Naked Science Forum
General Discussion & Feedback => Just Chat! => Topic started by: that mad man on 25/03/2007 19:32:33
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Hi.
My 2 snakes Bob and Bobo ( a corn and a rat snake) are breeding again this year, they must be happy!
Over the past 2 years they have laid 4 clutches and around 60+ eggs that have hatched successfully.
Some pictures from a few days ago, taken while in amorous embrace.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg159.imageshack.us%2Fimg159%2F2269%2Fsnake01yx3.jpg&hash=2106f1e9f9ee83922a5975e758ab5fb6) (http://imageshack.us)
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg69.imageshack.us%2Fimg69%2F5475%2Fsnake03nl9.jpg&hash=b90616c90cb5b8309c3dd64759bcfbfa) (http://imageshack.us)
They have been chasing each other around in the viv and made a mess so I now have to re arrange it!
For those that don't like snakes, here's one of the old cat Tiger.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg19.imageshack.us%2Fimg19%2F4021%2Ftiger800wd4.jpg&hash=d4f1e75285a13b75f8523864d277bd48) (http://imageshack.us)
Hope you like them! [;D]
TMM
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Great Pictures!!! That cat reminds me of my baby kitty That is gone now! She always had her tongue hanging out and was amous beyond compare and was contantly drooling when you peted her. I would keep a tissue wrapped over one hand and she would purr and rub her face across the tissue absorbing the drool as she was stroked upon her head and back, which she loved so!!!!! She would do this chin rubbing into the tissue the whole time because she liked being scratched under her chin. You could take out her hair brush and just hold it almost flat at a slight angle, and she would sit for a couple hours if you let her scratching her chin on the brush! LOL I miss her she was a sweetie!
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Oh My ...TMM
I Luffs them..........they are fantastic......ewe must be very proud !!
what do ewe do with the offspring ?
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I bet he sells them to friends and pet stores!
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I'm glad you like the pics, I posted them cos I was bored.... [:I]
Tiger is old, around 15 and has some front teeth missing which makes his tongue stick out sometimes, he looks funny as well.
He seems to be a similar situation to your "kitty" Karen because when his tongue sticks out he is always drooling! hehe
And neilep, karen was right. The offspring, are already spoken for and will be going to our local exotic pet shop. 2 years ago they paid for my broadband and last year it was a digital camera used to take the pics.
I hope to document them on film from laying to hatching so more pics in a few months.
TMM
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Excellent photos TMM, which one is the corn snake? The one on top?
I'm not really into snakes but they look great [:)]
And my kitten used to stick her tongue out, mainly when she was sleeping or being stroked though [:)]
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Hi Mirage, glad you like them.
The top snake is bob and he is a silver grey and yellow rat snake. The other is bobo and she is a hybrid cross, a grey rat snake and a common corn snake. Both are the same age around 4 years but bob is smaller.
To be honest, I wasn't into snakes either at first but they do make good pets, little maintenance and no taking for walks [;D]
TMM
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They do look great, snakes certainly are fascinating creatures, but I like mice too much to feed them to snakes [;)]
So how long have you had Bob and Bobo?
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That is one drawback, storing and feeding them mice. Having a bag of 20 frozen mice in the freezer may put some off!
I have had them since they were iccle so almost 4 years now and maybe 20+ years to go as they live a fair time.
Fascinating, yes especially as I have no tv! [;D]
They are great escapologists too and bobo has learnt how to push the glass sliding door open on the vivarium. She has escaped a few times but don't wander far. The last time she escaped it took ages to find her, had to get my lad to help.
After upending the sofa, easy chairs etc, we eventually found her behind the stereo curled around the wires.
TMM
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Sounds like my children behind something curled behind the wires, except mine are usually diconnecting something from my tv to take to their house!!!!LOL
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That is one drawback, storing and feeding them mice. Having a bag of 20 frozen mice in the freezer may put some off!
I have had them since they were iccle so almost 4 years now and maybe 20+ years to go as they live a fair time.
Fascinating, yes especially as I have no tv! [;D]
They are great escapologists too and bobo has learnt how to push the glass sliding door open on the vivarium. She has escaped a few times but don't wander far. The last time she escaped it took ages to find her, had to get my lad to help.
After upending the sofa, easy chairs etc, we eventually found her behind the stereo curled around the wires.
