Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got this photo, a little over a month ago, just before my camera battery died. Not a great photo, but it was the best I got. This was a definate hookup for this pair of Chinese Beauties.

Het Calico Male x Calico Female

I took this photo a bit more recently. I did not see actual copulation, but they were snuggled up together in the hide for at least two days.

Calico Male x Tyrosinase Positive Albino Female

-Toby Brock
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Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

VERY interesting combo of genes your working with in those t. taeniura Toby. Keep up the work.
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Randy Whittington

I LOVE that calico! Just gorgeous!
So... I am very interested in those clear water jugs with the top cut off for rat snakes?? Are they "spill/tip proof"? I have been having trouble finding something besides crock. Something more affordable for rat snakes.

>>I LOVE that calico! Just gorgeous!
>>So... I am very interested in those clear water jugs with the top cut off for rat snakes?? Are they "spill/tip proof"? I have been having trouble finding something besides crock. Something more affordable for rat snakes.

Thanks Amanda! I love the calicos too, and all of the morphs of Chinese Beauty. Fingers crossed for all eggs to hatch out healthy babies, this year.

I use one gallon jugs (water or juice) with the tops cut off, for my beauties. When they are half full, the snakes cannot tip them, and they do not overflow. The two mating snakes in the jug are both well over five feet long, and very beefy and strong - so I am guessing that the gallon jugs would work for larger snakes as well. I like recycling plastic products, for hides also. I use (2 lb) plastic coffee cans as hides for the beauties.

-Toby Brock
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Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

>>I LOVE that calico! Just gorgeous!
>>So... I am very interested in those clear water jugs with the top cut off for rat snakes?? Are they "spill/tip proof"? I have been having trouble finding something besides crock. Something more affordable for rat snakes.

I have been using gallon jugs for my larger snakes, for a few years now, but now have to change that. My big male Beauty recently learned that he can tip over his gallon jug, and does it almost immediately when I put in a fresh jug of water. After having to swamp out his cage every day for three days in a row (and replace a lot of aspen), I decided that I would have to come up with a different type of water container. My wife found a large glass candle holder, which is flat on the bottom, is 7" tall x 8" in diameter. It holds more water than the jugs, and is heavier, since it's glass. He's working on trying to shove it around as I type, so we'll see if this works...

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-Toby Brock
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

>>VERY interesting combo of genes your working with in those t. taeniura Toby. Keep up the work.
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>>Randy Whittington

Thanks Randy! Well, it may be wishful thinking on the calico x T positive albino pairing, for this year. The male calico is much smaller than the female albino and only an '07 hatch, and I'm not sure he knows what he's supposed to do. She seems to like him though, so maybe.

The big calico girl is gravid and hopefully she'll give me a good clutch of eggs. These snakes are very easy to keep and breed, but I have had lots of problems when it comes to incubating the eggs. I've talked a bit about that before, but I'll probably write a little something about them once I get eggs. I am trying a few different things with them this year.

-Toby

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Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

Good luck with them Toby. My T minus pair are together as I type. I haven't witnessed any lock ups yet; they are entwined but not at the business end.
Graham.
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30 Snakes :
Corns, Milks, Kings, American Rats, Asian Rats, Boa, Diadem
www.ratsnakefoundation.org

>>Good luck with them Toby. My T minus pair are together as I type. I haven't witnessed any lock ups yet; they are entwined but not at the business end.
>>Graham.
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>>30 Snakes :
>>Corns, Milks, Kings, American Rats, Asian Rats, Boa, Diadem
>>www.ratsnakefoundation.org

Thanks Graham! I hope your albinos get down to business, for you. I think probably my T pos albino female and young calico male were just snuggling too, but I couldn't see their lower ends, to be sure.

-Toby

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Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research