Bella is a terrific female I purchased from my local newspaper. My husband convinced me to go check the animal out for the fun of it. Sure glad I listened to him because the animal for sale was this beautiful show-stopper of a girl. Lots of blue all over the back and all the way down. Lots of white speckling running along the dorsal region. Her locality type resembles Sorong or Aru or more likely a mix of the two. She has no background data and I have no idea if she is captive bred or long-term-captive/wild-caught/or farmed. But she has absolutely no scars and was as tame as a kitten. The seller claimed she was from a breeder in Florida. He thought she was about 2years of age. It doesn't matter to me one bit. She has been a perfect animal since I brought her home in 1999.

UPDATE: This female bred several times in 2002 and in February of 2003, she laid a big pile of slugs on the floor. After she shed, I offered her a rat which she quickly gobbled up. But not soon after she had a prolaspe after defecation. A vet trip indicated nothing majorly wrong but she was given some meds and sewed up with a purse string suture. She is much better now and has responded positively to the meds and hydration therapy. New photos of her are pictured above. She has taken on a gorgeous pastel blue coloration after the breeding and slug laying. I am not complaining! UPDATE: After recovering from the prolaspe in 2003, Bella regained her weight and was bred again to Sammy (see photo above.) I had been housing that pair together since February.  It was more a cage space issue after awhile than just breeding hopes.  I happened to walk in on them that one day they were breeding and I was quite surprised.  Afterwards, they sat very far apart for a month and so I took out the male.  She ate one rat after the pairing (in July) and then refused food twice after that.  She went very blue all over in September and laid on the floor quite a bit.  I noticed the bulging and searching behavior during the day in mid October and added a heat light. Thank goodness!  I didn't know she was going to lay, but I knew she was acting gravid.   When I noticed the bulging and knew she hadn't been fed I put the heat lamp on her 24 hours a day.  She sat under it non-stop until last night (10/1/05).  If I hadn't added the heat, those would have been slugs or worse!  Watch for updates on the eggs to follow.

Several eggs started to die immediately.  They were all fertile, but became moldy and black within a few days of being placed in the incubator.  I believe I had the medium too wet.  I set the remaining eggs up on an egg-crate plastic grid and 11 eggs looked perfect for approximately 2/3'rds of the incubation period.  Then they started caving in and looking very desiccated.  I added moisture to the medium and this may have caused several of them to mold over and die.  The last 6 eggs held in there for another 2 weeks before also getting mold and wet spots.  I opened the eggs on 12/29/05 (day 59) and only one baby was alive.  Three of the six did not have pigmentation and had probably died a week prior.  Two eggs were full term but had pointy beaks and didn't hatch.  One baby held on and is currently sitting in the egg absorbing the remaining yolk.  What a huge bummer to lose 22 eggs from this pair.  I really wanted to see what their offspring would look like.  At least I have one to learn from in the future.