A 3rd diamond clutch

[serpenttongue]

Yesterday another of my female diamonds laid her first clutch of eggs. She'd spent the last few days going from one egg box to another, digging under the substrate to test which box was best. She finally chose the box i was hoping for, it's on the ground and in the coolest area of her enclosure. It took about 2 hours for her to lay them.

First egg

 

[serpenttongue]

Second egg.

 

[serpenttongue]

Few more eggs.

 

[serpenttongue]

More.

 

[peterjohnson64]

Great stuff serpentongue. Now these are real diamond pythons!! Will you be selling any?

 

[serpenttongue]

I dont know yet, i do want to hold back most as i want to increase my diamond collection.

 

[Barney]

Interesting

As you say she layed in the cool end hide . Is that the norm I realise there is alot varibles .i.e. indoor or Outdoor enclosure etc

As we have spoke Im still awaiting for my girl to lay she has been spending all her time in the hot end either on Or in her hide box . still cooking I guess . Has also refused food .


Thanks again for help serpenttongue

 

[beknluke]

Congrats ST You deserve it!!

 

[zen]

Congratulations Serpenttongue

They say things happen in threes.
You must be stoked!

Thanks for showing us pics of the actual lay. Great to see.
:idea: So they labour coiled & deposit in the middle.
Very interesting (makes sense I suppose).


I see the nest material of dried lawn-clippings has a few dried leaves in it.
Is that part of the recipe?


I was just wondering how soon after the lay do you remove the eggs :?:

I read somewhere that she can accidentally kill the embryos in the struggle to defend them, when you try to take them off her.
Is it best to wait until the next morning when she moves off them to bask or is the delay detrimental to the eggs :?:



Cheers, john


P.S - She's a particularly beautiful specimen. Such gorgeous patterning!.
They'll be lovely babies too I reckon 8).

P.P.S - I see Cornelius has been replaced by the Orangutang, Dr Zauis, defender of The Faith. Freshening up the old avatar eh! :lol:

 

[olivehydra]

Congratulations Serpenttongue

They say things happen in threes.
You must be stoked!

Thanks for showing us pics of the actual lay. Great to see.
:idea: So they labour coiled & deposit in the middle.
Very interesting (makes sense I suppose).


I see the nest material of dried lawn-clippings has a few dried leaves in it.
Is that part of the recipe?


I was just wondering how soon after the lay do you remove the eggs :?:

I read somewhere that she can accidentally kill the embryos in the struggle to defend them, when you try to take them off her.
Is it best to wait until the next morning when she moves off them to bask or is the delay detrimental to the eggs :?:



Cheers, john


P.S - She's a particularly beautiful specimen. Such gorgeous patterning!.
They'll be lovely babies too I reckon 8).

P.P.S - I see Cornelius has been replaced by the Orangutang, Dr Zauis, defender of The Faith. Freshening up the old avatar eh! :lol:

Well done ST
I also noticed the revised avatar, care to enlighten the ignorent as to where Midian is? :wink:

 

[GetCoiled]

Hi NIck,
great stuff you got there!
...you'll be overwelmed by a flood of little snapping diamonds...
Congrats mate.
Cheers
Stefano

 

[serpenttongue]

Zen all the eggs are laid inside her coils. When she's finished she'll tighten her coils which forces the eggs closer together and makes them stick to each other better. This is one reason why i give them big boxes to lay in, they tend to underestimate how big their clutch will and the bigger the clutch, the wider her coils need to be. If they lay in a small box they will end up being squashed inside, once all the eggs are out and have filled up between her coils.

No, the leaves arent usually part of the recipe, they just happened to be in this mix and i couldnt be bothered picking them all out. :wink:

I remove the eggs as soon as i want. There's been times when i've taken each individual as it's popped out, but many times, especially with big 2m females i'll wait until they leave the eggs to bask and then sneak in and pinch the clutch. This is to avoid a fight and possible damage of the eggs as the big females are a handful and hard to get off the eggs. Usually though most females are exhausted after laying and at their weakest, so it's at this time that they are easiest to get off the eggs.

