My amazing dinkers! Caution: Dead snake photos. NEW ADDITIONS TO THE PROJECT!

Originally Posted by snowgyre

It looks like the two remaining eggs are going to make it.

Awesome! Good luck! I'm sorry about the ones that didn't make it, I've been following this post and progress since the start. very exciting! (or should I say - egg-citing?)

Sorry to hear about the deaths, but good luck with the two remaining. Hopefully they won't be kinked.

So ... where's the pics?

One of the last two eggs died. The other baby is absorbing the yolk and I do not want to disturb it. I'll take photos once the remaining baby either dies or successfully absorbs the yolk and fully emerges from the egg.

I agree. Trash the incubator. If you ship it to me I will put a deer slug through it and send you a video. haha.
I had one of those things and it was a piece of crap. I bought a wine fridge for $50 on Craigslist, stuck some heat tape in it, 2 computer fans and a thermostat and it's rock solid. The only thing I had to add later was a piece of reflective insulation over the glass because I had my A/C on and the glass door was cooling down and dropping temps. Once I put the insulation on it, the problem was solved.

Good luck with the survivor. I had a 5 egg dinker clutch crap out on me last season...left me with one female "normal" (or het if it's recessive)
The mother took this season off (grrrr). Hopefully next season she will give me a male so I can see...

Luke, can you email me photos of the incubator you made? I'm curious about the placement and hookup of the computer fans.

As far as everyone else goes, would you prefer me putting the photos of dead hatchlings in as links, or can I upload them to the thread as attached files? I know some people are sensitive about these things and I certainly don't want to put people off, but at the same time the links I've made in this thread are not permanent whereas attached files would be. I'm pretty positive I have a new morph here. All of the babies showed some traits of the mother, although one was a low expression. It's very similar to the rio trait that Dan Wolfe has produced.

The remaining baby is still alive and going strong so far. The fact that he/she has survived 24 hours after pipping and has almost fully absorbed the yolk sac is extremely promising. I'm sincerely hoping this one is a male, although at this point I will be ecstatic with a survivor! I will post photos of the deceased baby later. It was another full stripe. The survivor will probably not shed the umbilical until later tonight, so I probably won't be able to get photos of it until tomorrow. It is also a morph. Go figure, this embryo incubated on its side! It pipped from the bottom of the egg. Perhaps that is what saved it from the temperature fluctuations of the incubator?

For now I will tentatively call this the Osmosis, after the mother. I have a strong suspicion this is the same trait as Dan Wolfe's rio, but until I can cross breed the two lines to prove they are the same trait I will give mine a different name.

Post the pics, everyone following the thread has had sufficient warning I think.

The last baby has survived the night! His umbilical is almost fully absorbed, only a little half inch of it is still sticking out. I've made a collage that shows all the babies and the parents.

As you can see, all of the babies, to a greater or lesser extent, inherited the broad dorsal stripe. The dorsal stripe also tends to get circles in it from time to time. There are minimal or no alien heads in the side pattern, and free floating circles in the black space between the belly pattern and the dorsal stripe (hence the name osmosis). All babies hatched out with characteristic railroad track black marks along the belly, which is probably a function of the "squished" side pattern.

I haven't popped the surviving baby yet to check it's gender, but I am thrilled! I will still be incredibly nervous until this snake eats its first meal, but the fact that it has survived this far is heartening!

Originally Posted by snowgyre

All babies hatched out with characteristic railroad track black marks along the belly, which is probably a function of the "squished" side pattern.

I would assume this is do to the them being het/pos het pied (from dad).
The snakes pretty much look identical from here. There's definitely something really cool going on.
I hope the last baby makes it for you. I would take him off that incubation box and put him in a tub with soaking wet paper towel back in the incubator for another day or so, just my 2 cents, but I'm not as experienced as other people here.

Wow what crappy luck. I am sorry to read about the loss. It is hard and very disheartening.
I hope this last one makes it well for you and your future breeding comes out better. Some great looking snakes. I would love to get my hands on one of those. Thanks for sharing and just try to remember "poop happens".

It's good to hear one has made it!