#yhc19

[omg-snakes]

Yurei Hime laid her clutch today. She’s one of the final three (we’re still waiting on Pumpkin Spice and Snikki) and I don’t think that she had a sufficient number of pairings with Carl because this clutch was 6 good eggs and 7 slugs. The fertilized eggs look great, though, and Yurei Hime seems tired but very healthy. I’m very proud of her. It’s Carl’s first year breeding so my expectations were not high. Hopefully this pairing will help to prove some genes and allow me to fine-tune my future plans.

[sporadicali-ali]

@mca_australia and @lebanesemuslimassociation used #art to #create #positive #culturalchange at the #yhc19 #opportunity #expo - I was able to create these cool badges #badgemaking over insightful conversation. Thank you @kane.mercer.98 for the #Arabic #transcription! (at The Bryan Brown Theatre and Function Centre) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuYUukFHwzU/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=qbqij1h06nzf

[omg-snakes]

For those of you following along, we’re entering the first hatching window of OMG Snakes Friendwatch 2019. Below is a list of clutches and their approximate hatching windows. I’m not counting my sneggs before they hatch but I am cautiously optimistic at this point that we’ll have a good season. I look forward to meeting many new friends as they enter this crazy mixed-up world.

HF19 | Hatshepsut & Fiasco | Hatch: July 7 - July 15

IO19 | Isis & Olaf | Hatch: July 17 - July 25

KJC19 | Kitty Junior & Chammers | July 20 - July 28

BV19 | Brian & Valentine | July 23 - July 31

MFO19 | Meadow Fresh & Olaf | July 25 - August 2

ME19 | Morse & Ermengarde | July 28 - August 5

LSC19 | Left Shark & Chammers | August 4 - August 12

LO19 | Lumi & Olaf | August 12 - August 20

YHC19 | Yurei Hime & Carl | August 15 - August 23

SV19 | Snikki & Valentine | August 18 - August 26

PSG19 | Pumpkin Spice & Griswold | August 25 - September 2

[sporadicali-ali]

Day 2 culminating with a serious discussion on #culture #identity #identitypolitics Honest conversations on deeper topics was what #yhc19 was all about! Thank you @jihaddib_mp @jennyleong.newtown and @joeylaposta for allowing into the vulnerable side of your politics. https://www.instagram.com/p/BuYS_OIHTim/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1kdnu4ojbyyo1

[sporadicali-ali]

14 #local, #national, and #international organisations (#nfo and #ngo) at the #yhc19 #Opportunity #Expo curated for young people by yours truly. Thank you to @mqglp @westernsydneyu @redcrossau @sydneystoryfactory @lebanesemuslimassociation @mca_australia @westernsydneymrc @creatingchances @vinniesnsw @unyouthnsw @starttsnsw @nswses and of course @myannsw for taking the time to #inspire #futureleaders https://www.instagram.com/p/BuYRqonnZe5/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1se3fxkpmx2qr

[sporadicali-ali]

Two intellectuals, artists, and advocates of human rights opened up Day 2 of #yhc19 with #spokenword #performances and a brutally honest conversation. Loved and appreciated both @instasaranade and @saramansourofficial. Thank you @myannsw for introducing me to their stories and to @bankstownpoetryslam 😍 #wearediversity https://www.instagram.com/p/BuYQ4zYHmQn/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1vsmqvg2ndmp2

[sporadicali-ali]

The #yhc19 - Young Humanitarians Conference - #YOUnity website is live! www.yhconference.com The #conference is a #celebration of young Australians and seeks to #embrace, #empower, and #encounter different #stories , #identities, and #traditions of #modern #Australia. Held in collaboration with @myannsw @nswses @redcrossau and NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (#STARTTS), held February 26 & 27, 2019. https://www.instagram.com/p/BtNadIwH5v8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1p2luiabbl8rs

[omg-snakes]

Upsetting and Gross

Hey folks, as we all know sometimes animal breeding goes wrong, and it’s sad, unsettling, and disheartening.

It is also, however, interesting from a scientific perspective. I’d like to share this because A) it’s unusual, and B) I thought those who are scientifically minded might find value in seeing it, and C) anyone who’s interested in becoming a breeder should be aware that it’s not all cute babies and social media likes. It’s a ton of work, money, time, and sometimes disappointment and death, too.

This post is tagged for body horror, gore, blood, and animal death.

Put down your snacks before clicking below.

Most of Yurei Hime’s clutch, YHC19, molded soon after laying. The rest of the eggs have failed one by one over the past month and I’ve been taking them out and discarding them, but one egg stayed large and plump. I’ve been waiting for it to hatch for over a week and realized today, at 66 days from lay date, that there was something wrong. I went in to investigate with a tiny hole in the egg shell, careful to preserve the inner amniotic sac in case the little one inside was still alive. 

I immediately saw what I thought was anencephaly, where the skull does not fully develop and the brain is able to push through. Corn snake fetuses with this defect have no chance of survival outside of the egg. I could have discarded this egg immediately, or left it to incubate and eventually die in the shell naturally. Either option would have been ethically sound as this fetus is not viable and would not live, regardless of my efforts or lack thereof.

I decided to investigate further and cut away the shell. Normally by this stage of development the yolk would be a lot smaller as the fetus would have used most of these nutrients to build their growing body. The yolk was enormous, though, a giant cushion surrounding this tiny coiled body. It appeared to be still developing, with healthy blood vessels webbed across the yolk.

The white blob is definitely anencephaly. It’s a little hard to see so I circled it in the photo below.

I then decided to take out the fetus entirely to see how bad the defect was, knowing full well that this would terminate any life that it was still clinging to. Little did I know that it was way worse than I could have guessed.

Below is the whole fetus.

The extent of this defect is such that the fetus’ lung, heart, and stomach are outside of their tiny, tangled body. They are massively kinked and fused.

Not only is their skull undeveloped, it doesn’t seem to be present at all. There is no head, no eyes, no mouth. The body seems to give up on trying to have an “outside” towards the top of the neck and just sort of stops while the insides kept going. There is a nerve cord connected loosely to a mass of nervous tissue that I’m sure is more or less the brain of this poor mangled little thing.

The worst and saddest part of this tiny Cronenberg horror is that they were, until I intervened, still technically “alive.” There is no way that this creature could ever survive or be anything approaching a viable snake in any way shape or form, but it was still trying to be ...something... inside that egg. 

Something malformed and wrong, for sure, but something nonetheless.

I’m sorry, little one. I’m sorry that you never had a chance at a life, and I’m sorry that I ended prematurely the half-life that you were granted. I hope that you didn’t feel any pain and that the neurons that you had were dreaming.

[sporadicali-ali]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ali Asgher Ali (@sporadicali_ali)

An amazing #welcome #welcometocountry on the second, and last, day of #yhc19 with @myannsw #wearediversity (at Bryan Brown Theatre) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuYPLQTHwd3/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1nr5kp53f4tto