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After 67 days our KY locale northerns began pipping. Through the incubation we maintained a temperature range from overnight lows of 78°F through day time highs of 86°. Out of seven eggs it appears that we will have a 100% hatch rate.

The first snake out already had a yellowish tone to it. Most seem to develop this over time so it should be interesting to see how this one looks in about a year.

A group shot of some of the hatchlings immediately out of the egg.

The mother of these snakes. The father is quietly digesting a rat presently and I thought it best not to disturb him.

The greater portion of these hatchlings will be donated to the zoo here in KY and will go on display once they are large enough.

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Phil

Awesome! Congratulations on this project!

Thanks! Its been years in the making, but yes, things are moving forward nicely!

Phil

Congrats Phil & Will. Momma looks pretty stout. Is that pic before or after laying?
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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com

Thanks Brad! This photo was taken this morning and her clutch of eggs were layed on 17 May. There are two schools of thought on how to maintain pine snakes with one preferring to maintenance feed and "grow them slow". I do not subscribe to this rationale but rather prefer to feed my pine snakes well. My opinion is that these are high metabolism animals with good appetites that prey on large food items and often. I'm not one to pass judgement since others profess to have success by the alternate method of feeding less and with smaller meals. I will say this however, my snakes successfully reproduce each year, have complete hatch rates resulting in strong viable offspring and my snakes do not suffer from mysterious winter death. My pine snakes never see a mouse. I start them on pink rats and increase the size of the rats they feed upon until as adults they are feeding upon large rats. IMO this more closely mirrows what wild pine snakes are feeding on in nature (pocket gophers, wood rats, cotton rats, etc..). Our adults are large and impressive and reflect the full potential that these snakes are capable of having.

Phil

Beautiful babies! I agree with your method of feeding pines. I have a pair of 09 black pines who feed on nothing but rats. They are around 4' to 4.5' feet long and have never refused a meal. They are eating 2 small/medium rats per week.

Thanks! Thats exactly the size that I expect from a yearling pine snake. Much like any animal, if they are expected to reach their natural maximum size they need to be fed appropriately. I find it odd that many folks feed their Pits as if they were corn snakes. I don't visit this forum as often as I used to but when I do I can spot a mouser right off.

Phil

Thanks for the note Phil. I too like to feed them well. I've been using mice for smaller snakes though cause that's what I have but will move more into rats now.

In either case, I have several '09s, 2 NP, 1 BP, 1SP, 1LP and all are about 600 grams now at around 10 months. Also have an '08 NP that was 5 feet on his first birthday and is now a chunky 6 feet at around 23 months - and that's after fasting for about 2 months this year and last! Love that big pits!
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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com

Thats impressive Brad! I had a few bad experiences over the years with Pits that decided they like mice better than rats so these days mine never see a mouse.

Phil

Interesting Phil, none of mine seem to have a preference ...yet anyway.
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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com

Those are awesome looking snakes. Congrats! Good job.

reako45

Thanks!

Phil

Great work! Thanks for putting in the monumental efforts......

Hold back a couple of breeders so that one day they might be available to collectors....Please!

Those little dudes look fantastic.

Thanks John! We have every intention of preserving this line. It is without a doubt one of the rarest of the eastern Pit locales and a very unique phenotype.

Phil

Great work,with some super nice and unique lookin' N.Pines!I'd say those are,"hands down"the finest group of Northerns that I've ever seen!Congrats on the healthy neonates,keep everyone updated on those gems.Thanks for sharing. Alan

Thanks Alan! I'll have to admit that we are partial to these ourselves.I will admit that I'm very fond of all pine snakes in general though and appreciate the variation from one region to the next. Above is an older photo of the father of the clutch above.

Phil

Man do I love those Kentucky Northerns. Nicely done & appreciate you sharing the incubation info.

Well done! Congrats!

I sure would like to have a pair of these, some day.
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I'm Dutch. Somebody shoot me.

What he said! Those things are some of the best I've seen. Out of curiousity I was looking at some pics of Alabama pines and noticed your name on some of the pics. Do you work with a Northern Alabama line as well? Just curious, as some of the pines from that region are good looking as well.

Brad

Thanks for all the kind words. They are much appreciated!

Phil

Sweet! There's my yearly fix of the coolest line of Northerns around. Thanks Phil!
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Jeremy Pierce
Shade Tree Exotics
shade-tree-exotics@att.net

Thanks Jeremy. Glad you enjoyed!

Phil

Nice Phil. Have you guys had any genetic work done on these yet? They seem to have some similarities to LA Pines. Again congrats. Really outstanding job on these.
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“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Emmerson

WWW.TDSNAKES.BLOGSPOT.COM

Thanks Tony! Yes, we have sent shed skins to a group of researchers that are currently working on a project involving the various populations of pine snakes. This has not yet been published and I haven't heard any details yet. Should be interesting to see what the results are.

Phil

Congrats, Phil!!

Beautiful babies.

Just remember who your friends are.....

LOL, kidding, I think.
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

Thanks Lloyd! Hope that you're having another great season.

Phil

I know that those snakes are the culmination of hundreds of hours of study and field time. Huge accomplishment for KY! Way to go Man!

Michael Coone
Conover, NC

Thanks Michael! Your kind words are much appreciated!

Phil