunning colubrids ;)

It's also really amazing at how much positive feedback we're getting from around the world, makes the whole experience that more incredible. I'm still working on english version of our site, but in my country we got a lot of words of encouraging and congratulations about our start in breeding. Makes me really happy!

[eminart]

I know I'd be tempted to get one if you were over here. I'm not surprised by the interest.

[Sylphie]

Thank you! The only way I can think of would be if someone from US/Canada would go to the Hamm expo and take them from there. I know that in my country there are few peoples that are going to Hamm periodically that are happy to be "couriers" and bring/deliver reptiles.

[SerpentineDream]

Can't wait to see the little worms!

I just got my first breeding pair of Russian rat snakes from European stock, but they are babies themselves and have a lot of growing up to do yet. Therefore I will just have to live vicariously through you for now. :)

Is your other female expecting yet?

[Sylphie]

Serpentine, I can't wait too! The eggs are doing fine, and they should hatch around the end of May :)

Post pics of your guys soon! And unfortunately no, there wasn't a lock yet, but the male is in shed now, so maybe after shedding he'll try. I hope that if not now, then maybe they will lock around summer.

[Sylphie]

Short update: One of the eggs is a little sunken, no matter how much we tried to re-hydrate it. The other eggs are fine, and as it's 40th day of incubation I just hope that the all of them will make it. We decided to leave the sunken one in peace, maybe it'll hatch without problems, or be a little eariler than the rest.

[mysticmoon]

Congrats! Super exciting

[trailblazer295]

Good luck! !

[Sylphie]

First one is hatching~! (You can see the one "bad" egg that started to sunk and has a weird yellow dots on it, but as it's only a week to their hatch date we still count that it'll be fine).


http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/SylphieW/WP_20160513_012_zps5miefvvl.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/SylphieW/WP_20160513_17_40_12_Pro_zps4x2wpo8c.jpg

[Albert Clark]

Congrats Sylph! Nice job.

[trailblazer295]

Congratulations!! hope you get more healthy hatchlings. Good luck selling the little ones.

[Sylphie]

6 little heads already pipping and looking around! :D

Thank you guys, I hope all will be okay!

[Sylphie]

Update, First one is in his new tub already, the rest is waiting still, and only 2 eggs are still with no signs of cracks. It's sooo cool!

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/SylphieW/WP_20160514_038_zpsxmjqgsfx.jpg

And not the best pic of first guy :D He has "I" sign on his neck near the head, too, very appropiate!

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/SylphieW/2x58B4C_zps5k9vtfc8.jpg

[SWDK]

Congrats on them hatching out!

[toddnbecka]

Woo Hoo, the babies are finally coming out! First one looks great, gratz on the new arrivals.

[Sylphie]

Unfortunately the one that went "bad" was also bad inside (I decided to cut it today), so in total from 10 eggs, one was slug and one didn't make it.

For now we're having 4 little ones out and 4 still only pipping their heads from the eggs.

I will try to take some better quality pics today too.

[SerpentineDream]

Yes, yes, more baby pics! :D

8 good eggs is a pretty good start for a first-time mom IMO. Nice job, Artemis!

Did you ever get a lock with your other pairing or did they decide to wait for next year?

[Sylphie]

Unfortunately all our camera batteries are empty so I snapped only quick pic.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/SylphieW/0hr7O3n_zpsydqeo9oh.jpg

They are sooo cute! And for now all of them are blackish-grey&white, I'm curious how they will look after their first shed.

And SerpentineDream, unfortunately no, they didn't lock, but the "normal" breeding season for this species is in June-August, so they are still having time :)

I'll try to take good pics with my camera as soon as I'll get my batteries re-charged.

[toddnbecka]

That looks like a good-sized snake for a new hatchling, not as thin as a neonate corn snake.

[Sylphie]

toddnbecka, yes, they are really "plump" and big (around 11inch). It's really funny how they are so big from so small eggs!

In the end I'm really happy with that clutch, from first time breeders we got 8 totally healthy, big hatchlings. I'll try my best to take decent pics today to show you their colors before first shed!

[Sylphie]

Pic time!

It's amazing how laid back these little ones are. When I got Artemis, she was 6 months old and very, very shy, only after she was more than 2 years old she decided to be more active and "open". Her babies are all sooo calm and curious, you only need to put your hand next to their tub and they will crawl onto it. I'll do my best to handle them every few days, so they will be calm with new owners too! I'm totally in love with them and if there will be two females, they will definitely be holdbacks.

Pics with flash:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/SylphieW/PICT4400_zpsu3fcq6j8.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/SylphieW/PICT4417_zpstpq2svtm.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/SylphieW/PICT4418_zpsuxkh4r9b.jpg


Pics with no flash:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/SylphieW/PICT4412_zpsnnipojzj.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/SylphieW/PICT4431_zpsxe9tnzjm.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/SylphieW/PICT4440_zpskjntld2v.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/SylphieW/PICT4434_zpspyuix16x.jpg

As you can see (I hope) there is a lot of white on them, which is weird for normals... but then I guess the real colors will be vivisble only after first shed, so we'll see.

[Sylphie]

We checked the genders today, there are 3 females (from which one is The Sixth, my favourite, most calm baby, that will be our holdback), the rest are males. It would be better with more females, but still I'm glad that there are at least two pairs for sale, haha!

And for now all of them had at least one feeding, some two, so in a month they should be ready for trips to new homes :)

[phassin]

Wow congrats on the successful hatching! Looks like their temperament is fantastoc for babies.

[dave himself]

Congratulations on your beauiful babies :)

[Albert Clark]

Great work Sylph! They look amazing.

[Sylphie]

All babies are after at least 3 live feedings and 2 frozen ones, so I think that after 2-3 feedings more we will start looking for new homes. The "Eight" one is totally crazy, will strike at anything that moves and won't stop even after 10 minutes on hands. On the opposite my holdback "Sixth" is the most laid back snake I ever saw. The rest is somewhere in the middle with some of them being more calm and other liking to wiggle their tails and hiss (but no striking). It's really cool to see how their personalities are different and change with each time I hold them.

Pictures soon as I need to do them for offers, haha!

[toddnbecka]

Figures, there's almost always one a-hole in the bunch, lol. Sounds like the large adult black racer I caught back in college. Had to wear gloves to handle, non-stop chewing the whole time I had hold of that one. Have they shed again yet? Some folks actually like/prefer snakes that have a generally nasty disposition. I prefer something easy to pick up and handle. My female thayeri will latch onto a finger every time if I don't give her food first. Live or f/t, hopper mouse or rat pink, doesn't matter. The male, same size/age, is afraid of f/t rat pinks, and runs away from them, but happily takes a live or f/t mouse.

[Sylphie]

roddnbecka, no, no second shed as of yet, but I think that after few more feedings they should shed soon :) And yes, that one is super crazy, but you only need to put something on his head (like paper towel) so he cen't see you and he immediately is cool with everything, haha! And yes, he's one of the best feeders of our bunch, the Sixth, calmest one is the opposite and needs to be super hungry to eat, so I guess she'll be slower in growing.

[macandchz]

hope everything goes well with the clutch. is it my imagination or does that 1 egg far right look a little smaller?

[Sylphie]

And pics of the babies! Unfortunately both of my holbacks are deep in blue, the 1st female on pics is a little in blue too.

http://i.imgur.com/H2c5XNV.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/TrPNyGN.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/p88t99l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4ndJMZs.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/v7qC6In.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jzm5Ke1.jpg

As always, if you want to see all the pics of them, I invite you >here< (http://pleco.com.pl/elapheen/2016/05/16/hatchlings-2016-e-schrenckii/)!