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

Glad to see one made it! Sorry about the others. You have an exciting project there

Sorry for your losses, but congrats on hatching a gorgeous baby! Best of luck with it (hopefully him)!!

Originally Posted by snowgyre

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.

My incubator is currently occupied with eggs, but I placed one of the fans pointed up on the left side front of the shelf, and screwed another fan onto two small 2x2 lengths and velcroed it pointed down on the top of the incubator. Honestly, I don't even know if I needed fans...but I put them in anyway. Haha. I might tweak with the incubator again before next season.

I'm floored! Incredible mom, dad and litter... I have a very serious suggestion. There are only a few who do it.... It's a stretch, but to all who use a bator... I would seriously consider Maternal Incubation. I started last year with it, and I will NEVER go back to a bator. If anybody wants any help making this giant step... I will be your confidant! Just drop me a line.

On the other hand.. Many of us know the feelings you are experiencing, and it's traumatizing... Kudos for the complete rundown, breeding, pictures, honesty.... and get it done again soon! Awesome snakes!

I'm so sorry to hear that most didn't make it, that's a horrible shame... However I'm happy that one is doing well and I have my fingers crossed for him/her! Here's hoping it thrives for you!
Thank you so much for sharing everything so well! That new pattern looks amazing, I'm wishing you the best of luck with this neat project!

GREAT NEWS! The baby is still alive, and it looks to be a MALE! Whoo hoo!! Now, I'm fairly new to the whole popping business, but the amount of "stuff" that popped out looked a little too long to be merely scent glands. I suppose only time will tell! I do have a set of probes, so once this little baby becomes established I'll probe it to be completely sure.

I have a whole bunch of females that will be ready to go next year too. My calico male will probably be a bit disappointed, but I intend to pair this hatchling (if it is male) to my female cinnamon and mojave. The female yellowbelly I have is possible het for pied, so she'll be with the pretty male that was paired with Osmosis in this thread. I have a female pastel, but I've been dying to have pastel calicos, so she's taken. Man, imagine this trait with a cinnamon or a mojave! I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but after all the disappointment I can't help but hope!

Thanks to everyone for being so supportive. I'll be sure to keep you all updated as things progress. Tom, I just sent you an email about maternal incubation. I do have several questions I hope you can answer. Luke, once your incubator is empty please send me photos of your setup! Thanks again, everyone! I'll be posting periodic updates here as the hatchling grows.

Very pretty new addition to your family. Im very much hoping my dinker things prove out for me.

Congrats Vanessa! Glad he made it through! Now let me know when his babies start poppin out cuz I might want one!

Great ending hope he works out for u.. U deserve it after all that..

The lone survivor had HER (yes, it's a she) shed last week and ate her first meal, a fuzzy, yesterday. She's a little spitfire, always eager to strike, but it makes me very happy that she's so feisty.

Here are her post shed photos. I've also attached a belly photo. She's looking good! She also has the railroad tracks, sorta-kinda-pied-markers-but-not, that her mother and all her siblings had.

I've named her Oconee, after the Oconee River here in Georgia. I think the "osmosis" trait make actually be a new line of Dan Wolfe's "rio" morph, so I figured it was appropriate to name the new baby after a river.

I also just purchased two animals I think may also be rios/osmosis. They'll be arriving next week and I'll post pictures of them here to let everybody see how my little dinker project is progressing. What's really nice is that there's a MALE in the pair I just bought! I will be breeding him to a yellowbelly, a cinnamon, and an unstriped normal next year if he gets big enough. Very exciting stuff! Wouldn't it be cool if this turned out to be a codominant pattern trait? I can't wait to see what this looks like as a mojave, but my mojave girl is being bred to my calico next year because, ya gotta admit, calico mojaves are hawt!