They grow up so fast ..... hondo pics

[vanderkm]

These 2003 babies have graduated to adult mice now and are getting a more mature look. The female is so dark at 8 months that she may turn into my 'immitation black milk' by the time she is mature. Her brother has less black tipping but is still quite dark compared to some of our others. Nice vigorous youngsters though.

mary v.

Female
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/509/6304_Feb_21_Latifa_28_reduced.jpg

Male
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/509/6304_Feb_21_Hector_19_reduced.jpg

[Clownfishie]

Nice Mary! :D

[Ace]

Nice looking Hondos...even with the tipping. My little guys getting his first signs of tipping. He's about the same age as yours and still on hoppers! I've had problems all winter getting him to eat on a regular basis though :(.

[Big Mike]

Looking good Mary :)

[Classic]

WOW Mary, adult mice. Very nice, have you thought of converting them over to rats pups? I found mine took right off in growth when i switched them over.


Brian

[vanderkm]

Brian,
I would love to have these guys on rats but they just aren't available consistently enough here and at a reasonable enough price for me to use them yet. I get adult mice for 50 cents each in bulk and an equivalent sized rat would cost me twice as much, as well as not being as available. All my adults are on rats though.

Ace,
These are my largest '03 babies - they have done very well but I can relate to your frustration with those that are harder to get going. I have a lovely female from the clutch I hatched and she still refuses to take anything bigger than the smallest fuzzies. I have another baby that has just not fed well at all since I got him - a lot of variation - just have to work with them individually.

Here are some full body shots to show how dark they are - a lot of tipping for their age
especially the female

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/509/6304_Feb_21_Latifa_3_reduced.jpg

the male
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/509/6304_Feb_21_Hector_13_reduced.jpg

mary v.

[Will]

Very nice kids you've gopt there Mary. :)
I was surprised at how fast they move up in prey size once they get going. One of my females is taking adults now, and another pair will move up soon. Like you said though, some can be little buggers. A couple are still on fuzzies and only eating once in a while. Everyone's different I guess.
Good to hear they're doing good.

[MarcB]

Very nice Mary,

I would like to point out that very few baby hondos are problematic feeders but for those who are, once they get going, they don't look back and catch up fairly fast to their siblings.

It is also important to point out that most Double Het hondurans become quite dark over time based on having either the albino or anerythristic genes which creates darker normal hondurans....on the reverse side, normal looking hondurans from Hypo decendants gradualy clean up the Double-Hets....we can therefore expect cleaner double and triple hets down the line..

Marc
SbS

[vanderkm]

Thanks Marc - encouraging to know that my picky eaters are likely to turn it around. Everyone seems to be going into high gear now anyway - I think they know spring is coming.

On the double hets being darker because of albino and anery - very interesting. With any luck these are double het hybino (albino and hypo) though - wierd why the albino gene would cause a darker than normal appearance in the hets. How reliable is that and could you use it to separate your most likely hets in a clutch that was 66% het? I suspect not, but worth considering.

thanks,

mary v.

[Joe]

I doubt it Mary, hatchlings have hardly any tipping at all, it would be hard to use that as a probable way! good luck with your breeding though!

[MarcB]

Mary, tipping also occurs on albinos in the form of whitening of the colored scales where black tipping would be on a normal. The first hets produced from albinos & anerys where very dark to the point of obscuring the flashy reds and orange colors. Breeders did not refine the albinos and anerythristics before crossing them to make double-hets and consequently preserving the less desirable tipping. The double-Hets you will produce from your adult ghost pairings will yield cleaner double-hets because the sire is already displaying minimal tipping. Averytime a Hypo or Double Homozygous Hypo mutation (Ghost & Hybino) is used, offspring hatch that much cleaner. It is beleive the Super Hypo will rid of all tipping on the other mutations in subsequent crossing.

Nice to see hondos getting the boost in popularity eh!

[TheRedDragon]

Very nice Mary! I'm always loved the darker coloured milks. :)

[vanderkm]

Thanks for the further explanations - makes it clearer now - still lots to learn about these guys.

I totally agree with it being great to see hondos more popular - they are great snakes!

mary v.