The Blumen Boas Blog

New Pictures of the Gang

2009-04-27T20:39:00.004-04:00

It finally warmed up here in New Jersey this weekend - upper 80's! Time to break out the shorts and show off those blinding white legs...I took full advantage of the great weather and took some outdoor pics of some of the gang. The picture above is of Whitesnake the sire, a.k.a. "The Stud", of the April 23rd litter. He was the first Sharp Snow and is now 2 years old. I took pictures in the shade as well as in the direct sun to help compare. I really like how the Sharp version of a snow seems to keep its pattern as it develops. The lavender that was once in his tail is now a bright bone white and really looks good (of course I am a little biased...).

Speaking of lavender, I took new pictures of my other Sharp Snow, Snow White, in the sun with Whitesnake to compare how her tail looks against his. She still has some lavender in her tail, and she is almost two years old now. Her mother, Cartagena, is the one who just had a litter so it will be interesting to see how these latest snows develop. There are a few standout snows in this latest litter that have a ton of lavender in their tails even before the shed...I can't wait for them to shed, that's for sure!

During my outside photo shoot I also took some new pictures of Camo, Pinky, and some of my holdbacks from last years' Colombia litter. I haven't come up with names for the new additions yet, but I will soon. The new holdback pics were of ANE1 (an anery), ANE3 (anery), ALB6 (albino), and ALB8 (albino). I'm sure I will be commenting on each of them in future blogs :)!

I hope you all enjoy the latest updated pics of the gang. I always enjoy seeing pictures of people's boa collection, especially as a boa ages. I think it is a good thing to see how an animal develops as it matures, and it is important to let existing and potential customers know what they might be seeing as time goes by with their animal that they purchase. Some breeders do an excellent job of taking pictures as an animal gets older, others seem to never take new pictures of an animal after it is born....OK, I'm getting down off my little soap box now......

More Sharp Snows Born Today & HR669 Defeated!

2009-04-23T21:11:00.003-04:00

Wow, what a day! HR669 was defeated today at the Insular Affairs Subcommittee hearing - WOOHOO! A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to write those letters, and call/email those Representatives!! A big thanks also to USARK for getting the word out and keeping people motivated. Tom Wolfe also did an excellent job getting those letters to the right people in D.C. and helping get this defeated. It's only a matter of time though, before this will be presented again in some form or another...Hopefully we will continue to be able to keep reptiles as pets!

As for my great news - Cartagena had her litter this morning at about 6:30am. Whitesnake did a great job - the little stud! There was 1 Double Het Sharp Snow, 1 Anery Het Sharp Albino, 4 Sharp Albinos Het Anery, and 8 Sharp Snows! There was also 7 sweet potatoes and 1 not-fully-formed baby. Holy cow what terrific odds! She was nice and calm when I took her out of the cage this morning. I was able to get her out about 15 minutes after she was done with her contractions/delivery. She went to one end of the cage away from the babies, so it made it a little easier. She looks great and took a rat with no problems which is always good. She went 111 days POS and had been cruisin' around her cage for the past couple days so I knew she was close. With her going full term, none of the babies have yolk sacs and they all seem to be in great shape. I had put a tub in the cage, but of course she decided not to use it (which is why there is a dry spot on the corrugated cardboard in the picture of her). Below is a "pile of snow" and additional pictures of the litter can be seen here.

HR669

2009-04-12T20:50:00.007-04:00

So, what is HR669? It is a bill currently before the House of Representatives entitled the "Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act". The bill states "The purpose of this Act is to establish a risk assessment process to prevent the introduction into, and establishment in, the United States of nonnative wildlife species that will cause or are likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to other animal species’ health or human health."

In a nutshell, this bill as currently written would make it illegal for anybody in the U.S. to HAVE, BREED, SELL, PURCHASE, import or export animals not on the "approved" list (which currently only has cats, dogs, cattle, donkeys, ducks, goats, goldfish, horses, llamas, mules, pigs, rabbits, and sheep). Since the "approved" list doesn't include ANY reptiles, exotic fish, birds, hamsters, gerbils, pocket pets, you name it - so much for having those types of pets. The bill would also make it illegal to transport any of the unapproved animals between any State.

