Photos of my 21-month-old stimmie

[Renenet]

Hi,

It's been some time since I've posted an update on Zephyr, my 21-month-old wheatbelt stimmie. She spent her second winter hiding and barely moving, although she would still poke her little head out to eat! I offered her a couple of weaner mice every two to three weeks, which she took enthusiastically.

She didn't shed during that whole time. A few days ago she finally "stripped off". That seems to have been the cue to begin activity once again, because she is now cruising around her enclosure every evening. The shed and her activity is my cue to take a new set of photos, and they follow below.

Zephyr is now around 340 grams and, according to HerpMeasure, about 98 cm long, so I think I can count her as a mature female.

To start with, I tried to take pictures of her outside. The lighting wasn't cooperating and neither was the snake, so I moved inside and took shots of her on the bedhead and on a hat she decided she was pretty comfortable claiming for herself. So mostly flash photography, but it gives you an idea of what she looks like these days.

 

[stimigex]

Very nice indeed

 

[cathy1986]

how can you tell the difference i have a windorah stimmie and they look exactly the same http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=259332&d=1342491838
:?

 

[Renenet]

Cathy,

I understand the problem. There are so many different stimmie localities and so much variation within each one that you cannot be sure of the lineage unless you can trust what the breeder tells you. (For the record, I trust the breeder who sold me Zephyr.) To my eye, however, my wheatbelt and your windorah are completely different. The blotches are much smaller on yours, with a more prominent background as a result. I think your little one looks very similar to Kitah's windorahs: http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/australian-snakes-37/snakes-188231/

I believe there's also some way of counting scales to identify wheatbelts from other stimmies, but I don't know the details and I don't think it's a completely accurate method either.

 

[Jande]

She's so pretty. Great photos, too.

 

[cathy1986]

ahh yeah i see the difference now