I know, most of you are thinking "who the hell is Enigma and Silgrit?". Silgrit is my high yellow Biak female that was originally sold to me as a male. Chris Height has been trying to get her from me for a few years now and I'm glad I never let go.......I seriously considered it several times.
Enigma was my blue "paradox" male which unfortunately passed about a month ago for unknown reasons. He was an import hatchling, but was sent to me as an adult over 2 years ago. The clutch he produced last year was some of the hottest looking hatchlings I've seen. Sadly, of 10 eggs 9 babies emerged with only 3 hatchlings surviving after a couple of days. Those remaining neonated survived for nearly 5 months and passed on as well.
I decided to put this pair together to hopefully acheive the best of both worlds. Who knows what will happen when the animals change, but I am determined to get this clutch up and running. The total number of eggs was 19 and all are fertile.
Here's a pic of Mom as she was laboring.
And after the deed was done.
It appears that Silgrit retained 2-3 eggs and I've decided to give her a week or so to see what happens. Anyone have any ideas on egg retention? This is a first for any of my chondros.
This is going to be a special clutch to me and if everyone is correct on red babies being dominant, the entire clutch should be red/maroon......and hopefully a black one or two. I'll keep anyone interested in this clutch updated as things progress.
Brandon Osborne