If you haven't already, you need to join the letter writing campaign to the Representatives behind this bill to let them know that you oppose this! This letter writing campaign was started by USARK (United States Association of Reptile Keepers), and more information (sample letter if you don't want to write your own letter, list of Representative addresses, etc) can be found on their website at http://usark.org/hr669intro.php. I already have sent my letters, as well as my wife and a few of my friends - please do your part ASAP! The deadline to get the letters to Tom Wolfe is April 21st. It only takes 20 minutes of your time, and it is definitely needed. Spread the word and get all of your family members and friends to sign letters as well. After you have sent the letters, try calling and emailing the Representatives, especially if any of the bill sponsors are from your state. Spam filters are filtering a lot of emails to the Representatives, and they can easily delete the message without really reading it. For this reason it is important to make sure to send a "real letter" to make sure the Representatives really get the message.

Ralph Davis (a MAJOR breeder of Ball Pythons) has uploaded some videos of the process of sending in the letters - the first one can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVAOuJz9aY&feature=related.

Thank you for helping keep our rights to keep our reptiles and all exotic animals!

Samy shed

2009-03-24T20:37:00.004-04:00

Here are a couple pics that I took the other day of Samy, my 8 foot, 36 lb. female (the 2 liter Coke bottle is for size reference - it's not a play toy for her...).

When I first looked in on her I thought she somehow escaped from her locked cage! I have never seen her soak in her water bowl, and she blended in pretty well with the bowl which made me do a double-take to find her. It is a 20"x18"x6" tall water bowl that I wish was still available. I use them for my large 7 foot Cages By Design cages to help maintain proper humidity, and they work great. Usually when I see that Samy is opaque, I will spray her a couple times a day until she sheds to ensure that she has a good shed. After she sheds, I unroll the shed (which is always in one nice long piece) and check to make sure that her eye caps came off as well as the tip of her tail. I do this with all of my boas every time they shed, even the babies, to make sure that there isn't any retained shed that needs my attention. If an eye cap doesn't shed, it can lead to permanant eye damage if is not taken care of. If the tip of the tail doesn't shed, it can get to the point where it will cutoff the circulation in the tail and lead to the tip of the tail coming off. If you own a boa, be sure to check the sheds for these two spots in particular to avoid issues down the road.

Samy has been on a diet and exercise program for the past 15 months. When I got her, she was slightly overweight - she had fat rings on her tail past her cloaca. I have been taking her out of her cage and letting her exercise on my stairway to help her work off her extra weight. She will climb up the stairs and then head back down and go back and forth for a good 45 minutes. There's nothing like a good stair workout! The stairway has a door at the bottom and one at the top, so I don't have to worry about keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn't escape....She has lost a little under a pound in 15 months, and her fat rings are almost completely gone. I also VERY slowly cutback the frequency of her feedings to where she is now getting 1 jumbo rat (300+ grams/9") every 3 weeks. This should be just the right size/frequency of meal for her for the rest of her life. Of course, I will increase the frequency if I think she gets too thin, but this feeding schedule should be fine for her. I also think she really enjoys being out and exercising. Not only does it keep her attitude good by being handled, but I believe it helps her to stay happy with her little "exploring". She is now 10 years old, and hopefully she will be around for at least another 15 to 20 years!

Here she is post shed:

Cartagena is still doing everything right...

2009-03-23T19:42:00.007-04:00

Cartagena is coming along nicely during her pregnancy, still nice and plump :). She is looking great, thermoregulating herself, and staying in a nice coiled position for the most part. She moves from the cool end to the warm end, and even goes up on the shelves in her cage every now and then. She is due around April 17th, so my anxiety of course is ramping up, lol. She has a great attitude, even with her being pregnant. I give her fresh water daily, and she never seems to mind me coming in to her cage to change her water bowl. This is a pic I took on March 13th through her cage door - sorry for the glare, I didn't want to disturb her too much.

International Shipping!

2009-03-22T19:27:00.000-04:00

I am finally approved with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to export boas - woohoo! I will be posting information soon on the Terms/Payment page about costs, etc. for all of the folks overseas that have been contacting me to export some of my babies to them.

The actual process to become approved wasn't too bad, but according to the person handling my application the standards are really high and a lot of applicants do not pass, so I consider myself fortunate to be approved. The USF&W now have a Master File program for exporting reptiles which should greatly speed up the process of exporting them.

