They got out!

[Will]

Well they finally came out of hiding...

5 beautiful baby - somethings... Haven't sexed anyone yet, so don't know what they are. I'll do that after they shed. Never done a hatchling anyways, so I'm really just putting it off as long as I can, lol...

Quite the ordeal for my first clutch:

Momma had problems laying and is only now starting to gain any notable amount of weight back. She layed around 20+, but the vast majority were slugs - possibly my male's doing, since it was his first time breeding.

Incubator snags probably delayed everything a few days(no biggie).

Only 5 of 8 of the ones that looked good to start off ended up hatching. 2 eggs spoiled right away, so were written off early.

63 days of waiting(you were right on Marc...).

Around 84 hours after the first one hatched out, I had to pip the last 2 myself. One made it, one died in the egg. The one that I pipped myself left the egg early for some reason, taking a half absorbed yolk with him. The only reason I didn't freak out was because I recognized it from Tim Cranwill's Corn post a few weeks ago, so I knew what it was. I think it absorbed it all, while outside the egg - I went to check it, and it was gone, but it was nowhere in the cage... Hmmm...

All in all, quite the great feeling hatching out these guys. The only thing that really sucks though is that I have to wait a year to do it all again...

Cheers,

[vanderkm]

Big Congrats Will - the long wait and all the frustration finally worth it - guess the short drop in temps didn't cause any problems. Glad the female is coming along well.

The babies look huge and very nice - like the ones that have partial bands! They will be gobbling down mice in no time and hatchlings are really pretty easy to pop - I was really afraid of hurting something before being shown how to do it, and once I learned and had tried a couple, I couldn't believe how easy it was (big thanks to Neil Weldon for the lesson!).

Congrats again - have to share pics of the keepers!

mary v.

[Tim_Cranwill]

They look great, Will. Congratulations....

Wow, that's a lot to experience during one breeding season and one clutch. Was that the female you got from me?

The other female I kept of the two laid 14 and 9 eggs this year. All are fertile. I wonder if your girl's past had anything to do with the rough experience she had this year....

[Will]

Yep Tim, those are hers...

She had some sort of problem that she seems to have just gotten over. She went off feed for just over a month, and started wheezing for a while. Got down to 500g from 880g prior to brumating. She's back eating and has put on about 100g in the last week and a half. She needs to shed, 'cause she looks terrible right now, lol. She's pounding down mice every other day now, so hopefully everything is back on track for her.

The slugs may have been because of my male though. He's a 3 year old and it was his first time breeding, so...

I was quite an educational experience, for sure. I'd rather get alot of learning out of the way early though. I think she threw about all she could my way, lol.

Regardless, I can't wait for next year now - with the rest of my Cals and some of the Hondos ready to go, it should be fun...

[jwsporty]

Congratulations Will, all the best with them. I am in the same boat right now and waiting for the kids to come out. 2 pipped so far, 8 more to go for this round.

Cheers
Jim

[MarcB]

Very nice Will, the experience you gained will serve you well down the road.

Your female knew very well how to throw you some curve balls.

Rest assured, breeding is not always that stressful, to us humans anyway.

Your hard work paid off, a big congrats is in order...

[Tim_Cranwill]

Yeah, she taught me a lot too...

I hope she comes around for you though.

Keep me posted, Will.