Friday, January 05, 2007
Hibernation time
Sorry for the lack of updates. All
the animals are "down" for the winter in hibernation. Haven't had much
time to go looking for salamanders, either, as all my coworkers are
taking time off for the holidays, leaving me behind. But soon I'm going
to head out and see if I can find a rubber boa (again) or a Pacific
Giant salamander. Updates on my progress as it, uh, progresses.
By the way, none of the baby alterna have eaten on their own, so they too are being cooled down for the
winter. Hopefully when I pull them out this spring they will take to
pinky mice.
Article posted by John Schilling 6:25 AM6 comments
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Vertigo madness
A few years back I developed a bad case of tinnitus
in my left ear (a high pitched squeal not unlike a smoke detector).
After a few months of the very maddening sound, I started to experience
slight vertigo,
until one day I could hardly stand up. After a few days both the
vertigo and the tinnitus disappeared, leaving me with partial hearing
loss in my left ear. Now, after over a year of peace, the vertigo has
come back with a vengeance (but no tinnitus this time, thankfully). I've
been told by my relatives that this runs in the family, and as far as
they know there is no medication available to help me regain my sense of
balance. If anyone has any ideas to share, please let me know. I've now
missed two days of work, which I cannot afford, and I'm also finding it
very difficult to care for my reptiles in this state. Arg.
Article posted by John Schilling 8:41 AM5 comments
Thursday, November 02, 2006
A new season starts...
Summer's over, and that means no more
snakes for a while. But while one season ends, another begins. With the
first full rain of fall today, I found an arboreal salamander in my
front yard. That's the great thing about salamander season - I don't
have to travel very far to find critters.
First Aneides lugubris of the salamander season.
Article posted by John Schilling 8:05 AM2 comments
Thursday, October 26, 2006
I luvs Halloween
My favorite holiday by far is Halloween. Just thought I'd make that clear.
Here's the jack-o-lantern for this year.
The
babies haven't eaten yet. Mice, hamsters, lizard scented mice, lizard
scented hamsters, I tried them all. I force fed them some mouse tails
just to keep them going the other day. Will try lizards next, if I can
find enough small ones.
Article posted by John Schilling 9:44 PM0 comments
Monday, October 09, 2006
The family portrait
Here they all are...
Article posted by John Schilling 8:08 AM6 comments
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Last three gray-banded eggs
The final three hatched today. Looks like the best were saved for last...
Nice!
Whoa... VERY nice.
Holy crap.
I'm
certainly keeping the last two. The trouble with gray-bandedes is that
they can be very picky eaters right out of the egg. Most often they will
only eat very small lizards, which is not something you can buy in bulk
at the pet store. As such, most breeders resort to force feeding them
mice, which is very stressful and traumatic to the snake. As a result,
many die. I'm planning on feeding mine lizards if they refuse mice (or
lizard scented mice), however. I can get small ones, it just won't be
easy. And after they gain enough weight, they should switch over to mice
(maybe in a year or so). To be sure, some will eat mice right off the
bat.
Article posted by John Schilling 8:51 PM0 comments
Thursday, October 05, 2006
First baby gray banded kings (ever)
Well, I can finally call myself a
snake breeder now. The first gray-banded king of mine came out of it's
egg last night, and two more have their heads out (with a fourth
piping). HOOOO-RAY!
Here we see the first alterna is out, with two on the way and a third piping.
The
first one out. This one I'm gonna keep, as he is also the first snake
I've ever hatched out. Nice looking, too. Can't wait until it's first
shed to see how bright it's gonna be.
I'm undecided at
this point as to whether or not to go to work tonight and check the eggs
again, or wait until tomorrow (the eggs are being incubated at work).
The two in the photo with their heads out should be ready to go in a few
hours, and maybe even the one that is piping.
Update 10/5 6:00pm
Went back to work, a second snake was out of the egg. Two more with their heads out, and four eggs with no action at all.
Lampropeltis alterna number two.
Update 10/6 11:00am
Three more snakes are out, all stunningly beautiful. Three more eggs to go. Two are opening now, the last is still closed.
Lampropeltis alterna number three.
Lampropeltis alterna number four. This one is very nice looking.
Lampropeltis alterna number five.