More babies on the way?

2009-01-14T23:15:00.008-05:00

Well, first off I'm finally done wearing my air cast, thank you to everyone who wished me well in my recovery. 5 weeks of hobbling around with a stress fracture (confirmed by an MRI), was 5 weeks of torture! I have a few more weeks before I am cleared to start training again. I've been riding a stationary bike in the meantime to keep my cardio level up, but it just isn't the same. At least with the weather being crummy it isn't as depressing to not be out there training as it would be in the middle of Spring or Summer. It's an addiction - I never thought I would actually "miss" running! It's going to be tough to hold myself back from running too much once I get the clearance. I have to keep in mind to start out slow and work myself back up all over again.

On to the potential baby news: Cartagena (my DH Sharp Snow) had her post-ovulation shed on January 2nd which means she has an April 17th due date (give or take a few days). She was bred by my Sharp Snow male, "Whitesnake" (he was from a 2007 litter from Colombia). Whitesnake was a little stud breeding her non-stop for 3 months (except for breaks every 3 weeks to be fed) starting in late September. He went right at it even though he was only 18 months old when I put him in with Cartagena. He was leaving "presents" in his cage starting at 16 months, so I had a good feeling he was more than ready and willing! I made sure to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't become stressed, but he acted like he knew what he was doing right from the start.

Here are a few "action" shots - the first pic doesn't look too comfortable for him to me, but he didn't seem like it was bothering him. I guess he had other things on his mind...

Here she is ovulating:

Finally, here she is with her post-ovulation shed:

With any luck and if everything goes well there will be some more Sharp Snows here in a few months! Let the sleepless nights and the pacing begin....

GAME OVER - well at least for a little while...

2008-11-24T19:49:00.004-05:00

So much for my third marathon for the year...As the picture to the left shows, my right leg is currently in an air cast. I started the Philadelphia Marathon yesterday with a little soreness on my shin that I have been ignoring over the past 3-4 weeks. I just figured the pain was a shin splint, and the pain would go away after I warmed up with a few miles in the marathon. I had been doing some long runs leading up to the marathon (20+ mile runs), and just figured that contributed to the shin splint/soreness.

So, about three miles into the marathon I'm keeping pace with no issues and am heading down a hill with 18,000+ other maniacs running in 30 degree weather. My pain starts in my leg after the downhill, but this time instead of going away, it gets worse to the point that I had to stop because I couldn't put any weight on the leg at all. After hobbling to an ambulance along the course, the "sweep wagon" comes and retrieves my sorry butt to take me back to the start/finish line. I gather my stuff in disgust and disappointment and head back for home. A trip to the ER shows no fracture on the x-rays, but the doctors say an MRI will probably show a stress fracture, which I will have done in the next day or two. So, crutches and a nice big cast in the meantime, and no training for the next 4-6 weeks while it heals. Did I learn anything with my latest marathon? Yes - don't train too much too soon (a common problem which causes stress fractures - I don't think I did that in my training though), make sure to replace shoes frequently (I went WAY too long with my last pair during my training for this marathon), and above all don't ignore/explain away pain while training! 6 months worth of training for 1 day down the crapper because I explained away a little pain during training....

Oh well, there's always next year! I think fitness is very important, especially as I get older. I have my sights on a marathon or two next year (and maybe the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike race), and I'm not giving up until I qualify for the Boston Marathon - everybody needs goals right?!?!

Some new pics of Camo

2008-11-14T22:22:00.005-05:00

Here are some new pictures I took of Camo (short for Camouflage) this past weekend. He's almost 2 years old now and he is a possible DH Sharp Snow. He's turned into such a mellow-yellow dude, I'm glad I held onto him!

A picture of his "soul patch":

The faded saddles:

A macro shot:

More pictures of him can be found in his photo gallery.

5 Months?!?!

2008-08-08T18:20:00.011-04:00

Time really DOES fly when you are having fun! It's been almost 5 months since the litter on March 11th, and I FINALLY found the time to take pictures of all 27 babies. Between enjoying the summer, training for another marathon, and taking care of the "new kids", I just couldn't find the time.

