First successful breeding!

[Invictus]

I am pleased to announce that although the clutch size was small, today I checked on my incubator to find 2 Cal Kings slithering around!!! (They are het albinos)

This is my first "successful" breeding attempt, and has an interesting story... the eggs were laid a mere 17 DAYS after copulation. The female was an adoption and was never bred prior to this. She laid 7 eggs, but 3 were slugs, leaving me with 4. Unfortunately, 2 died during incubation.

The hatching took 64 days, and the incubator was nothing more than a glad container in a styrofoam box in a warm room (80-84 degrees.)

Needless to say, future breedings will include proper incubation, but I'm still happy with my success using a minimal setup.

Pics will be posted later, but to describe, they are THIN banded kings... maybe 10% white banding.

I'm ecstatic! This is such an exciting hobby! :D

[Katt]

Ken just webcammed me the babies and they look absolutely awesome!!!

What a great feeling! Nothing like hatching out your first babies!!

Best of luck with them and can't wait to see them!!!

[munchy]

ummmmmmm....................PICS?!??

[jwsporty]

Congratulations Ken

[BoidKeeper]

Way to go dark lord!
Cheers,
Trevor

[Simon]

Congrats~!

Hoping to see the pics soon~!

[Invictus]

Thanks everyone. As soon as I can borrow a digi cam, I'll post the pics. :)

[gonesnakee]

Cool! My first success was 2 Corns hatching & you can see where things can go from there eh Ken LOL I see you used my "high tech" incubation method heh heh. Mark

[Jeff_Favelle]

PICS!!!!!! :D

[vanderkm]

Wonderful news - congrats on the cal kings - like everyone else - waiting for pics!

mary v.

[Tim_Cranwill]

Cool, man. Congrats! It's fun stuff, eh? :)

[Classic]

Congrats Ken. I guess if weren't hooked before...you are now!

Brian
HighWaterHerps

[Invictus]

Both babies have gone into full blue, so I'll get pics after they shed. :)

[Invictus]

Well, I decided not to wait for the pics. And, as it turns out, they are a Male / Female pair!

http://www.invictusart.com/images/King01-1.jpg
http://www.invictusart.com/images/King02-1.jpg

[jusbizness403]

congrats on the babies!!!!!!

[vanderkm]

They look great - even when they are blue. Normal, thin banded coastal phase may not be as dramatic as the 50 50 desert phase, but they are my favorites - your new pair is just gorgeous -

Is their mom the albino? you have to post a pic of her!

mary v.

[Invictus]

Nope, the father was the Albino. The mom is a Menedota-type melanistic king snake. Because the babies turned out so normal-looking, I'm thinking the melanism may be recessive too. Here's mama:

http://www.invictusart.com/images/Igraine01.jpg

[gonesnakee]

Well Ken looks like my trip to Canmore to grab that girl turned out really well in the long run for ya, congrats Mark

[Wraith]

Congrats Ken

[Simon]

Nice
I like those big bandings~
Post a pic of dad~

[Invictus]

Sure,

Here's the father. Unfortunately I no longer have him in my collection, but at least he left his legacy:

http://www.invictusart.com/images/Merlin1.jpg

As you can see, the babies take after their dad. :)

[Vanan]

Here's the father. Unfortunately I no longer have him in my collection, but at least he left his legacy:

And that legacy shall be mine!!! Mwahahahaha!! :D Just staking my claim, Ken. :D

[Katt]

I really like momma! Erin is so lucky!

[Jeff_Favelle]

A PAIR? Gotta keep them now bro! Congrats. And now the real fun begins! Welcome to the club.!! :D

[vanderkm]

Nice that you got these from that interesting female! The 17 days from breeding to laying must be some kind of record! Wonder if that black overwash on the female comes in gradually like tippingin hondos or if they are hatched with the darker color. Very neat pairing,

mary v.

[Invictus]

I guess time will tell Mary. :) I will only be selling these as a pair, and only to someone who plans to breed them in the future. Yes Vanan, you still have first crcack at them as promised, hehehe. The 17 days has got to be a record for sure. This is no bluff either - I put her with the male on April 20th, and she laid eggs May 7. CRAZY.

[vanderkm]

Interesting especially with the albino gene in the mix - if you get albinos in the future generations, and in some combination with the diffuse melanin, would the albino have more white than usual, as this female has more black?? I have read that people had tried introducing albino genes into black milks to see if the black wash that comes with age would be replaced with white, but cannot recall any results of that. Interesting to work with a similar situation in a species that has both genes and you don't have to create hybrids to check it out.

mary v.

[McPatch]

Congrats.Now the addiction really begins.lol

Darren

[Invictus]

Mary - to my knowledge, melanstic kings + amelanistic (albino) kings creates snows... so yes, much less color than your usual albinos. But again, I don't know yet if the female's melanism is recessive, or if it's simply something that comes with age.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Wonder why a melanistic would create a snow. Its not like the yellow is gone, its just masked. Still pretty cool. Wonder what they look like!

[Vanan]

Melanism acts as a recessive gene in calkings, so does the chocolate gene (which is what a Mendota type is). Melanistic calkings are the "nitida" types aka Baja Calkings, which are pure jet black. The chocolate gene is found in some locales of calkings, eg. Mendota, Davis etc.

[Invictus]

Well, since these snakes are double hets, maybe I should rethink my pricing..... :P

[CDN-Cresties]

Congrats!!!

[Vanan]

Well, since these snakes are double hets, maybe I should rethink my pricing..... :P

:p :p