I've never had eggs damaged from removing females and there's been times when the female has lifted the entire clutch up with her tail just at the last minute as i've removed her, i've had clutches tipped on their sides from females grabbing back onto the clutch when i thought they were completely off them but none of these eggs were effected by this.

Yeah its Dr Zaius' turn. I've always thought of Zauis as a miserable old sod and always wished Taylor(Heston) shot him dead in that final scene at Cornelius' archeological site at the beach on the limits of the Forbidden Zone. Cool picture of him though. He looks wise, like me!! :lol:

 

[playwell]

Thats great Serpenttongue, good to hear you are having a good year.

After your previous troubles with a few adults it's good to see such a positive result.

Great looking Diamond. What does Dad look like?

 

[Herc]

well done st, good pics

 

[serpenttongue]

Well done ST
I also noticed the revised avatar, care to enlighten the ignorent as to where Midian is? :wink:

Midian is an underground gothic city beneath a cemetery which is home to all the freaks, mutants, monsters, grotesques, fallen angels, martyrs and outcasts of the world. My favourite band CRADLE OF FILTH(they're gothic/black metal) released an album based entirely on Midian. 1st track of the album is a very gothic/horror instrumental entitled "At the gates of Midian"

There's also a horror movie called "Nightbreed" which is about Midian.

Playwell, yes i have had a bad year with several adult diamonds..and it still continues. I've just come back from having another put down at the vets. :cry:

The dad is pretty much black and white.

 

[zen]

Thanks again ST for your generous response.

You're a wealth of knowledge.
Priceless for us first time breeders.

Sorry to hear you've had some grief with a few of your adult Diamonds. :cry:
Damn shame!
Was it the dreaded DPS ?

Thankfully your trifecta came in to help balance the loss.
Looks like soon you'll be overun by a new generation of gorgeous little Diamond hatchlings.



Have a great & prosperous new year mate.

All the best & cheers, John



P.S - Dr Zaius does look thoughtful in that shot. Whilst perhaps not as sensitive as good Cornelius, his wisdom is an appropriate choice for your avatar. 8)

 

[serpenttongue]

Sorry to hear you've had some grief with a few of your adult Diamonds. :cry:
Damn shame!
Was it the dreaded DPS ?

Not DPS, blood test revealed a chronic inflammation/infection somewhere within it's body. I've been fighting it for over a year. She couldnt be saved :cry: :cry:

 

[olivehydra]

Thanks for the Midian info, sounds very picturesque :wink:
Sorry to hear about the sad news :cry: I often wonder why diamonds are a class 1 animal when seasoned herpers still experience dramas with them. Probably one of the reasons why I got out of them, shame they are so pretty. All the best with the new gens

 

[zen]

Sounds nasty Serp.
At least she's not suffering any more.
I'm sure you did everything possible to save her.

It's tragic when you lose a beloved pet. It certainly is felt very deeply.
I've lost family and when favourite pets go it reminds me again of the fragility & preciousness of life.
Somehow New Year awakens this sense of mortality, of passing away and new beginnings.
Profound yet somehow refreshing.

New life is a great remedy.
Your eggs are a symbolic & blessed gift of the divine.

Getting a bit esoteric here. It must be New Year fever!

 

[serpenttongue]

I often wonder why diamonds are a class 1 animal when seasoned herpers still experience dramas with them.

Due to DPS it probably is a good idea that diamonds be put on a higher class. A lot of fledgling keepers buy diamonds with the full intention of giving their diamonds access to sunlight, but after a while they get lazy and slacken off, especially when they see that their diamonds look fine and seem healthy. This lulls them into a false sense of security, believing that DPS will never come.

I believe that anyone that buys a diamond should do so only if the animal will be moved outside as it grows.