I think that I have finally figured out how to get good shots with the photo tent that I bought a while back. I used a black background for the albinos, and a white background for the possible double hets and anerys. The black background really helped the albinos stand out a little better. I also used a 20 dollar bill in some pictures to help potential customers determine their size and color. 900 pictures later (all in the same day and with the same lighting setup), I was finally done, lol. You can view the pictures of the babies here, and there are more pics for each in their photo gallery.

There's definitely a wide variety in this litter in color and patterns. Even the possible double hets have very different looks. It was tough deciding which ones to keep as my holdbacks. There are two great looking anerys that I just can't make up my mind on which one of them to keep, so I decided to keep them both for the time being....I'll figure it out when they get a little older :)!.

Decisions, decisions.....

I'm leaning towards the second one...
I hope you all are having a great summer - I know I am!

Snow White?

2008-05-27T21:12:00.001-04:00

OK, maybe I'm just anal, but I had the same issues with "Snow White" as "Whitesnake" - I just couldn't get good accurate pictures of her indoors. I feel it's important to accurately represent your animals, especially as people and potential customers are always wanting to see what they look like "now". I have a photo tent and indoor photography lights, which I have used once, but I really need to figure out the camera settings to capture quality and color-accurate pictures.

She is now 11 months old, and her tail has now turned a purple/lavender color. Her body is still a very off-white/faint yellow color - much different than Whitesnake. Whitesnake had turned yellow within 2 months of being born, and he lost his purple/lavender tail color by the time he was 8 months old. Maybe she is just a late bloomer, or maybe like Sharp albino's there are different "shades"...only time (and more Sharp Snow's) will tell....

I put both of them together for a series of shots to compare the colors between the two. You can see more pictures of her, as well as her and Whitesnake together here.

Well, it's about freakin' time!

2008-05-26T23:25:00.000-04:00

Where does the time go?? It's been 9 months since the last time I posted pictures of the first Sharp Snow affectionately named "Whitesnake". Don't get me wrong, I've taken a ton of pictures in the past few months, just none that I thought were worthy enough to publish on the website. It is extremely tough to accurately capture his "colors" indoors, as I certainly have tried over the past 9 months!

I finally had 2 things in my favor - a weekend that was warm and sunny, and the time to actually take some pictures. I figured the best way to get some quality pictures was to take him outside. The picture above was taken in the shade. He is now almost 15 months old and doing great. He has a great attitude, and I have never had a problem with him. He's very tame, but loves to explore - especially while he was outside. I certainly didn't let him out of my sight for a second, especially since there are red-tailed hawks that frequent the area...I can't imagine the horror of seeing one of my prized possessions flying away as a hawk's snack...

He lost the lavender color in his tail when he was around 8 months old as it eventually turned white. The rest of him has turned a buttery yellow with white for the saddle color. I took some pictures in the sunlight which really shows the bone-white color of his tail. You can view additional pictures that I took here, and you can compare how he looked before as well. I also took some pictures of his counterpart, "Snow White", which I will post tomorrow.

One more down, one more to go...

2008-05-06T21:18:00.006-04:00

This past weekend I hobbled my way across the finish line of my second marathon for the year. I ran the New Jersey Marathon in Long Branch, New Jersey. It was a great, relatively flat, 2-loop course which I thought I could run in 3 hours 45 minutes (which would improve my personal record). My first 10 miles I was on target for my 3:45 marathon, but then I started to break down. I made 2 "rookie" mistakes that killed me and my time - I should have known better than to make these mistakes....

The first mistake was that my first 4 miles were faster than the 8 minute 34 second pace I should have been doing. I was clocking in 8 minute miles for the first 4 miles before I finally settled into the right pace. This definitely killed me as the race went on as I put too much energy into those first few miles.

The second HUGE mistake that I made was not hydrating properly. They had plenty of drinking stations out on the course (a big thanks to the excellent volunteers!), but I think that I was too intent on keeping my pace where I wanted it to be to think about drinking enough water and Gatorade. I was running through each station only taking a swallow or two of water - DOH!

