corvins-colubrids

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Nothing is sadder than the faces of the adult snakes watching you feed the babies while not feeding them (because they're going into brumation soon and it can literally kill them if they have undigested food in their tummies).

Their cute little faces looking at me like "why mother?"

Ugh, I love them all so much. I will be putting them into brumation soon (which for me just means putting them in the storage room in my basement).

Other than that, all is going well. Just really busy.

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Logo Three died, and I've been really upset about it. Everyone else is doing great, but last week when I was feeding everyone, he was just there, in his hide, dead. No sign of anything wrong. He'd been eating fine, his husbandry was no different than every other snake. I know the sad fact is that sometimes animals, especially reptiles, especially baby snakes, just pass away sometimes, but it's really hitting me hard.

Duncan is still missing, and at this point, I'm assuming he is dead, too. It makes me feel like a horrible pet keeper. This is one of the hardest parts about working with colubrids; they're so small that it's so easy for things to go wrong. They're so much harder to find when they escape, and when something does go wrong, healthwise, they can decline fast.

All my other snakes are doing super well, and I had some wonderful handling sessions recently. Everyone else is growing and thriving and eating like champs.

Lore, my Jeweled Lacerta, is huge now. I can't believe how fast he grew! I'll need to move him up to a bigger tank soon. He will only eat front tongs, or when he can hunt, so I basically release dubia roaches into his bioactive enclosure every few days. He doesn't catch all of them, so some remain in hiding and come out at night and keep growing, and he gets them eventually. It's pretty fascinating to watch, and it's a really efficient method of ensuring he's fed and enriched appropriately. I feed the roaches too, of course, and I even got them a little 3-D printed ladder so they don't accidentally drown in the water bowl. They're fun to watch, too, and it makes me wish I had a spare tank I could turn into a dubia colony.

Caring for animals is one of my favorite things, but dang, it's really hard sometimes, emotionally. I know a snake isn't going to love me back, but Logo Three always seemed eager to see me and come out of his enclosure and chill on my arm, and he was a cool little dude. RIP.

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Haven't posted in awhile, mostly because I've been too busy with non-snake life stuff. The snakes are all doing well, and growing fast. I haven't had any snakes, not even the ball pythons, ever refuse a meal for me. I'm saving up for a snake rack, which I know some people are opposed to, but the one I'm considering would give them each more space than they have now, and I give them lots of enrichment, and rotate them through outside of the enclosure enrichment time in the playpen I set up for them. They love it. It's just simply not practical for breeders to have 20+ huge setups, and keep in mind, too, that most of my snakes are still juveniles, or even babies. They don't yet need a ton of space.

Anyway, I'm pretty streamlined with everything over here. Using Husbandry Pro has made it so easy to track everything, including feeder inventory, my dubia colonies are booming, and everyone is doing really well.

Saga even laid a clutch of slug eggs that made me very relieved because I was getting a bit concerned why she suddenly looked so fat. She laid them about a week or so after I completely deep cleaned and redid her enclosure to one better suited to her as a one-year-old. She still seems a little small to me, but she'll probably keep growing. She's back to normal after laying her eggs, though, and the isopods sure loved the eggs.

It's funny, my powder blue isopod colony exploded, which is good, because Fable keeps eating them in her enclosure. Somehow she manages to catch them, but can't catch an adult dubia. It's so funny. She's also been burrowing a lot more lately (possibly to hunt for isopods?) but I frequently find her with just her head sticking out of the soil in her enclosure. She has managed to decimate any live plant I attempt to put in her enclosure, so oh well. I'm giving up on them.

Anyway, all is well with the pets and well enough with me. I'm trying to put weight on the snakes that will be brumating. It will (hopefully) be a busy breeding season in 2025!

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I don’t remember if I’d mentioned this here or not, but my leopard gecko Kusama went missing last week. I still have no idea how she got out, she was just missing from her enclosure one day and I searched everywhere but couldn’t find her. I was feeling really awful between her and Duncan escaping in the same few weeks span (in separate rooms), but then tonight, as I was logging the evening’s feedings in my app and looking down at my phone, I saw her tail swishing around from beneath Fable’s enclosure (which is a 4x2x2 PVC enclosure on top of a low table) and I quickly grabbed her before she could escape. She seems unhurt, and she went and drank a bunch of water as soon as she got back in her enclosure, ate some supper, licked at her calcium, and went into her favorite hide. I am so relieved. I was feeling so depressed and just awful in general about it.