TMM
Yeah, I can imagine it must be fun when it's BBQ weather and you realise that the bag of mice is not a big bag of sausages [;)]
Wow, 20+ years, that's incredible [:o] And especially if they keep at it [;)]
Aren't they meant to be very intelligent? Thinking about it, it could be quite freaky to wake up feeling something sliding up under the covers and then a tongue flicking at you [;)]
But that is amazing, the clever little thing. I take it that Bobo is a little smarter though [;)]
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My snake Bobo has just laid her eggs and I count 23 including one that is infertile, the most she has laid so far.
So, as promised here are some photos, originally taken at 2592x1944 and reduced to 500x375 for upload.
The nesting box.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg265.imageshack.us%2Fimg265%2F9459%2Fboboeggsnestingbox29040fp2.jpg&hash=471cf45edec47ad1f22ccb8d7b57ee13) (http://imageshack.us)
Bobo and her eggs.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg232.imageshack.us%2Fimg232%2F4589%2Fboboeggs290407gc1.jpg&hash=eae3f38f90de85b4a779a799edab35ca) (http://imageshack.us)
The eggs.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg183.imageshack.us%2Fimg183%2F2319%2Fboboeggs02290407np2.jpg&hash=f3d1e526a3f016b0ec48d3ff9e6f4e51) (http://imageshack.us)
A discoloured and misshapen Infertile egg.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg266.imageshack.us%2Fimg266%2F6436%2Fboboeggsinfertile290407fv1.jpg&hash=bcc630ed60ac32875245d6595b825ace) (http://imageshack.us)
The Incubator.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg252.imageshack.us%2Fimg252%2F8869%2Fboboeggsincubator012904gl5.jpg&hash=9eb77f8d2d34f9817615ae7be5a58372) (http://imageshack.us)
The father Bob on top of the book shelf, he escaped while I was sorting the incubator out.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg248.imageshack.us%2Fimg248%2F6420%2Fbobescaped290407nw9.jpg&hash=a0ff3d510da63335a566ef915d6083e6) (http://imageshack.us)
Bee
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Great pictures, Are their two sperate clutches or is one older, the one in the tin and the one in the clear plastic container??
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Thanks Karen, glad you like them. [:)]
Its just the one clutch and in a few months she will have another.
She laid her eggs in the nesting box/sweet tin which was in the vivarium and then I took out the bad egg and transferred the rest to the plastic sweet container.
I sound like I'm a sweet-a-holic... [;D]
I leave the clump of eggs as intact as possible, transfer them to the plastic container containing damp vermiculite and cover them with a piece of damp cotton dressing. That then gets placed in a warm spot in the vivarium till they hatch in around 6 weeks.
So, some more photos to come!
Bee
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looking good, Bee
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So does she no longer tend the eggs at this point, or does she just move to the vivarium? Wh=at is a Vivarium, sorry I am unfamiliar with the term, I am assuming it is a room?
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Sorry Karen, a vivarium is like you say, a room of sorts where they both live.
The one I have made is from a double kitchen base cupboard with 2 glass sliding doors and is larger than standard. It has an electric heat mat at the bottom that they can lay on and a lamp that they can also bask under. Because they are cold blooded animals they rely on external heat to keep warm. Its all controlled by timer and also has a thermostat to keep it at about 80 degrees ambient temperature. Snakes are not very active unless hunting for food and once they have fed they usually rest and digest for several days.
The nesting box is in the vivarium and once she has laid her eggs she don't tend to them so they get separated. In the wild they would lay the eggs somewhere warm, in a compost heap for example, and use the warmth from that to incubates the eggs. [:)]
I have some more photos, at the moment she is curled up in the water bowl having a good soak!
@ thanks paul.
Bee
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Thank you they are incredible snakes!It sounds like a great set up you made for their home!
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Gee, those snakes are...cute.
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The father Bob on top of the book shelf, he escaped while I was sorting the incubator out.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg248.imageshack.us%2Fimg248%2F6420%2Fbobescaped290407nw9.jpg&hash=a0ff3d510da63335a566ef915d6083e6) (http://imageshack.us)
Bee
Excellent pics TMM [:)]
Love that one of Bob though, it's like "Busted, doh" [:)]
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They are great pics TMM....but the cat, I have a question about....does it have a piercing on its chin? LOL Just kidding but that little ball made me think of it...
