Hatching

I apologize for being away so long - it's been a busy time. 
I re-read the breeding section of Kathy Love's "Cornsnake Manual" in early July. According to the information inside, I estimated that the eggs would hatch sometime around July 18. I was not going to be caught unprepared, as I had with the egg-laying.
When I peeked in the incubation box on July 15 I was excited to see that the eggs had begun shriveling just a bit. This is an indication that the baby snake is absorbing the nutrition inside the egg. It wouldn't be long....

Can You See Their Little Heads?

I couldn't believe how smoothly things went after that. It was as if the snakes had read the manual themselves. The first pipping (the baby slits the egg with the egg-tooth and pokes its head out of the egg) began on July 18 and the last baby emerged on July 21. Twenty-four babies hatched in all, out of 30 eggs.  Some of them had a bit more color than others, but they all appeared to be "normals," and I was disappointed not to see any bright Okatee coloring. However, their colors can intensify after each shed, so I am still optimistic.

     

Look Closely & You Can See an Egg Tooth

Pencil for Comparison

Color Comparison

Egg Report

I just wanted to post a report on the progress of the corn snake eggs. They are doing great! Here is a picture that I took on June 12 - they are almost 1/2 way there. They were laid on May 18 and I expect them to hatch sometime around July 18. I moved some of the vermiculite for this pic, but then covered the eggs again to keep them from drying out.  I have to spray a little water on the vermiculite about once a week to keep the humidity up.  So far everything is looking very good for baby snakes!

Here Be Dragons

WARNING:
Bearded Dragons can be addictive.

Puff Watching a Beardie Video

No one told me that when I chose my sweet little bearded dragon as a Christmas present from Morgan (Christmas 2010).  I named her Puff (the Magic Dragon) and took her to school every day to get her used to being handled, but I had to take her home every night because she needed to be fed several times a day. Beardies can grow to be 2 feet long if given the proper nutrition. After I had adjusted to spending all of my lunch money on crickets for Puff's insatiable gullet, I began to crave an addition to my happy home. Adults (I read) are mostly vegetarian, requiring much less protein than the juveniles.  I started keeping my eyes open for beardies on the reptile forums I had joined. Finally, in April, I found one in my limited price range and made arrangements to meet him. When I picked him up, I also acquired two leopard geckos that were so skinny I felt I was making a rescue.  Upon arriving back home, I was able to inspect "Spike" a little more closely, I realized where all of the geckos' groceries had been going. "Spike" was very chubby, and very nervous. I wasn't brave enough to pick him up, and decided to gain his trust slowly. 

I also decided that he must have a new name - "Spike" was absolutely too cliche. I wanted a name that would make him seem less intimidating, since he was more than intimidating on his own.  I picked "Pookie," but several of my co-workers objected. Morgan suggested "Navarog." This was the name of a demon-dragon in a series she had read named Fablehaven.  I couldn't get used to "Navarog," but finally compromised by calling him "Navi" for short.
Two weeks after this acquisition, my reptile mentor (Mark) came over to deliver an albino corn snake I had adopted and I asked him to take a look at Navi. I was worried that he might be impacted because he hadn't defecated since I brought him home (TMI?). Mark picked him right up without incident. However, he pronounced him "obese" and instructed me to not feed him for a week, and then only greens - no more crickets for Navi.
After I watched how Mark handled him, I was comfortable picking him up and reserved to handle him every day so he would become more comfortable with human contact. He has been a wonderful addition to my family, and I have enjoyed getting to know him.

