Freshly hatched Burmese Pythons

[Graeme]

November is always a pleasant month for us and one of the main reasons is that we get to open the Burmese incubators.
Now last year this time, when we hatched a clutch of albinos, an interesting thing happened. A few of the people that had feverently booked babies suddenly decided that they actually prefered normal ones. You know, the " albinos are a bit boring, colourwise, and everyone seems to have one these days." bit.
Not the types to disappoint, Jax and myself set to work on breeding some het for albinos for the more indecisive python enthusiasts amongst us.
Now they can bloody well design their own!

Here is 2008's story.





First, a romantic weekend getaway for Max and Maggie. ( both snakes are proven breeders with many offspring out there, so calling them by name is in my humble opinion, appropriate. )

Then a bit of a wait.



After not a million years, Maggie starts to 'roll'. She is distributing the heat from the floor, evenly amongst the developing eggs. Note that she is lying on her back. Not long to go.



When a four and a half metre python manages to hide herself so well, it's time to become suspicious.



And this is why.



A cold, sleepless night and 42 eggs later, its time to introduce the hatching boxes to the incubators. There are 11 infertile eggs that we keep with the others to help keep the the temperature stable. These eggs are discarded after 6 weeks.



About three weeks from hatching date, the mother ( Maggie ) realised that she was supposed to be taking care of something, but wasn't entirely sure of what. So without any further delay, she moved across to her tree and tried to be the best mom that she could. for an aaaaw cute moment, go here...

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... type=&aq=f



56 days and it's time to check.



Looks like a little face there.



Right on time!







And this is why we love what we do.


More than half of these little ones have been booked already, so, if you happen to be interested please contact me ASAP.
They are obviously true het for albinos and we are asking R 450.00 each

Thanks
Graeme 082 4749139

[Fooble]

That last pic is a winner dude!
So awesome!
Congrats!

[Matt Robinson]

Congrats. Cool incubator i see the temps are perfect. Did you use a fixh tank heater?

[Matt Robinson]

Sorry, fish tank heater

[Graeme]

Hey Matty, Ja, I use 3 x 200 watt aquarium heaters per incubator, all this does is keep the temperature very stable. Once the optimum temp is reached, they use very little power. I also have an anti-eskom device in place that keeps the incubators at a costant temperature in the event of a 2 day power failure.

[Quasimoto]

The babies are absolutely gorgeous Graeme, congrats!

[snakemanjayd]

Anti-Eskom
I love that!!!
What do you have, a generator, a backup battery, like a UPS?

[Graeme]

Naah, just a geyser.

[snakemanjayd]

Ok, cool.
Looks like a really nice setup..
Are the aquatirum heaters in water in the bottom of the boxes?
Suppose that would make sense, why you have a geyser as backup.

[Graeme]

Geysers, if insulated, can keep their temperature longer than the ANC can keep their sh!t together. About two days.

[froot]

Congrats Graeme, like your self sustainability way of thinking, and love the way you get your points across.

Best you go register to vote tomorrow, sounds like you are all for cleaning up the mess the anc has left us.

[Graeme]

I'm already in line froot, where are you?
The longer we can keep Julius ' what the f$#ck am I actually saying ' Malema in kindergarten, the better for us all.

[Charlie]

I have a normal burm, but he is really feisty... I've heard somewhere that the albinos are more docile, is this true?

I know very little about genetics, but if it is true that albinos are more docile, am I correct when I'm saying these one would still carry the characteristics of normal burms? Because they only carry the albino gene, and are not albino themselves?

[Graeme]

About 18 years ago I developed a personal theory that surrounded the fact that albinos, leucistics and most other morphs seem to do better in captivity, than the normal variations of any given snake. It took me a long while to realise that each and every animal is totally unique. I have had the pleasure of meeting a totally relaxed adult Yellow Anaconda as well as the misfortune of having my hand chewed off at the elbow by an irate Ball Python.
To answer your question, I find that all my albino/morph snakes seem to have a more healthy appetite than the regular ones, but that could be linked to a survival strategy that would best be discussed on another thread.

Maggie, the albino female pictured above, nailed me on the hand when she was about three meters long, for no rhyme or reason. And let me tell you, it wasn't funny.

I think that the worst mistake that one could make, would be to assume that an albino snake is more docile than its normal counterparts. Especially with pythons and rattlesnakes.

[tightjeans]

It gives you that warm fuzzy feeling inside. Nice one!