Ball Python Breeding '07:  This was a strange year!  I paired up my albino male with a het-female and a normal female.  I paired my NERD het-carmel pair together again.  I paired up my pastel males with their half-sister pastel and a normal female.  I also paired up the het-clowns that I have on loan from VPI.  

The year started off with lots of breeding activity.  There was plenty of cool weather and the animals were often sitting together even when not breeding.  The girls were good sized and ready to breed.  The pastel males were definitely more mature this season and readily bred willing females.  The albino male bred one het-albino female numerous times.  

December '06: The pastels have been observed breeding twice so far.  I'm hoping for some eggs from this female.  They are a gorgeous pair of pastels and should have a sweet super.  

January '07: Much to my surprise and happiness, the NERD het-carmel pair were observed breeding.  Finally, I can see if there will be any eggs with baby carmels.   The het-clowns were also observed breeding.  Both females have 12 hour hot spots and are refusing food, so I'm hopeful. 

April '07:  I was shocked to see my het-carmel female sitting on 7 eggs this morning.  I was not expecting this female to lay just yet and was quite unprepared for this good news.  The eggs were not very strong from the beginning.  One got a big blue-black spot and lost vein development within a few days.  After a week & a half, this egg had begun to smell and I decided to remove and cut open.  See photo above.  For some reason, the embryo died; too soon to tell if it was a carmel.  

May '07: The female pastel was sitting on six perfect eggs this morning!  They should hatch around early July.  Another het-carmel egg died about one month into incubation.  Five eggs remain.   No other female appear to be gravid at this time.  Some breeding still observed between the albino and the het-albino.  

June '07: Day 57, I open the het-carmel eggs to get a peek.  No luck this time, there doesn't appear to be any carmels in this clutch.  When they finally crawl out a few days later, one little possible het male crawls out and dies.  Four babies made it, with a sex ratio of 2.2 66% possible het-carmel.

July '07:  Day 58, I open the pastel x pastel clutch to see what there is to see.  I open the first two and see normals.  I'm hoping for better luck on this clutch, and I open the rest to find one more normal,  two pastels and something that I can't quite figure out... could be a super!   When he finally sticks his head out of the egg I am speechless.  Having seen only two super-pastels before I am stunned at this animal's seeming lack of color.  When he crawls out I notice he appears to have smudges that are often referred to as "paradox" but hasn't been seen in pastels or super pastels before.  I'm looking forward to seeing this animal shed and mature.

See photos above!