I just returned from a two week-long working trip to the Pocono's. All wetland delineation work in sphagnum bogs, Rhodendron thickets (low-crawling), and glaciated "dimples" exhausting but a fantastic trip (I can't believe they pay me to do this). My apologees if the following should be placed elswhere in another thread.
Back OT. On Nov. 12 I placed all my breeders (easterns)and a couple of other adults into sweater boxes into a cooler room for initial cool down. The next day I discovered that one of my adult female hets had escaped from the box in the middle of the stack. the entry in my log book says "... will sort through basement, though not hopeful. D*&%, this sucks!" I searhed through my very clutered basement and concluded that she must be under the installed shower pan. I placed some more artificial cover near the exposed back-side of the finished bathroom and waited.
I bred one pair of first time MD locality easterns and a trio of 1.0 albino and 0.1 het and 0.1 phet. Results so far:
MD female laid 8 eggs 4 slugs - 4 good, first breeding
Phet female laid 7 eggs 5 slugs - 2 good, first breeding
Het female laid 7 slugs then she ruptured her oviduct passing a very large hard egg that was a "double yolk" it was about 4" long. I expressed the egg/s? through a tear in the side of the oviduct. Her rupture oviduct remained outside of her body and had dried by that evening. That night she passed one more slug. leaveing at least 2 maybe 3 eggs within her. After consulting with a few veteranerians and fellow herp-heads I decided to ride out the storm. Tonight one weel after the rupture she is laying the remaining eggs. I'm guessing that they are passing through her other oviduct?
Oh, and the escapee was found Tuesday night (I was home for an evening) under the cover I laid-down last November. Better yet her weight was 770gr. and she was on her shed. I fed her 3 Rat pups and I'll try her with the albino male this weekend.
Some ups, some downs...Kinda like life,
Bob Bull
