Thursday, August 28, 2008

 

54 Trans-Pecos Ratsnake eggs and counting...


Thanks to Mike Murphy for sending this photo of The Complete Suboc being sold at a booth in Daytona, Flordia. I was told it was at quite a few tables.

We're now at 54 Trans-Pecos Ratsnake eggs this season, so far. Nine clutches in all. Three of the clutches could have Snow and/or Snow Blonde, as well as Albino Blonde.

Soon, I will have some informational articles on Suboc.com (I know I've been saying that for awhile now, but bear with me) and an updated expected offspring for '08 list.

Here's a short list of what we have incubating so far:

  1. Pandale Gray phase
  2. Orange x Oro del Rio phase (Panther Canyon) -- should be some nice orange animals
  3. Triple Het x Triple Het -- morphs galore!
  4. Triple Het x 66% poss. Het Albino clutch #1 -- fingers crossed for Albinos
  5. Triple Het x 66% poss. Het Albino clutch #2 -- fingers crossed for Albinos
  6. Mustard Blonde x Oro del Rio (Orange) **aka Het "Strawberry Blonde"
  7. Mustard Blonde, Het Axanthic (Silver), 50% poss. Het Snow x Bleached Blonde -- should be all Blonde-patterned babies with SEVERAL possible colors
  8. Langtry x Black Gap -- just beautiful "Normal" Trans-Pecos Ratsnakes from beautiful parents
  9. Triple Het x Axanthic (Silver) Blonde, Het Snow -- morphs galore again!
Still might be a few more clutches to go.

Cheers!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

 

Sharing a Closet with Incubating Reptile Eggs


I often hear, at least once a year, that someone I know lost ALL of their incubating eggs due to a malfunctioned incubator that overheated and killed them. Ugggghhh!!! That would be such a kick in the stomach!!...all of that year's long hard work gone to waste in a matter of seconds.

Something different I'm doing this year should mitigate or throw out entirely that possibility of an overheated incubator. My egg boxes, each with a clutch, are stacked on the highest shelf in a closed closet. By itself, the closet stays about 78 - 80 F. If you add a couple of heat pads and use them as "panels" against the wall, you can bump that up to about 86 degrees. That's with the heat pads on full power. If you connect them to a rheostat, which further mitigates any risk of overheating, you can lower the heat pad temps enough to bring the ambient temperature down to marginally above that of the closet's natural temperature of 78 - 80 F. Of course, you don't have to use any heat. (Suboc eggs have been proven to hatch at temperatures as low as 40 degrees!) But it takes longer that way, if you don't mind the wait.

So far, this season we have more than 45 eggs incubating, 42 of which appear good. Only a couple more females to go, maybe three, but they're good ones.

Here's a Blonde that's Het Axanthic and Poss. Het for Snow that laid six, five of which look great. She's the "cover girl" for The Complete Suboc, and this is her first clutch. She bred with the Bleached Blonde, so we should see some neat stuff out of them...perhaps a Snow Blonde.


I've gotta tell ya...I'm lovin' this new camera.


This pair was also observed showing some courting and reproductive behavior. A beautiful Normally Patterned Axanthic female with a show-stopping Trumbower Axanthic Blonde male. I really love the Normal-patterned Silvers -- they're something I will find hard to sell when I produce more of them.

More soon!

DR

Thursday, August 21, 2008

 

How to be Good Stewards of the Earth and Conservation-minded While Still Enjoying Herpetoculture

A couple of months ago, I was contacted by some friendly people in West Texas. They explained to me that they had found some adult Trans-Pecos Ratsnakes on their property and were wondering if I'd be interested in buying some. Right away, I told them that I wasn't interested and that I rarely take adult reptiles out of the wild (i.e. maybe if it were an Albino or something unique like that I would, but other than that, it's just not something I would normally do -- and for the record -- I rarely even take young ones. I mostly just like to see them in the wild.).

I gathered from our conversation that these were people who were probably not "mainstream" in the modern pet reptile industry. It just seemed that they would probably catch as many of whatever they could find on their property and sell them to anyone who would buy them...which is the way that most reptiles were bought and sold back in the early 1980's and previous to that. Now, I realize that there is still a market for wild-caught reptiles, but that market has changed drastically over the past 15 years. Nowadays, most people -- both buyers and sellers -- deal in captive-bred only.

I explained to these people that they would probably have more long-lasting success if they only sold young snakes that they had legally caught. There are many, many reasons for this:

I cringe somewhat when I see people selling literally bucketloads of every species of herp they can find near their home. To me this behavior smacks of prodigal wastefulness and disregard for conservation of wildlife. I believe that animals, plants, mountains, minerals, valleys, rivers, oceans, and all components that make up what we call nature were put on this earth to bring us joy and gladden our hearts -- not for our unfettered usage. I truly believe that to my very center. It would be a sad situation indeed if we continue to lose the many species that exist among us due to our own irresponsible wastefulness and greed.

Just as there are bag limits and other restrictions on the take of White-tailed Deer, there are bag limits and restrictions on the take of reptiles in most states. Please respect those laws and regulations. Just as you shouldn't shoot a deer that walks into your yard, you shouldn't take every herp that does the same. Does that mean you can't take some? Of course, not...but please respect laws, regulations, bag limits etc. and always ask yourself if you are being a good steward of the earth and its inhabitants. If you can answer that question honestly and in the affirmative, then your efforts are commendable.

Let us see how our presence on the earth can benefit other species, instead of the other way around. So many people live in a "scarcity mindset"...i.e. there isn't enough money; there aren't enough jobs, there isn't enough land, etc. for everyone to live abundantly and happily. I believe there is enough, and though there will always be poor people, there will also always be a way for us to help and teach others to be more self-reliant. A more educated people are able to do more, whether it be earning their own bread or having the ways and means to be better stewards. We see time and again in undeveloped nations (where there are many illiterate, uneducated, and impoverished people) that they often use up their natural resources and sell them in the "bushmeat" or black markets. There is much we can do to reverse that trend. It will take entrepreneurs, biologists, students, farmers, missionaries, doctors, teachers, and many others to make this a reality, so there is room enough for everyone to help.

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Below is an article in PDF format demonstrating an OUTSTANDING example of how educating people in rural third-world countries is helping them financially and simultaneously saving rain forests and wild reptiles (among other animals) from extinction:

Fitting Iguanas and Forests into Central American Farms


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