Not Just Reptiles

I have been very proud of my students this year - each week a different student is in charge of feeding the animals. Some of them are willing to feed the tarantulas, but some aren't.  Those who don't want to risk opening the lids of the cages ask a more daring student to help them. I think all of this exposure is helping these children become more aware and accepting of many different types of animals.
One Monday I came into the classroom and glanced at Rosa's cage. There was another spider in the container with her!!  Was this a joke being played on me by a co-worker? Upon closer inspection, I realized that Rosa had molted, and her molted exoskeleton was laying beside her! I had read about this, but had never seen it. Do males not molt? Both of my males were Texas Browns - maybe they don't molt as often as Chilean Rose Hairs?
Unfortunately, we soon realized that something was wrong. Rosa seemed very weakened. She sometimes flailed her legs. I called my cousin Norman (the entomologist) for advice. He listened to the symptoms and agreed that it didn't sound good, but had no advice to offer. He said that tarantulas often seem weakened for an hour after molting, but she had been in this state for more than 8 hours. I watched her and searched the Internet for clues. I found a source on the Internet that mentioned a disease called diskinetic syndrome. I read up on it and felt that Rosa was probably suffering from that. Unfortunately she died after a day or two. 
I had joined an Internet forum called "SouthTexasReptiles" and was browsing it a few days before Rosa died - suddenly I saw an ad for someone selling a Chilean Rose Haired tarantula! I contacted them and made plans to pick her up the following weekend. The guy selling the tarantula also had a Pacman frog that he wanted to sell, so I figured "the more, the merrier" and bought him too. I knew that my students would enjoy having it in the classroom as well.

True Love

Prince turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous "Okeetee" corn snake. They are named after the area in South Carolina that they come from. They are known for their beautiful red, orange and black coloration. I took this pic and Morgan edited it for me. He is quite a model. 

I had read up on breeding corn snakes, and gotten advice from a few people, but I was still amazed at how smooth everything went. I put them together every 3-4 days for about a month, and they mated several times.

I started studying Bill and Kathy Love's book on corn snakes to prepare for the anticipated egg-laying. I calculated dates and decided that the eggs could be laid anytime after May 27. I read that you can feel bumps in the female's belly if she is gravid (egg-bearing) and began checking Checker for any hint of bumpiness. Again and again I failed to detect bumps, and when Mark came over to deliver my new albino corn snake (yay!!), I asked him what he thought. He agreed that she didn't seem to have any. Well, there was still plenty of time.

When I adopted Blanco, I didn't have a tank for him right away, so I had to leave Checker and Prince together for about a week, so that Blanco could be in his own tank in case of any problems. I already knew that Checker and Prince got along, so I felt that was the best arrangement. But when Blanco got his own tank and I separated Checker and Prince, Checker began moving all over her tank frantically. I decided this was a sign either of: (a) Checker missing her Prince, or (b) Checker looking for a place to lay her eggs. I knew that reptiles don't really develop bonds for each other, so I decided it was time to buy a nesting box. I found a box about 11x16x6 inches and cut an appropriately sized hole in the top. Unfortunately, I was having trouble finding spaghnum moss with no fertilizer added, but I still had plenty of time, so I just put some shredded aspen in the box to see if Checker would even go into the box.

I placed the nesting box in Checker's tank and took the opportunity to check Checker for any signs of eggs. She was definitely not as big as she had been last year just before she laid eggs, and I was feeling disappointed. She went into the box readily though, but didn't stay inside. She moved in and out a few times, and I checked on her several times every day. I gave Mark an update on the situation, to see what he thought, and he suggested that she might not even be gravid : (

I knew that I would be going to Arlington on May 21 for the DFW Herp meeting, so I made plans to look for spaghnum moss while I was up there. I still had a week to get ready. 
Then on May 18, I had to stay late at work, and didn't get home until 7:30. I looked in on Checker as usual, and saw that she had presented me with a huge clutch! I immediately sent a pic to Mark, Trisha and Morgan, then called Mark to see if he would come help me, since she hadn't used her nesting box AND I didn't have the spaghnum moss needed to keep the eggs moist. He didn't have spaghnum moss either, but brought some coconut husk which he thought would be good enough until we could find something better.  He brought his 2 daughters over, and we all watched, fascinated, while he candled the eggs.

They were definitely fertile! Poor Checker looked like a skeleton, and I was worried about her, but Mark assured me that she would be okay. He showed me how to pack the eggs in moist husk and told me to keep them around 80 degrees, which should be easy, since my air conditioner is on the fritz. He estimated about 30 eggs in the clutch - whoopee!!

Now comes the hard part - waiting 60 or so days for the hatching. We should  have some results sometime around July 18. I took Prince back to Trisha at our May meeting and regretfully said goodbye to him. I sure hope some of his babies look like him.