In other reptile news, the snakes all took to their larger feeders and everyone ate. I’m glad I sized up and I think even could size up more for some. It’s hard with the smaller snakes because it seems like they’re too small to eat too large a feeder, but then they show how much they can stretch. It’s truly amazing and while I was once disgusted by snakes and feeding them, I now find it fascinating and love watching.

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Still no sign of Duncan. I've been leaving water out, and trying to identify any possible hiding spots, but he's a teeny tiny corn snake, and they're notorious for escaping and hiding in the strangest places, so I am honestly not all that hopeful.

The rest of the snakes are doing well and growing. Several babies moved up from pinkies to fuzzies (rodent feeding size). I'm using the app Husbandry Pro to track everything, and it's really helpful for my chronically ill and ADHD brain to not have to hold all that info in my head. I can track anything I want, but things like cleaning, water changes, feeding and feeding size, as well as keeping an inventory of feeders from which it automatically deducts as you input feedings. It's so helpful, and was able to remind me to reorder feeders that will arrive before I run out. With 26 snakes, I go through a lot of feeders every week, so it's important to keep on top of that.

I've been feeding my bearded dragon Saga and my Blue Tongue Skink species-specific Reptilinks too, and it makes it so easy to make sure they're getting balanced nutrition, especially for Fable who refuses to eat any veggies. Saga is great about eating salads, but I can't always find collard greens, which is one of the greens used in Reptilinks, so that's nice.

I have had a hard few weeks because of health stuff, and we're in a heat wave. I haven't gotten anything done beyond daily pet chores, and there's so much I want to do in terms of cleaning and organizing the reptile room. I just don't have the energy to do much of anything, and there's lots of lifting and carrying that needs to be done.

Tonight is feeding night, and always nice to check on how everyone is doing beyond my regular cleaning and water refilling during the week. Not everyone is out and about (most aren't, in fact), so I look forward to getting everyone fed and checking on them. I might try leaving out a pinkie for Duncan overnight. At least if it's gone, I'll know he's still somewhere in the reptile room.

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I still haven't found Duncan. :( I have left a bowl of water on the floor as well as putting his enclosure on the floor and open in case he decides to return to a familiar place that smells like him. But it feels really hopeless. I have looked everywhere, but he's so tiny, and there are just so many small spaces he could have gotten into. Sigh. I am not giving up hope, and I might try leaving some food out over night for him, but I'm mostly just so sad.

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I fucked up. I was in a lot of pain last night and on my meds and drifting off to sleep when I remembered I hadn’t yet done the nightly misting on Mango, my crested gecko’s enclosure. So I shuffled in to the office/ancillary reptile room, and took care of Mango, then realized Miss Honey and Duncan had both shed so I took their enclosures down from the shelf and cleaned Miss Honey’s and she had some stuck shed on her tail, so I was taking care of that, and started in on cleaning Duncan’s enclosure, which took some doing because he managed to smear his shit all over the side, and while I’m doing that he leaps out of the enclosure, I catch him, he bites me, and leaps again from my hands and slithers away.

I did my best to look for him but this room is a messy storage room and there is so much room for a baby corn snake to hide. I’m not giving up but I had to go to bed because at that point my meds were really kicking in hard and I needed to lie down. I hope I find him safely. I hope he stays in this room and doesn’t leave so the cats don’t get him. I left a bowl of water out on the floor and I’m going to try to leave a pinkie out tomorrow night if I don’t find him before then, but these guys are so small and so good at hiding and I feel awful and overwhelmed.

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Well, I think it's official that Coach has slugged out this year. Next year, I'll definitely be watching to make sure all pairs lock, because I assumed that she and Wilson did, and I saw "evidence" left in the enclosure after they were together overnight, but I didn't witness it. She sure did act gravid, though, and both she and Wilson were sold to me (by separate breeders) as proven breeders. Next year, I will have my pairs together for a lot longer, or for numerous sessions, because that also might have been the problem. She definitely doesn't seem egg bound, and she's no longer spending time in her lay box, and has been eating ravenously, so I'm calling it done for this year. I'm bummed, but this gives me more time to better prepare.

I've been meeting and learning from a lot of experienced breeders, and making plans for brumation for the adults this coming year, as well as enrichment and a playpen for the babies and subadults to help them become more accustomed to handling. I'm using the app Husbandry Pro to track everything with my reptiles, and it's incredible. I used my free trial period and upgraded to a paid account. I highly recommend it, if you keep a lot of reptiles. It can even keep track of your feeder inventory and automatically keep it updated as you record feedings.

