Spilotes egg PIPPING!

[LdyDrgn]

Mark? LOL My name is Michelle.. you were close. Oh wait, YOUR Mark... it was so close to your "Congrats" I got confused. Don't mind me, I have had very little sleep since they started pipping. *yawn*

They are very skittish at the moment, but they should be rather calm in a few months. The father is a LTC that is handleable outside the cage. The mother was CB at the Moscow Zoo and is also handleable outside the cage even though she was never regularly handled before we got her.

I tell people these snakes seem a lot like a Mamba, only without the venom, LMAO. A lot of fun to handle them as they are FAST moving! You really got to keep on your toes, heh.

Thanks for the congrats.

[Vanan]

Wow!! Absolutely awesome babies!! All the best getting them started! Then you get to REALLY enjoy them! Meh, ever thought of moving to Canada?

[LdyDrgn]

Thanks, Vanan! I think it's crossed our mind a time or two...

As far as I understand, shipping these across the boarder shouldn't be a problem but we need to really look into it. They aren't listed in any of the CITES appendices. I don't know what other paperwork would need to be required....

[TheRedDragon]

Beautiful babies Michelle! I think Spilotes are really awesome looking snakes, and yours are exceptional! Congratulations, and good luck with the little ones.

[LdyDrgn]

Thank you, Erin I appreciate the kind words.

[Simon Sansom]

Now THAT impresses me far more than any new "morph" of anything else ever could!

You should be very proud of yourself.

Have any other eggs started to pip yet?

Simon R. Sansom

[LdyDrgn]

Thank you, Simon! We were afraid of what they would look like as hatchlings, LOL. The only baby I ever saw was at the Daytona show and it was a black/dirt brown, super skinny, covered in mites, hatchling. When ours started to emerge we were more than pleasantly surprised!

They are all pipped, some have been done manually by me on the advice of someone who has been hatching eggs for several years. The eggs weren't disturbed and they are still in their happy little fluid filled world. I noticed a couple of eggs were rather thick and harder to cut, so I think our friend was right on the money with his advice. I would hate to think that the baby had drowned because he couldn't cut through the thick shell.

I awoke this morning to two more crawling around, so that makes five out so far. Two or three more will probably emerge sometime this morning or afternoon. Once I get good and woken up I will take pics and post a link to the album where they reside.

Edited to add link to the album: Spilotes babies

Edited AGAIN to say that after the first edit I found two more roaming around the incubator, LOL. The remaining five all have their noses sticking out of their 'window'. 100% HATCH RATE!! How awesome is that???

[vanderkm]

Incredibly awesome. Congrats again - the pipping and hatchling pics look fantastic - very major accomplishment to have such a perfect clutch hatch out. They are incredible looking at this age, can only imagine how great they will be as they mature. Love the eyes on these guys.

mary v.

[LdyDrgn]

Thank you, Mary. I love their big, black eyes, too.

All of them have hatched now. Pics of them all are in the album I previously linked.

The second clutch should hatch around the end of October.

[Scales Zoo]

Wow, way to go! I was sure I had replied to this thread the other day, but maybe the post never went through.

Ryan

[LdyDrgn]

That's possible, Ryan. You guys need to keep me updated on what's going with you.

[Beardonicus]

I think it's crossed our mind a time or two...

Say whaaat? You better be joking LOL.

[~Suntiger~]

Congratulations!! They are fantastic looking.

[LdyDrgn]

LOL, David... because of the new laws that 'they' are always tyring to get passed. We've considered Australia, too! hehehe

Thank you, Suntiger.

[Beardonicus]

You guys don't breed any native species anyway lol. When they start regulating boas, then theres cause for concern LOL.