By mile 10 my pace started to slow, which I think is because of my fast start. By mile 20, I was in a world of hurt. I developed extremely bad cramps in both legs because I was dehydrated so badly. From that point on I had to walk a few yards, then I would shuffle my feet for a few yards (not even close to "running"), then go back to walking. Both legs felt like 2 bricks, and every step shot pain up through my legs - it was the most intense pain I've ever felt....good times, good times :)! I just wanted to hurry up and finish, but my legs didn't want to cooperate. I finally came across the line in 4 hours 33 minutes. Did I learn a lesson or two? You bet I did! Now I can't wait for my 3rd and final marathon for this year...Let the training begin - all over again!!

A huge thanks to my lovely wife and wonderful daughter for hangin' in there and being patient while this old man tried to finish. They definitely helped bring me across the finish line with their cheering and motivation.

Oh, I almost forgot - the pic above is of one of the albino's from Colombia's March 11th litter. Now that I have some time on my hands, I will try to take some pictures of the rest of the babies. They are all doing great, and wait until you see them! Some of them have incredible colors - they're going to look awesome as they mature!

I'll end my rambling for the night - enjoy the funny pic below which pretty much sums up my pain out there this weekend pounding the pavement :)!

Free At Last Part II

2008-04-23T22:05:00.002-04:00

Here is the other free boa that I was lucky enough to receive with the Boaphile cages last year. Her name is Sunset, and I'm definitely diggin' her color! She is three years old, 6 1/2 feet long and 11 pounds. She was purchased by her former owner from a pet store in Frederick, Maryland as a neonate. She can be a hand full at times, but once she is out of her cage she settles down quickly. She works well with the snake hook that I have, so she knows that when the cage opens and she is touched by the hook that it's not dinnertime :). I think that it is important that as a boa gets bigger to make sure that you take extra care to not get bit. A good quality snake hook definitely helps to avoid any accidental bites as you first go to remove a large snake from their cage.

Here are some more pics of Sunset from this past weekend.

Free At Last!

2008-04-19T22:39:00.007-04:00

After 4 months of quarantine, Samy has joined the rest of my snakes in the "snake room". She is a beauty that I got for free - yes free! I bought some Boaphile cages last year from a woman in Maryland, but she couldn't find a home for Samy or Sunset (more on Sunset in my next blog post). Samy's previous owner kept extremely good care of her and it shows. Samy is a 9 year old B.C.I., close to 8 feet long, and weighs in at 37 pounds. She is very calm and docile for a snake this big, but I take great care in respecting her and her size that's for sure!

Since it was such a nice day today, I took her and Sunset out for some pics. While I was taking pictures, a rabbit came into the yard - if he only knew he was 20 feet away from being dinner :)! He hung out for a good 5 minutes before finally taking off, lucky for him in the opposite direction of Samy...Don't worry, I wasn't about to let "Bugs" become dinner!

Here are some more pics of Samy.

New Babies!!

2008-03-11T21:45:00.006-04:00

Colombia had her litter at 4:30 this morning. I knew she was getting close as she had her waxy poo on Saturday, and she had been cruising the cage for the past 48 hours. She also was making a nest with the newspaper that I put in the cage for her. I took yesterday off from work because I thought for sure she would have them during the day. Of course she didn't, which meant waking up every couple hours to check on her. She ended up having the babies under ALL of the newspaper and corrugated cardboard on the bottom of her cage. She was 103 days P.O.S. (Post Ovulation Shed), which is exactly the amount of days she took last year to have her litter! She gave birth to a litter of 27 little squirmies. There were 9 Sharp Albinos 66% Het Anery (Het Sharp Snow), 5 Anerys 66% Het Sharp Albino (Het Sharp Snow), 13 Normals 66% DH Snows, 1 stillborn, and 2 slugs. Unfortunately, there were no Sharp Snows in the litter - I guess the odds Gods weren't on my side this year (especially with 27 in the litter!). All the babies look great with no yolk sac, which is always a plus. Some of the Albinos have some funky patterns going on and they have a range of colors. I can't wait to really see them once they've shed!

The best news is that Colombia is doing great and took a meal without a problem. I probably will not be breeding her again in the future. She is such a great pet, and I don't want to take the risk of losing her. Breeding/birthing can be very stressful on a boa. I do have some plans for next year though....stay tuned :)!

Here are some photos of the litter for you to enjoy!