Next year, I'll only have 3 females old enough to breed, Coach, Twenty-Two, and Caitlin Clark, and some exciting possibilities for babies. Twenty-Two aka TT is new. I really wanted some Strawberry genes to pair with a het Strawberry male who is still too young, and I'd been wanting to use the name Twenty-Two (Caitlin Clark's jersey number in college and the WNBA, so perfect for my themed group), and it was perfect for a snake hatched in 2022. She's a gorgeous snake; Amel, Caramel, Strawberry, het Sunkissed. She's the same size as Caitlin Clark (the snake, lol), and I think by next season, she'll definitely be the right age to breed. I'm not going to power feed by any means, but I'm hoping to feed a bit more often for the babies because even some of the yearlings are smaller than they should be, and I'm going to try feeding them Reptilinks, which are easier to digest, and can be great for safely putting on weight.

I'm also considering selling Wilson, but I'm not sure. I don't think he's actually a Hypo, which is the reason I got him. In person, he doesn't look anything like any photos I've seen of Hypos. He has no reduced melanin, which is what the Hypo morph does, but he's a tessera, so that makes it hard (for me at least) to figure out what his morph is, since the tessera stripe pattern disrupts other patterns, and it's dominant. My best guess is that he might be just an Okatee tessera (Okatee is a wildtype locality, not a morph exactly, though it is heritable). I need to get some better pictures of him, so I can can consult some experts, but he is very bitey (he keeps trying to eat my thighs, like wrap and try to munch down lol), and the last bite was right on a knuckle and took forever to heal, so, I admit, I haven't been able to get a good photo, since I always need two hands to keep him from this. He's a gorgeous snake, but I just don't know if he's right for my program, especially because I'm not sure if he's fertile, despite having been sold as a proven breeder.

I have no specific plans to acquire more snakes this year, but it's a possibility. There's a reptile expo next weekend a few hours away, and I'd like to go, even just to meet other people, get a sense of how others are pricing at expos, and keep an eye out for any of my wish list snakes. For the most part, though, I just need to grow up the snakes I already have, and be patient until then.

So far, all the corn snakes are doing amazing, and none have ever rejected a meal, not even Coach, when she was (I thought) gravid. Even Alaska, who is a 2024 hatchling, ate the next day after I got her, which is just awesome.

Most of this is just me thinking out loud because I don't really have anyone IRL I can talk to about this. I need more reptile friends. I've had such a tough few years, but especially this year, facing cancer, and it's really nice to go to my office/corn snake room and chill with my snakes. Trying to give them the best life possible, be gentle and patient with them, care for them, it helps me take better care of myself, too. It's almost meditative, honestly. I'll keep posting about my snabies (snake babies) and try not to be too bummed that there are no actual babies this year.

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If you have a colubrid or other smaller snake species, these make amazing hides for them because of the little half circle on each side. They're easy to clean, and cheaper than similar-sized hides marketed for reptiles. All of my adult corn snakes have them, and they love them. Bonus: if you need to, you can put the water dish on top, or you can use the top for placing the feeder, if your snake won't eat off the tongues.

And FWIW, that is not an affiliate link, I just want to share how much I love this item I repurposed from my cats for my snakes.

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Today was interesting! Some Millennials joke about browsing Zillow being their late night hobby, but I browse Morph Market for new corn snakes to add to my breeding program. I have a long wishlist, and this year's hatchlings are starting to go on sale, so I was able to snag a pair of lavenders (from different breeders; important to have different blood lines for lavenders) for really great prices.

One seller lived an hour away, and I picked up that snake, who I've named Merlin, on Wednesday. I have decided to go with non-basketball names for my lavender project. Another seller lived two-and-a-half hours away, and I thought it might be worth it to save on shipping and drive down to get the female lavender (actually, she's almond, which is caramel and lavender, which is perfect since most of my corn snakes are caramel, since it's my favorite single morph). What's 5 hours in the car on a summer Saturday, eh? lol, I guess this comes from living two days away from my family for most of my adult life, and being used to 12-hour days of driving, so 5 hours felt like nothing. I took the dog with me, and listened to my book club book on audio, and it was a really lovely day. If you factor in the cost of gas, I get that it might not have actually saved me money, but it's still better for the animal, and way less stressful, to be in the car with me on a quick drive than overnight in a shipping container.

Alaska is the name I gave the female, and she's a gorgeous well-started baby who hatched a few months ago. It might be a little soon, but I'm going to try to feed her tomorrow with the rest of the crew to see if she takes it. I have enough other snakes who will gladly eat an extra pinkie that I don't mind thawing an extra one out.

