Breeding plans!

[mad_andy]

2008 season: The corns, although I'm not at all sure what - if anything - Tyson may have left us with. I'm fairly sure Spectre is going to double clutch, as I saw her and Thumper mating soon after she arrived. So that's a pair of snows.

Normal phase bull snakes - provided that Bandita caught and is gravid, and that the eggs are fertile.

2009 season:

Normal bulls (Either Bandita again, or I'll obtain an adult female bull of my own to pair with Zico.)

Corns - snow/snow, snow/anery. Thumper is a very pink snow, so it'll be interesting to see what he and Lucy (anery) throw.

Black rat - Rosie the white sided black rat is going to be old enough to breed for this season! Depending on their size and weight, so might my new albino female (unnamed as yet) and Magpie. So if I run those three together, then it'll be:

White sided x het albino
Albino x het albino

...because one of Magpie's parents was albino, and the other was a het (carries the gene without expressing it). So crossing him with the albino girl should give 50% albino and 50% normal, but all the normals will carry the gene for albino. And are therefore worth more money.

God only knows what'll happen when you chuck the genes for white sided into the mix!

2010 season:

As far ahead as I dare plan, because this is going to be the really big season for me!

Corns - snow mixes, as Wisp the green spot should be ready to breed this year. What happens when you mix a strawberry and a green spot snow...? Should find out this year!

Bull snakes - normal and albino. Bandit and Boxer should be ready to breed this year! Also (if certain plans come to fruition this September...) I may well be breeding white sided bulls as well.

Black rats - albino, normal het albino, and whatever you get when mixing white sides in! Possibly leucistics also, but I'll know more on that soon.

Royal pythons - Roo and Rohypnol should be ready to breed this year, which is something I'm very excited about! Just normal wild type, but they're still gorgeous.

Mandarin rats - the jewels of my collection! Although the way Mei-mei is eating and growing she might be ready for the 2009 season, I'd like to hold off breeding her for another year to let her get nice and chunky. If we get viable offspring from this pairing, I am going to be one *VERY* happy bunny!

So anyway, that's my plans for the next couple of seasons; there's always the possibility of breeding the sand boas - although that means finding a nice male to go with Smiler, my snappy little girl - and if I'm lucky, the yellow rats. But I'm not holding my breath on that one.

A chap who regularly imports corn snakes from the US's top breeders is dealing with South Mountain Reptiles in Texas this year. 2008 hatchlings will be shipped to the Hamm show in Germany in September, and then back to the UK. Now, South Mountain also breed several other species - two of which I have been seriously jonesing for ever since I discovered they existed.

Leucistic black rat snakes, which look like this:



...and white sided bull snakes, which look like this:



He's taking orders for corns - and after several people asked him about it, he's taking orders for other species too.

As you might imagine, I'm about to take his hand off for the bulls and black rats - despite the price! Basically convert the dollar price to pounds, and that's what he's asking. *Wince* So that's getting on four four hundred quid.

*Winces again*

Still. Nobody else in Europe is yet breeding either of these species, so if I go ahead with the order I could be among the first to do so. An investment, you might say.

And if by that you think 'ah-HA! She hasn't told Slay yet!' - you'd be right.

All pipe dreams so far, though!

Think I'm going to need to rig myself up an incubator at some point, though....

Comments

[hector-rashbaum.livejournal.com]

You know, if none of your other "yay snake" posts had made me want a snake (which they have, several times, lol) that leucistic black rat snake would've won me over. That's gorgeous.

[madandy.livejournal.com]

Aren't they lovely? I put down my deposit tomorrow - *squee*!

[rdyfrde.livejournal.com]

So how long to you have to wait until a snake is ready to breed? 1-2 years? More?

Just curious :)

[madandy.livejournal.com]

Depends on the species. With corns you usually use the 'rule of 3' - 3 years old, 3 feet long, 300 grams. But usually it's the second spring after hatching - again, dependant on species. Bull snakes breed quite small, and from what I read mandarin rats (cooler temps, slower metabolism) breed later, at larger sizes. Relatively speaking, as a big mandarin female is about four feet and a big female bull can be almost twice that!

So - it depends. But I usually plan on second spring after hatching, unless they're exceptionally small, or exceptionally big, or there's some other valid reason.

I bet that's as clear as mud...!

[foreverhermit.livejournal.com]

OMG, that all-white snake is stunning.

[madandy.livejournal.com]

I knoooooooooooooow - I have a thing for all-white and all-black snakes! But these are absolutely stunning. Putting my deposit down tomorrow!