Article posted by John Schilling 11:31 AM2 comments
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
The eggs are opening
It's almost Christmas for me. The
gray banded eggs are starting to slit open (piping we call it). Well, at
least one is, anyway. Should be about 24 to 48 hours for them to finish
hatching. The anticipation is KILLING me. Not only are these my first
snake eggs, but the father, Triumph, is a long time pet of mine, my
favorite snake. Will be awesome to have some Triumph juniors running
around. More photos coming as progress is made...
The
egg in the center is slit open. The others *should* start later today.
Notice the "bad" egg toward the left. It may yet still hatch.
Article posted by John Schilling 1:02 PM0 comments
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Black headed snake, if only just.
While cruisin the other night, Jerry
and I found (he found, really) a black headed snake. These snakes are
quite rare, they hardly ever come to the surface. Jerry has never seen
one before, and he grew up out here. Sadly, the specimen had either just
been hit by a car or nailed by an owl. There was no blood, but it was
moving very erratically. It most likely didn't make it through the
night. At least it was still alive when we came upon it, so we can count
it as a catch.
Tantilla planiceps
We also found two baby cal kings that night, but both had been hit. Road cruising can be more depressing than fun sometimes.
Article posted by John Schilling 9:25 AM2 comments
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Gophers a poppin', and some glossies
Went road cruising with Jerry again
on Sunday night. Never saw so many baby gopher snakes in my life. Sadly,
most were DOR (dead on road), but we did manage to get about 8 or 9
live ones. One was exceptionally nice, too, with a diamond pattern on
it's back. A real stunner. We also found three glossy snakes (one dead,
two live), a new one for me, and something Jerry has never seen this far
north. Kind of hard to tell the difference between glossy snakes and
baby gophers.
Arizona elegans occidentalis,
a glossy snake. Notice how similar they appear to gopher snakes. The
main difference is the belly, glossies are pure white, gophers are
checkered.
A very nice juvenile gopher snake. Notice the diamond pattern on it's back.
Article posted by John Schilling 9:33 AM0 comments
Thursday, September 07, 2006
More road cruisin' fun
Made a couple of road trips these
last two weeks. On the first trip I finally found my own long-nose
(didn't see much else though). On the second trip (last night), I found another long-nose (not as uncommon as I thought), a bunch of DOR gopher snakes
(and one live), a DOR cal king, a baby rattler and a BIG rattler
(alive). Jerry and I also ran into Sam, another herper, out on the road.
We pulled over to talk for a few, and then as we drove off, Sam found a
baby cal king about 10 feet behind Jerry's truck. A good night all in
all.
My second long-nose snake.
Sam's baby Cal King.
A big Northern Pacific rattlesnake found on the side of the road.
Oh
yea, I also got my first rubber boa. I didn't find it, however, it was
given to me by a friend who breeds them. Still nice to have it, though.
They are amazing snakes.
A rubbery boa.
Article posted by John Schilling 9:50 AM2 comments
Monday, August 21, 2006
Jerry has a long nose
No, his nose ain't big.
Went
road cruisin' with Jerry last night, found some great stuff. A couple of
NorPacs, my first nightsnake, and a lifer for both of us, a long-nose
snake. Very common down south, VERY rare up here. Also saw some DOR's,
including a nearly 5' long gopher (very, very sad). Still, a great
night. Jerry was really excited to find the long-nose, as was I. Now I
need to find my own. Although that will be tough, this may be the only
one either of us ever see up here.
Rheinocheilus lecontei lecontei, a long-nosed snake.
My first nightsnake!
A nice big Northern Pacific rattlesnake. The second one we found was too grumpy to have his photo taken.
We
also found a green praying mantis. According to Jerry, green ones are
kinda rare. All the others we saw last night were yellow.
Article posted by John Schilling 11:25 AM0 comments
Monday, August 07, 2006
Fat hog
Jerry, here's the picture of the fat hog you wanted me to post...
Article posted by John Schilling 8:58 AM4 comments
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Alterna eggs
Here's a shot of all ten alterna eggs incubating. I'm a little paranoid about them. Notice the blue spot
on that one egg? Mold? Arg. Must not think about it right now, I'm
gonna drive myself nuts.