Proposed Federal regulations banning Boas and Pythons

2008-02-02T23:34:00.000-05:00

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has made a significant move towards banning the importation and interstate transport of Boa Constrictors and Pythons in the United States. Quietly published in the Federal Register, the agency is accepting public comments until April 30th. Please go to the online petition that I created to find out more information and to add your name. Spread the word, and please voice your opposition to this proposal at http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=SubmitComment&o=09000064803a565f (be sure to fill in ALL requested information otherwise your comments will not be considered). Thanks!

A Pregnancy Update

2008-01-25T22:04:00.001-05:00

Colombia has been progressing nicely through her pregnancy. She ballooned up that's for sure! She has been alternating between the warm end and the cool end of the cage, and for the past month or so she has been slowly losing her "water weight" as the babies develop inside her. My fingers are crossed for a nice healthy litter. Judging by how big she is this year compared to last year, she should have a decent sized litter in another 45 days or so. The pictures above were taken on December 30th.

I've had a few people ask me if I feed my females while they are pregnant. I choose to not feed them any meals while they are pregnant. Before I introduce the male, I make sure that they have plenty of reserves and can handle not being fed for 4 months. If a female doesn't have enough weight to handle being without food for that period of time, then I feel she is not ready to breed. By not feeding the female while she is pregnant, I think I give the babies as much room as possible to develop. I also avoid the possibility of her giving birth prematurely while trying to defecate.

Well, hopefully I will have some good news soon!

Yep, I'm Goofy!

2008-01-21T19:23:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess it's official now - I'm Goofy! I have been training for the past few months for the Disney World 1/2 Marathon on Saturday January 12th, and then I ran the Disney World Marathon the next day. By completing both races back-to-back (39.3 total miles), I was awarded a 3rd finisher's medal for completing the "Goofy Challenge". My "vacation" was a lot of fun, although I didn't think it was much fun around mile 21 of the marathon - my body was complaining, that's for sure :)! I had to walk through the water stops at that point, but I knew I would finish - just not with the time I was hoping for. I wanted to run a 3 hour 40 minute marathon, but after running a 1 hour 57 minute 1/2 marathon the day before in warm and humid weather, I just didn't have it in me. I ended up with a 4 hour 23 minute time, but at least I now have a new Personal Record (PR) by beating my first marathon time by 30 minutes (NYC marathon in 2006). I'm sure a 3:40 is within my ability, just not after running 13 miles the day before....The next 5 days were spent walking the Disney World parks with my wife, which certainly helped keep my legs from cramping and alleviated the amount of pain that they were in. My goal is to run 2 more marathons this year, and if possible qualify for the Boston Marathon (3 hours 20 minutes).
I'll be sure to post an update in the next few days on how Colombia is doing so far with her pregnancy, and maybe an update or two on the Sharp Snows too - it's been a while!

105 Days and Counting

2007-11-29T22:30:00.000-05:00

Well let the pacing and sleepless nights begin :D! I repeated the breeding from last year (DH Sharp Snow x DH Sharp Snow) that produced the first Sharp Snow. Everything is looking good so far - Colombia just had her Post Ovulation Shed today - yahoo! I introduced the male, Bogota, on September 19th, and he immediately got down to business - the little stud! He courted her non-stop for the past 2+ months and I witnessed multiple copulations. He got a nice big juicy rat tonight, he definitely deserved it!

She had her pre-ovulation swell on October 22nd, and ovulated on November 14th.

Well, hopefully I will have good news to report around March 13th....

It's all about the genes!

2007-10-21T14:56:00.000-04:00

I have received quite a few emails from people asking what a litter would consist of if they bred one of the babies I have for sale with a snake that they have. So, I put together a few webpages with outcomes for different breedings to answer these questions. I decided to only focus on the snakes I have for sale, as the list would be WAY too long if I included every type of morph or combination possible! Assembling the Punnett Squares for all of the possible combinations took me back to my days in High School Biology class - I knew paying attention in school would payoff someday, LOL! Here are my two days of Punnett Square fun, and please let me know if you find any errors.

The picture above is of an Anery 66% Possible Het Sharp Albino (Het Sharp Snow) from my July 8th litter. She has been sold and is on her way to Florida - I wish I was on my way to Florida! More pictures of her can be found here.

Love Is In The Air!