Mark brought me some vermiculite - another nesting material that many corn breeders use, and we transferred the eggs to the new material. 

Match.Com for Corn Snakes

I learned that corn snakes need to go through a period of dormancy called "brumation" prior to breeding, so I read about it and began to cool Checker down in late November.  

Morgan gave me a sweet baby bearded dragon for Christmas - I named her Puff. This is not a very good picture of her, but it shows how small she was when I got her. I took her to school with me every day and she quickly became very socialized. I also bought a Chilean Rose Hair tarantula sometime during this period. I named her Rosa and my students enjoyed comparing her to the 2 Texas Browns that I already had.
I continued to attend the DFW Herp Society meetings each month - the 3rd Sat. of the month at UT Arlington. I got to know some of the members better, and continued my search for a significant other for Checker. Finally, a woman named Trisha mentioned that she had a male corn snake and that she would be interested in breeding him. I decided to bring Checker out of brumation in early March, after which I would feed her well and wait for her to shed. This would be the signal that she was read to meet Prince (yes that is really his name!)
Also in March, we had our annual Science Fair at school, and Mark, Jennifer and their 2 daughters agreed to bring several of their reptiles for one of our exhibits. The students LOVED it!!
Finally, in early April, Checker shed her skin. I contacted Trisha and she offered to bring Prince to the next meeting so I could borrow him for a month to see if he and Checker would mate.

Next Step

After I posted a pic of Checker and her eggs on FaceBook, a friend told me about a guy in Granbury named Mark who knew a lot about reptiles. She gave me his phone number and I contacted him to see if he could give me advice on breeding corn snakes.
Mark told me a lot about corn snakes, and then suggested that I attend a meeting of the DFW Herpetological Society in Arlington, Texas. They meet once a month on the UTA campus and have presentations about reptiles and amphibians (herpetology). I put that idea on the back burner for a few months while I dealt with the start of a new school year.
One of my new students offered to bring me a leopard gecko that her mother had found online. They looked up the word for leopard gecko in Japanese and named him "Yamori." He was pretty gentle and easy to handle, although he didn't really like being held a lot. He was a lot bigger than I expected. Another student's father sent our class a Texas brown tarantula. I have always been afraid of spiders, but took this as an opportunity to overcome that fear. My students named him "Harry."
I finally decided to attend a meeting of the DFW Herpetological Society. Mark had told me that I should "brumate" Checker for a few months to prepare her for breeding. Brumation for reptiles is similar to hibernation for mammals. 
I made plans to attend the November 2010 meeting of the DFW Herp Society. Although I had talked to Mark on the phone, I had not met him in person, and was very nervous about going to a strange place where I didn't know anyone. 

I didn't know what to expect - but in the back of my mind I had a vague idea of scary biker dudes with tatoos and chains. I took my youngest daughter, Morgan, along with me for protection.
The first meeting I attended had a presentation about bullfrogs and the effects of their introduction into areas where they were not native. It wasn't my cup of tea, but it made me realize how serious the members were about the science of herpetology, and how much I could learn by attending the meetings.
The people at the meeting were unbelievably nice and family-oriented. I met Mark and his wife Jennifer, and their 2 children Amber and Emily, along with many other people. After the meeting most of the members went to Nizza's Pizza for a late dinner and more discussion.
At the beginning of the meeting, Mark had gone over upcoming events that the DFW Herp Society would be involved with. One of those was the re-opening of the Children's Animal Center at Fossil Rim. I asked if I could help at that event, since it was right in my home territory. Mark said that it would be a great opportunity to learn more about reptiles, and that I was welcome to come.
I took Checker (corn snake), Yamori (leopard gecko), and Harry (Texas brown tarantula) to the event. Mark and Jennifer had brought the majority of the reptiles - probably at least 20 snakes, a sulcata tortoise named Sherman, and a bearded dragon named Lizard Boy. We were at Fossil Rim for at least 6 hours, talking with dozens and dozens of people. I learned the basics of sexing a snake and a leopard gecko, and found out that Yamori is a female.
I enjoyed the day at Fossil Rim and looked forward to more opportunities to learn about reptiles.