| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Snakesitter |
Posted - 19/09/2011 : 21:15:33
Living Gems Reptiles is pleased to announce that on Wednesday, September 14, one of our senior females “Alexandrite” dropped her litter. This is our second and final litter of the year, and in marked contrast to the first litter, was all that we could hope for.
The babies arrived a few days earlier than anticipated. I thought Alex was due Sunday, but she dropped four days before that, depositing her litter around 10:30AM Wednesday morning. Coincidentally, this was the only day all year I’d happened to come home for an appointment, and I happened to glance in Alex’s viv as I was getting ready. I noticed a suspiciously thin Alex out of her viv, and spotted the first baby right after. From that and the mess in her hide, it was pretty clear she had only just deposited the squirming mass.
I had no time to process them, but did manage to try a quick count -- over ten -- and snap a few pictures before time ran out. The following images are a mixture of those images, the few pictures I took after the appointment but before returning to work, and the many, many images I snapped later that evening as I was processing the litter.
Parents
This is the mother of the litter, Alexandrite:
This is the sire of the litter, Hills:
Unfortunately, due his recent passing, this will be the only litter he can ever pass his amazing color on to.
Overview
These three images are an overview of Mom’s viv. They show the whole box and each half in more detail. They were taken just before I had to go back to work, so show the whole litter about 90 minutes post delivery out cruising with Mom -- each and every one of them searching for that magic hole out of the viv.
Whole
Left
Right
Maternal Confusion
Alex, while polite, seemed a little skeptical of all the attention towards her babies. She kept dividing her time between checking *them* out (“where did these come from?!”) and checking *me* out:
Do I look at Them…
…Or Him?
That evening, while processing the babies, she made an amusingly determined effort to escape her viv herself, as if six hours alone with a litter of hyperactive babies was more than any sane boa could take:
Babies
And, finally, the babies themselves. This was the dispersing pile shortly after I first discovered them and took the first set of photos:
Slime Pile
“The Door’s Around Here Somewhere!”
Ah-ha!
Following are some image of individual babies, both as they were discovered and as they were later processed.
I spotted this baby as it was making a break from the hide to explore:
This little one found its very own piece of moss, and wanted to show it off and say hi when I opened the viv:
(For some reason, it came across as very dark in this one photo.)
Jailbreak!
Afterbirth
This is the hide where Alex dropped, just before I cleaned it up. Mom was very polite to make cleanup so easy for me:
(and)
Details, Details
I’ve hinted already that Mom did well by herself and her late husband Hills. I’ve spoken with many breeders over the years and carefully tracked birth weights, both reported on the web and averaged over the cards of the babies I’ve acquired. The average litter seems to be around 15-16 babies, and the average baby clocks in around 31 grams. Alex beat both stats: she delivered 17 viable babies with not a single stillborn or slug, and the live babies averaged 32.7 grams in a very narrow range, with the smallest at 31 grams and the largest at 34 grams. There was not a single baby with unabsorbed yolk, and every one of them was already showing bright pink bellies.
Mom herself was in great shape. I’ve seen reports and pictures of many recent mothers showing loose folds of skin after dropping (Topaz was this way), but Alex was both tight and muscular. It amazes me, because after I weighed the babies I checked her too, and found that she had dropped from a pre-delivery weight of 2342 grams (August 31) down to 1390 (September 14) -- a loss of 1033 grams, or 44% of her body weight. Yet she looked like this:
Left Side
Right Side
I gave her 36 hours to recover and rest, then offered her a medium rat. She took it with gusto, and seems to in great shape and spirits. I’ll probably up her feeding slightly to every other week for the next two meals before going back to her regular pattern of every third week.