I will admit, though, that I'm pretty tired now. But I'm glad I did it.

I do have one more snake coming by mail this coming week, a female who will be ready to breed next year, and fills a hole in my breeding stock, and I'm going to an expo at the end of the month, but not planning on anything specific now. I just need to work on growing up these yearlings and subadults now.

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Maggid is home! The photo on the right is from his breeder, and the photo on the left is him in his quarantine tank enjoying the climbing opportunities. He’s so much smaller than I imagined but he’s amazing. I’ve been waiting so long for him, I’d started to think he would never get here!

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Great news about my incoming Boa imperator, Maggid! I have a tracking number, and he will arrive tomorrow! I'm very excited.

Also Coach has started laying eggs, but so far just one slug. :( I'll check on her later tonight, but I hope she doesn't get egg bound, and I also hope she doesn't slug out, but the most important thing is that she's healthy.

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I just gotta vent. I had to finish paying for my Hog Island Boa by the end of April, and I did, but the breeder (who is legitimate; I've vetted him) still hasn't shipped him, and there have been legitimate reasons, and we have been in constant communication, and I've gotten photos and videos of the snake, so that eases my worries a bit, but I'm still anxious to get him! It's just frustrating, and I really hope he gets here soon. I feel like every week we make a plan, and then something happens (often the weather, tbh, which is out of anyone's control). It's no one's fault, but I'm just frustrated. I either want the snake, or I want the money back. Supposedly he's shipping him tomorrow for Thursday arrival, but we shall see.

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Picked up another pair of corn snakes for future breeding so I can make more Honey morphs. Pretty much any morph that works with Caramel is my focus, and these two are already gorgeous.

It's a great time to buy a corn snake, btw, if you're looking for one, because most breeders are selling off their yearlings to make room for new hatchlings.

Duncan is named for dunkin(g) basketballs, and Miss Honey, well, she's one of my favorite literary characters, Matilda's teacher in Matilda by Roald Dahl, and I couldn't resist the name.

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Exciting day in the snake room! Coach had her pre-lay shed, and she ate a big meal, so now we are officially on egg watch! She's had her lay box for awhile, just in case, but now I'll officially be checking for eggs every day.

I had to drop feed a lot more snakes than normal, but the corns always eat eventually, I just prefer it when they take the feeder with gusto. But the Kingsnakes never fail to do so, and Typo was waiting eagerly for his meal. He just got upgraded to a larger prey size, and you just never know how a snake will adapt. Peony had no interest in fuzzy, so she is still getting two pinkies, but Typo hasn't had a problem.

The best news is that my new Ball Python, Donovan, ate his first meal with me. Struck and coiled and ate no problem. And Ezra, my other BP, who is about the same age, actually ate from the tongs after always having to be drop fed. He's never missed a meal, but this time he was out waiting for his meal when I got to him, which was exciting.

Unfortunately, Fable's wounds have returned. I'm not sure what to do. Obviously something is causing them, whether it's how she is moving around her enclosure, or something in her enclosure she's cutting herself on, but it's nothing I can figure out so far. She is letting me treat the wounds, though, and I've been trying out a liquid bandage to hopefully protect it while she stays in her enclosure. I'm going to keep a close eye on it, but of course I'll do what is best for her. I just wish I knew what exactly was going on.

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If you're queer and like and/or keep reptiles, join my new FB group, Queer Herpers, created after I got sick of the misogyny and homophobia/transphobia in a lot of mainstream reptile groups!

[corvins-colubrids]

The good news is he seems fine, if a little hungry and dehydrated. The bad news is Lore somehow managed to get himself stuck all the way behind his enclosure background, and I had to rip it apart to free him. And I'm embarrassed to admit that I have no idea how long he had been stuck back there. I have been so busy the last several days that I had been putting his food in his bowl, misting the enclosure and leaving him alone. He's so skittish and often hides when I'm around, so I didn't want to bother him, but I started getting worried today, and when he wasn't in either of his hides, I started looking for him. The last place I looked--the back of his enclosure (which wasn't easy because of where it's located) is where he, indeed, was, smooshed in between the glass and the background. I was so worried he was dead when I first saw him that I frantically began tearing everything apart, but fortunately he seems ok. I'm not going to mess with any kind of background until he's much bigger. I put some paper towels on the outside of the enclosure so he doesn't feel super exposed, but I ordered a pretty forest background I'll tape on the outside of the enclosure until it's time to size up to his adult size, and I'll get him some more cork bark pieces so he can still enjoy climbing.

I'm so glad I decided not to just "leave him be" today.