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That seems to be a little yellow bell on kitties collar!
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I know...but where it is...it would be my imagination to think such...hehe
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Good news, out of a total of 23 (21) viable looking eggs 18 of them have hatched successfully. [;D]
Here are some more photos to complete the story.
Empty shells.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg399.imageshack.us%2Fimg399%2F8582%2Femptyshells01070707la7.jpg&hash=ae2c35e99ba5860e36441f1b9af43bf5)
Slits in shells.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg454.imageshack.us%2Fimg454%2F8941%2Fslitsinshells070707cm9.jpg&hash=3523d99cee576351455a3d60a8882d50)
The first shed, they do this within 24 hours of hatching.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg399.imageshack.us%2Fimg399%2F6951%2Ffirstshed070707vm8.jpg&hash=8a6e40a441f1d6409ede11d390b05378)
Last time I opened the incubation box it was like opening a box of springs and I was chasing round after them so, this time I was careful. Well it was almost perfect as one dropped onto the carpet.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg455.imageshack.us%2Fimg455%2F7099%2Fbucketfullneonates01070yi5.jpg&hash=95d972fc7701105f9f6d588fc87f376a)
Carpet snake...
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg455.imageshack.us%2Fimg455%2F4536%2Fcarpetsnake070707ta3.jpg&hash=675ed0dea6893a22dfd5eebfb3aeda3b)
Little one.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg353.imageshack.us%2Fimg353%2F4220%2Flittleone01070707pe6.jpg&hash=de3c5ecc3751311d8ebc3e30869e36ce)
And again.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg353.imageshack.us%2Fimg353%2F8282%2Flittleone02070707kh6.jpg&hash=b79175d3ebcd876f76cc8d2461fc70f6)
After clearing up, back to the tidy incubator.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg412.imageshack.us%2Fimg412%2F7446%2Fincubationboxneonates02cx8.jpg&hash=136d0e358f9312f923689d7867548f0a)
I originally said that the incubation period was 6 weeks but its not, it is in fact 9 weeks and in the mean time she has laid another clutch of 13 eggs....About 7 weeks to go for them.
Bee
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Very Cool BEE! Man You ARE going to be in the midst of snake heaven soon!
The babies seem so much darker gray and black tones then the parents.. Is that normal?
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Hi Karen, glad you like them. [:)]
When just hatched the babies are nearly all the same colour, a dark muddy black/brown. If you could see them up closely you would notice a slight difference in colour, especially the underside.
As they mature the colourings and markings change. The pair I have are a bit dull but you can get some very beautiful coloured ones as well. Have a google for corn snake images, there are lots!
IIRC the native American Indians named them corn snakes as the markings, when adult, resemble corn circles!
Unfortunately the camera does not show it up well, plus its difficult to get a steady shot as they wiggle so much. [;D]
Tomorrow they go to the snake shop so I don't have them for long. [:(]
Bee
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oh monty python
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Hi Karen, glad you like them. [:)]
When just hatched the babies are nearly all the same colour, a dark muddy black/brown. If you could see them up closely you would notice a slight difference in colour, especially the underside.
As they mature the colourings and markings change. The pair I have are a bit dull but you can get some very beautiful coloured ones as well. Have a google for corn snake images, there are lots!
IIRC the native American Indians named them corn snakes as the markings, when adult, resemble corn circles!
Unfortunately the camera does not show it up well, plus its difficult to get a steady shot as they wiggle so much. [;D]
Tomorrow they go to the snake shop so I don't have them for long. [:(]
Bee
Wow you really don't. I thought they stayed longer with you..
when will the other clutch be hatching?? It is amazing to see all the eggs as if claws and torn them open.. was this done by the snakes "Teeth"? They do have fangs or some kind of teeth right? LOL .. I have always been leery of snakes, DO they??
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They go ASAP as its best for them to get used to their new surrounding as soon as possible.
The other clutch should hatch in about 7 weeks depending on the ambient temperature.
When hatching they have special teeth just for ripping open the shells and they also have 2 rows of small fine teeth less than 1mm long that point inwards and act like barbs when gripping the prey. BTW the shell are not hard and are leathery in texture.
I have been bitten but its no big deal as they are not poisonous. Its a bit like a "paper cut" if you have ever had one of those, very fine tiny cuts.
Bee