Hypo Honduran Hatchling

Today just keeps getting better. This little sucker just popped out from the same clutch as the albinos. It's a sweet little hypo. I can't wait to see how the colors hold up. I think I might have to keep this one.

Albino Honduran Milk Snakes Hatching

Wow! These are my first albino Honduran milk snakes ever. You can see one is already out of the egg and another tiny nose is poking out of an egg to the right. You can also see the left over yolk and a bad egg in one of the pics.

The color on these snakes is amazing; the photos don't do them justice. I've been drooling over albino Hondos for a few years now and bought a pair of het-for-albino babies from Nokturnal Tom about three years ago. Then, two years ago, Tom gave me another female. She turned out to be the one to produce these first albinos. 

There are still more snakes to hatch and I can't wait to see what's inside. It's like Christmas!

Cool Video: Tortoise Knocking Down a Tree

Check out this fun video from ReptileChannel.com of a tortoise knocking down a small tree.

First Out of the Egg

The first Honduran milk snake of 2010 is out of the egg and it is huge! I should have put a ruler down for comparison, but this snake looks to be at least 14 inches long. I've seen yearling Hondurans that aren't that big.

This one is going to make a great pet for someone. I can't wait to see what the rest of the clutch looks like!

Eggs Are Hatching

My first Honduran milk snake clutch of the year, laid on June 7, is finally starting to hatch. When I checked this morning I saw the first few slits in one of the eggs. No head poking out yet, but a tiny orange and black snake was moving inside. I'm still hoping to get some albinos from this clutch.

This clutch was incubated for 83 days. I'll post some pics as more of the snakes start to poke their heads out, or "pip."

Komodo Dragons Hatched at LA Zoo

Twenty-two baby Komodo dragons, the world's largest monitor lizard, began hatching on August 8th at the Los Angeles Zoo. This is the zoo's first successful attempt to breed these rare giants. Komodo dragons, which can grow to 9 feet in length and weigh 200 pounds, are native to a few small islands in Indonesia.

Read the full article here:

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/LA-Zoo-Komodo-Dragons-101501029.html

Blaze Goini x Hypo Brooks Project

Okay, I am totally stoked! While my friend Tom Stevens was out of town on vacation I kept an eye on his snakes, including several clutches of eggs that were due to hatch. While checking the eggs one day I was blown away by what I found: a bold, orange patternless hatchling. This snake is special. It is the result of a cross between two lines of Florida kingsnake, the blaze Apalachicola (goini) and hypo South Florida (brooksi) kingsnakes. However most of these crosses result in highly variable blotched, spotted or striped offspring (as in the first picture). This snake has no pattern. It appears to be displaying both the hypo and blaze traits, giving it a deep orange color.

Now here's where I get really excited: this snake will be in my collection very soon!

As soon as Tom got home I told him I wanted that snake and we worked out a price for the new hatchling patternless and the yearling female pictured above.

With any luck I should be able to breed them in two years and see what comes out.

Check out Tom's website for some sweet king snakes, milk snakes and Pituophis species.

Thanks, Tom, for the awesome snakes and for the use of the above picture.