And, The Sad News
There was one small bit of sad news from the litter. As I was taking pictures during my second set, I noticed one of the babes was…different. And not in a good way. One of little ones pressed against the front of the glass was acting alive, alert, and trying to climb the front of Mom’s viv just like her normal bothers and sisters. Unfortunately, she had a severe spinal kink about 25% of the way down her body. It was bad enough that I doubted she one would be able to eat. A vet I know offered to try and fix her spine by separating the fused vertebrae. I was not optimistic about the chances for success, but it was (very generously) free, and at least offered her a shot, so I gave the go-ahead. The vet did his work, and I placed the little one in her own moist little drawer before I headed off to work. The last thing I did that night was to check again on her, and found that unfortunately she had not made it. RIP little one. You have a very cool father waiting for you on the other side.
I took some photos of her, but will place them in separate thread here tomorrow so as not to spoil his one. I’d be curious to get other breeders’ opinions on what her chances would have been if I’d allowed her to try and make it without help.
Note she was not counted in the above totals of viable babies. So, there were actually 18 live babies with no stills or slugs, 17 of which made it.
Details on genders are still to follow, as are some more individual baby shots.
Thank you, as always, for reading. |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Snakesitter |
Posted - 28/09/2011 : 17:34:32
Thanks Joe! The babies are all doing well so far. Even starting to bite me a bit less. |
| flaboye |
Posted - 28/09/2011 : 11:56:37
Haven't been on the list in a bit, but I did see the photos via email. Cliff Congrats! Everything looks great and some fantastic pics for sure! :) |
| Snakesitter |
Posted - 26/09/2011 : 18:50:15
Thanks Tango...and I'm sure he will. |
| tango |
Posted - 25/09/2011 : 11:00:16
lovly babies, like the pics off mum trying to make a run for it lol
sad to hear about little one with kink, daddy will look after him |
| Snakesitter |
Posted - 22/09/2011 : 19:00:22
Thanks Mamma, I appreciate you reading and commmenting! I'll post a picture of the little ones every now and then, either here or on my Facebook page (sometimes both), so please keep an eye out! |
| Mamma |
Posted - 22/09/2011 : 11:33:39
fantastic story and pics. Thank you for sharing. R.I.P little one. xxx |
| Snakesitter |
Posted - 21/09/2011 : 20:53:21
Thanks Newbie -- me too! :-D |
| newbie |
Posted - 21/09/2011 : 08:27:13
Absolutely fantastic news Cliff, so happy for you and Alexandrite! Hills was stunning and no doubt his young offspring will be just as special  Sorry to hear about the little one, you did all you could, as you've said previously, sometimes you loose.
Really happy this litter has been born safe and sound, looking forward to individual pics |
| Snakesitter |
Posted - 20/09/2011 : 18:23:44
***Groan**** ;-) Thanks Oscar! |
| oakleyman18 |
Posted - 20/09/2011 : 15:15:40
Cliff that's GREAT news! They all look incredible, you've done a fantastic job here. I'm so glad that Hills fathered a good clutch too. I'm suprised no-one has tried the joke "So the Hills have eyes?" Wow, you can tell I have a career ahead of me in comedy.. :|
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| gmac |
Posted - 20/09/2011 : 11:34:32
quote:
Originally posted by Snakesitter
Thanks Graeme. You're far too kind for a "Grumpy Scots Admin." ;-)
sshhhh dont spread that :) |
| Snakesitter |
Posted - 19/09/2011 : 23:33:20
HHAHAHAHA! I'll keep an eye out for that one, Todd.
Thanks for the kind words. :D |
| CDN_Blood |
Posted - 19/09/2011 : 23:00:54
If any of those little ones have a funky pattern that's distinctly maple leaf-shaped, you *know* where to send it...right?
Congratulations, Cliff  |
| Snakesitter |
Posted - 19/09/2011 : 22:28:16
Awww thanks Emmy, that was very nice of you to say. I do try, and am glad to hear people appreciate it. |
| Snakesitter |
Posted - 19/09/2011 : 22:27:13
Thanks Graeme. You're far too kind for a "Grumpy Scots Admin." ;-)
I'm guessing there was just not enough room inside Mom, and the kinked little one just got turned the wrong way at the wrong time and stuck there. The vet said these issues are alost always developmental rather than genetic.
I'm glad Mom is doing so well too, and hope she puts some weight back on fast. LOL on the DVDs. |
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