62 days later...pics...

[Phillip]

Let the hatching begin. 62 days after being laid the 1st batch of greybands has begun to hatch. Man I do love new baby snakes. Guess the ol expert theory on them not breeding with any success as early as mine did isn't that set in stone after all. lol Now I wonder how long till the rest are out. And then of course there's feeding them. But what the heck I don't mind putting some effort in and it's always sweet to breed a new species for the 1st time. enjoy I know I am.

Phil

 

[MrT]

Thats cool as heck Phil.
And to think, the first thing it saw in the world was his mommy Phil. :} J/K.
Good luck with them.

Ernie

 

[bamaspiderman]

Hi Phil, perfect timing with the camera. Great shot! See you at the show next month.

 

[Phillip]

From Huntsville hmmm ? Mike maybe?

Phil

 

[bamaspiderman]

Yes Phil, it's Mike from Huntsville. I am new to this forum. Glad to see you here.

 

[Swifty]

FANTASTIC!

I've just got one word for ya Phil........SHWING!!!!

 

[Bry]

Congratulations, Phil. Better stock up on lizards.

Bry

 

[Phillip]

Late last night or rather this morning.

And finally the 1st one makes it all the way out.

Already got some lizards frozen Bry. Hoping to not need them on most of them but we'll see. They can be tricky to get started but worst case you can chill them for a month or so and warm them back up if all else fails. I feel like I'll get em started though as I've dealt with problem feeders before.

Phil

 

[Kenny]

)

Awesome ,Phil..

 

[MrT]

Originally posted by Phillip
Late last night or rather this morning.

Already got some lizards frozen Bry. Hoping to not need them on most of them but we'll see. They can be tricky to get started but worst case you can chill them for a month or so and warm them back up if all else fails. I feel like I'll get em started though as I've dealt with problem feeders before.

Phil

Please explain :?
Do you mean chill the snakes?

Ernie

 

[Phillip]

Yes. In the wild alterna ( greybands ) are born late in the year and normally go into hibernation before feeding only to emerge next spring with a healthy appetite. In captivity they can be tricky to get feeding at 1st prefering lizards to mice and some not really wanting to eat at all. Most can be started on regular feeding with a little effort but the really stubborn ones can be hibernated for a month or so and then warmed back up to fool them into eating. The theory is that they are programmed to not eat until the go through the winter 1st due to hatching right before it. Chilling in colubrids means lowering them down to the mid 50s not freezing by any means.

Phil

 

[pamandron]

Hey Phillip, congrats. What great pics as usual. That is really cool to see them coming out of the egg. Take care, Pam

 

[Lasiodora]

Awesome,
Good luck on getting them started.
Mike

 

[zoobugs]

Hey, congrats, Phil. I've 9 eggs of alterna incubating right now as I write. Should be due to hatch around Aug 29-30th.

 

[petitegreeneyes]

That's sweet Phil How long does it take for them to totally get all the way out of the egg?

Becky

 

[Phillip]

interesting you should ask that

1st one took a day and 1/2 to exit the egg. 2nd one in about 6 hours. Unfortunately I waited on the others to pip as I am not a big fan of egg slicing and it seems I should have gone ahead and sliced them. The remaining 7 were unable to hatch on their own and smothered in the eggs. ( not an uncommon occurance with greybands ) Sometimes things go perfect and sometimes they don't. Chalk this one up to the don't category.

The crappy part is out of the remaining unhatched ones one had a nice stripe on a good portion of the body and another was a nice thin striped tiger ish looking one. ( both would have been keepers. ) Oh well bright side two made it and 3 more eggs are still cooking as well as the adults being just fine. Double clutches aren't unheard of either so who knows I may not even have to wait till next season to have more.

Phil