2007-09-26T19:27:00.000-04:00

Well, it's that time of year again! I'm repeating the breeding last year that produced the first Sharp Snow - Colombia (female) x Bogata (male) - both are DH Sharp Snow's. Hopefully I will have similar lucky results! Colombia rebounded extremely well (15 pounds empty weight, 7 ft), after her pregnancy. Bogata was eager to say the least - as soon as I put him in with her he got down to business :). They've been going at it for a week nonstop - love is in the air! I quickly snapped a few pictures as I didn't want to disturb them too much - I don't think they even noticed...

I will not be breeding my other female, Cartagena, this year as she is still recovering from her litter born in July. Colombia will be taking next year off as I will have no reason to breed her, and she certainly deserves a break!

Well, my fingers and toes are crossed, and I will of course post updates as Colombia progresses.

A Sharp Snow Comparison

2007-09-03T13:25:00.000-04:00

My second Sharp Snow finally shed a few days ago, almost 2 months after she was born on July 8th. I noticed that she (affectionately named Snow White by my beautiful wife) does not have any yellow coming in. Her entire body is white, while her markings are an off white. She even has a white tongue instead of pink like the first Sharp Snow. Her tail color also is a light pink compared to the lavender color of the first Sharp Snow.

When the first Sharp Snow shed for the first time at almost 2 months old, he already had some yellow coming in (he's now 5 months old). She's definitely different, and hopefully Snow White will stay white - Yellow Snow White just doesn't have the same ring to it, lol. Only time will tell, and I'll be sure to post updates as she gets older.

Above is a picture of both of them together along with another baby from the July 8th litter - the normal from my July 29th Blog entry. You can find more pictures of her here.

Fun with stained glass

2007-08-28T18:30:00.000-04:00

I thought I would post some of my "artistic" work. I read a thread on a forum about using black plexiglass or opaque stained glass to take pictures with a different kind of look to them. I wasn't able to find any black plexiglass in my area, but I was able to find some opaque stained glass. Out of a couple hundred pics these are the one's that turned out the best. I did run into a few problems taking the pictures - it's a little tough to get the lighting right without getting reflections from the light source (I ended up using indirect sunlight for these pictures), and also any spec of dust on the glass will DEFINITELY show up in the picture. The beautiful subject matter are a couple of my Sharp Albino's from my March 20th Sharp Snow litter. Hope you enjoy!

How about updating the blog?!?

2007-07-29T22:26:00.001-04:00

Yes, I know it's been wayyyy too long since I posted an update on my blog. With summer here, I've been busy enjoying the weather, and of course taking care of babies! I just haven't had much time to update my blog. The picture here is of one of the "normal" babies that has a 66% chance of being het for Anery and Sharp Albino. She has a ton of pink/red coming through which will only get better as she gets older. She and the other 2 normal's have been the only babies to shed so far from my second litter this year.

The second Sharp Snow hasn't shed yet, but the first one took almost 2 months to finally shed, so I will be patient....The second Sharp Snow is definitely special, and once he/she has shed I will of course have pictures and share with you all why I think it is "special". The babies are doing great, and the three normals ate their first meals (thawed pinkie rats) without any problems. So far so good!

Cartagena is coming back strong and looks to have made it through the whole process without any problems. She ate 2 small meals after she had her litter (I fed her 1 medium rat a week apart), and then went into shed just like she should. She ate a large rat last week, so she is rebounding great. It will be a slow process to get her back up to her pre-birth weight, but since I will not be breeding her again this coming fall/winter, she has plenty of time.

CAUTION BUSINESS NEWS AHEAD - end your reading now if you don't want to be bored :)! I have sold two normal 66% chance for Anery and Sharp Albino females from my first litter this year, so that's good news. They are both going to a good home, and in a way I will miss them. They both have some great markings and colors, and they are so easy to handle. I try to handle all the babies for a little while at least once every day (except if they have had a meal in the last 24-48 hours) to make sure that they remain friendly. I don't want them to get an attitude from being neglected. I want to make sure that when I sell a baby, their future owner will be happy with their purchase. OK, BUSINESS NEWS IS DONE, lol!

Well, I hope everyone is having a great summer, and hopefully I will update the blog a little more frequently than every 3 weeks!