Article posted by John Schilling 8:00 AM2 comments
Hibernation time
Sorry for the lack of updates. All
the animals are "down" for the winter in hibernation. Haven't had much
time to go looking for salamanders, either, as all my coworkers are
taking time off for the holidays, leaving me behind. But soon I'm going
to head out and see if I can find a rubber boa (again) or a Pacific
Giant salamander. Updates on my progress as it, uh, progresses.
By the way, none of the baby alterna have eaten on their own, so they too are being cooled down for the
winter. Hopefully when I pull them out this spring they will take to
pinky mice.
Article posted by John Schilling 6:25 AM6 comments
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Vertigo madness
A few years back I developed a bad case of tinnitus
in my left ear (a high pitched squeal not unlike a smoke detector).
After a few months of the very maddening sound, I started to experience
slight vertigo,
until one day I could hardly stand up. After a few days both the
vertigo and the tinnitus disappeared, leaving me with partial hearing
loss in my left ear. Now, after over a year of peace, the vertigo has
come back with a vengeance (but no tinnitus this time, thankfully). I've
been told by my relatives that this runs in the family, and as far as
they know there is no medication available to help me regain my sense of
balance. If anyone has any ideas to share, please let me know. I've now
missed two days of work, which I cannot afford, and I'm also finding it
very difficult to care for my reptiles in this state. Arg.
Article posted by John Schilling 8:41 AM5 comments
Thursday, November 02, 2006
A new season starts...
Summer's over, and that means no more
snakes for a while. But while one season ends, another begins. With the
first full rain of fall today, I found an arboreal salamander in my
front yard. That's the great thing about salamander season - I don't
have to travel very far to find critters.
First Aneides lugubris of the salamander season.
Article posted by John Schilling 8:05 AM2 comments
Thursday, October 26, 2006
I luvs Halloween
My favorite holiday by far is Halloween. Just thought I'd make that clear.
Here's the jack-o-lantern for this year.
The
babies haven't eaten yet. Mice, hamsters, lizard scented mice, lizard
scented hamsters, I tried them all. I force fed them some mouse tails
just to keep them going the other day. Will try lizards next, if I can
find enough small ones.
Article posted by John Schilling 9:44 PM0 comments
Monday, October 09, 2006
The family portrait
Here they all are...
Article posted by John Schilling 8:08 AM6 comments
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Last three gray-banded eggs
The final three hatched today. Looks like the best were saved for last...
Nice!
Whoa... VERY nice.
Holy crap.
I'm
certainly keeping the last two. The trouble with gray-bandedes is that
they can be very picky eaters right out of the egg. Most often they will
only eat very small lizards, which is not something you can buy in bulk
at the pet store. As such, most breeders resort to force feeding them
mice, which is very stressful and traumatic to the snake. As a result,
many die. I'm planning on feeding mine lizards if they refuse mice (or
lizard scented mice), however. I can get small ones, it just won't be
easy. And after they gain enough weight, they should switch over to mice
(maybe in a year or so). To be sure, some will eat mice right off the
bat.
Article posted by John Schilling 8:51 PM0 comments
Thursday, October 05, 2006
First baby gray banded kings (ever)
Well, I can finally call myself a
snake breeder now. The first gray-banded king of mine came out of it's
egg last night, and two more have their heads out (with a fourth
piping). HOOOO-RAY!
Here we see the first alterna is out, with two on the way and a third piping.
The
first one out. This one I'm gonna keep, as he is also the first snake
I've ever hatched out. Nice looking, too. Can't wait until it's first
shed to see how bright it's gonna be.
I'm undecided at
this point as to whether or not to go to work tonight and check the eggs
again, or wait until tomorrow (the eggs are being incubated at work).
The two in the photo with their heads out should be ready to go in a few
hours, and maybe even the one that is piping.
Update 10/5 6:00pm
Went back to work, a second snake was out of the egg. Two more with their heads out, and four eggs with no action at all.
Lampropeltis alterna number two.
Update 10/6 11:00am
Three more snakes are out, all stunningly beautiful. Three more eggs to go. Two are opening now, the last is still closed.
Lampropeltis alterna number three.
Lampropeltis alterna number four. This one is very nice looking.
Lampropeltis alterna number five.
Article posted by John Schilling 11:31 AM2 comments
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
The eggs are opening
It's almost Christmas for me. The
gray banded eggs are starting to slit open (piping we call it). Well, at
least one is, anyway. Should be about 24 to 48 hours for them to finish
hatching. The anticipation is KILLING me. Not only are these my first
snake eggs, but the father, Triumph, is a long time pet of mine, my
favorite snake. Will be awesome to have some Triumph juniors running
around. More photos coming as progress is made...
The
egg in the center is slit open. The others *should* start later today.
Notice the "bad" egg toward the left. It may yet still hatch.
Article posted by John Schilling 1:02 PM0 comments
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Black headed snake, if only just.
While cruisin the other night, Jerry
and I found (he found, really) a black headed snake. These snakes are
quite rare, they hardly ever come to the surface. Jerry has never seen
one before, and he grew up out here. Sadly, the specimen had either just
been hit by a car or nailed by an owl. There was no blood, but it was
moving very erratically. It most likely didn't make it through the
night. At least it was still alive when we came upon it, so we can count
it as a catch.
Tantilla planiceps
We also found two baby cal kings that night, but both had been hit. Road cruising can be more depressing than fun sometimes.
Article posted by John Schilling 9:25 AM2 comments
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Gophers a poppin', and some glossies
Went road cruising with Jerry again
on Sunday night. Never saw so many baby gopher snakes in my life. Sadly,
most were DOR (dead on road), but we did manage to get about 8 or 9
live ones. One was exceptionally nice, too, with a diamond pattern on
it's back. A real stunner. We also found three glossy snakes (one dead,
two live), a new one for me, and something Jerry has never seen this far
north. Kind of hard to tell the difference between glossy snakes and
baby gophers.
Arizona elegans occidentalis,
a glossy snake. Notice how similar they appear to gopher snakes. The
main difference is the belly, glossies are pure white, gophers are
checkered.
A very nice juvenile gopher snake. Notice the diamond pattern on it's back.
Article posted by John Schilling 9:33 AM0 comments
Thursday, September 07, 2006
More road cruisin' fun
Made a couple of road trips these
last two weeks. On the first trip I finally found my own long-nose
(didn't see much else though). On the second trip (last night), I found another long-nose (not as uncommon as I thought), a bunch of DOR gopher snakes
(and one live), a DOR cal king, a baby rattler and a BIG rattler
(alive). Jerry and I also ran into Sam, another herper, out on the road.
We pulled over to talk for a few, and then as we drove off, Sam found a
baby cal king about 10 feet behind Jerry's truck. A good night all in
all.
My second long-nose snake.
Sam's baby Cal King.
A big Northern Pacific rattlesnake found on the side of the road.
Oh
yea, I also got my first rubber boa. I didn't find it, however, it was
given to me by a friend who breeds them. Still nice to have it, though.
They are amazing snakes.
A rubbery boa.
Article posted by John Schilling 9:50 AM2 comments
Monday, August 21, 2006
Jerry has a long nose
No, his nose ain't big.
Went
road cruisin' with Jerry last night, found some great stuff. A couple of
NorPacs, my first nightsnake, and a lifer for both of us, a long-nose
snake. Very common down south, VERY rare up here. Also saw some DOR's,
including a nearly 5' long gopher (very, very sad). Still, a great
night. Jerry was really excited to find the long-nose, as was I. Now I
need to find my own. Although that will be tough, this may be the only
one either of us ever see up here.
Rheinocheilus lecontei lecontei, a long-nosed snake.
My first nightsnake!
A nice big Northern Pacific rattlesnake. The second one we found was too grumpy to have his photo taken.
We
also found a green praying mantis. According to Jerry, green ones are
kinda rare. All the others we saw last night were yellow.
Article posted by John Schilling 11:25 AM0 comments
Monday, August 07, 2006
Fat hog
Jerry, here's the picture of the fat hog you wanted me to post...
Article posted by John Schilling 8:58 AM4 comments
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Alterna eggs
Here's a shot of all ten alterna eggs incubating. I'm a little paranoid about them. Notice the blue spot
on that one egg? Mold? Arg. Must not think about it right now, I'm
gonna drive myself nuts.
Article posted by John Schilling 8:00 AM2 comments