Success!

 Finally some success! Well some success anyway. Most all of the 2025 hatchlings have taken meals so far. Some refused to eat at all and didn't make it. Many have now had over three consecutive meals without any refusals. These really motivated eaters will be made available shortly. 

It is always disheartening to go through the pains of the breeding season, then waiting on eggs to be laid, followed by more waiting while the incubate, and finally the hatching. But then after all of that some of the hatchlings just refuse to thrive. It always amazes me how some individuals are pretty much eating like pigs right out of the gate while others take some time to get started. And still others just never get started even when trying all the tricks.

The most problematic hatchlings this year were definitely the clutch of eastern kingsnakes. Several of them just simply refused to live. This was heartbreaking as I have long since wanted an albino eastern king and when I hatched several out I was stoked. My thinking was to make most of them available and keep one or two for myself. Unfortunately most of the albinos just never started thriving. Several have already passed. I do have a couple that are eating, one of them has eaten several meals without an issue now. I am confident the ones that have made it thus far will be OK. 

The Florida kingsnakes on the other hand pretty much all started eating with gusto right out of the gate. That's part of why their my favorite species to work with. Easy to keep, easy to breed, and easy to get babies started. I'll be keeping only a few of these babies and the rest will be looking for new homes soon.

My breeder females have put almost all of their weight back on in preparation for the winter/2026 breeding season. So I'm sure next year I will have just as many if not more.  

All Done for 2025

 The final two clutches of the year have finally hatched. I didn't crush the odds or produce anything too crazy. But we did get some banger babies this year. I got a couple albinos. I was expecting them to be hybinos, but I'm afraid my "hybino" male may just be albino. Because I bred him to a hypo het albino female, so all of them should be hypo and some hybino. But I got several that look like normals.

I did get some hypo mosaics that look great. Also got a lavender hybino mosaic which is a real stunner! And my male is hypo mosaic, het lavender (which I knew) but he's also het whiteside since I got a couple whitesides as well. Now to get them shed and fed. Some of these will also be available once they've had several meals/sheds so keep an eye out for them.

So 2025 is basically over for me. But it's never too early to plan for next year. I will very likely do repeat breedings since these all kind of went well. But who knows, plans can certainly change. I am still struggling with getting a lot of the baby eastern kingsnakes from clutch #1 eating. Hopefully the baby florida kings from the last two clutches get going without any trouble. 

Feeding Babies

 While there are still a couple holdouts from my first clutch of 2025. Most of the babies are now eating, thankfully. Eastern kingsnakes can be hard to get started, but in my experience, once they get going there is no slowing them down. I may be biased, but these are just some of the coolest animals ever. I just can't get enough of these babies. Some have a lot of red in their chain pattern while others are mostly yellow and black. 

As fun as they are to work with, I have to admit the ones that are refusing food so far frustrate the hell out of me. For them the next steps will be trying to scented pinkies. I will try the age old tricks. One of the easiest scenting methods I know of is to soak the pinks in the water from a can of tuna fish. Don't ask me why it works, but it is often all you need. I suspect it has something to do with the snakes having an innate fear of rodents when they are this size. If you think about it, an adult mouse could easily ruin one of these baby kingsnake's day. 

I have heard many folks like to also drop the pinkies in a cup of boiling water. I have personally never used this method, but I am not above giving it a try if other ways do not work. I also have a large population of skinks running around in my yard. I have contemplated trying to capture one or two to use for scenting purposes as well. At any rate getting these babies going is always an adventure and sometimes you have to get creative.

I'm still awaiting the second clutch of the year to hatch. This one is super exciting too. Hoping we get a couple of lavender hybino mosaics as that is one of the sweetest combos in Florida kingsnakes if you ask me.

First Clutch All Shed

 The first clutch of 2025 are doing fine. All babies have shed out and are looking great. Five of the seventeen have already eaten their first meals. One of the babies even took a second meal already. So I am confident these ones will be doing just fine. One of the albino babies took their sweet time getting into their first shed. It shed almost a week after all the others, but seems to be in good health. I started to worry since everyone else shed. So I put the problematic youngster in a shoebox with moist paper towels and it did the trick. The shed came off perfectly. They have not eaten yet, but I will keep trying.

These albino eastern kings are really awesome looking snakes. I love their pink color they have now. Eventually though that will turn to white. The normals are great looking too. All of them have the typical feisty attitude of a baby lampropeltis getula. They are quite cute when they are looking and acting like little cobras. I will offer them all another meal in the next few days. Hopefully those that have eaten will eat again and those that have not eaten will start. They have to be getting hungry as I am sure they have already absorbed all their yolks. 

We are also a couple weeks away from hatching out some hypo mosaic Florida kings with some of those being lavender hybino mosaics. I am really excited for those snakes to start pipping. So far all the eggs from that clutch look great. After that we will have another clutch of Florida kings which should all be hypo along with about half of them being T- hybino. So stay tuned, as things are getting very busy around here.

Shed, Sex, and Feed

 Now that my baby kingsnakes have all hatched and some have shed it is time to set aside some time to sex them all. I will usually wait until they have had their first shed. Sexing them is exciting, because it will help me determine which ones I may want to keep. For example, an albino female eastern kingsnake would be a super addition to my collection. So if I have any, I am planning on keeping one (maybe two). It also helps any potential new owners decide if these babies may be something they want to get. 

I have sexed hundreds of snakes, both babies and adults of several species. It's not a glamorous event, and can be a little gross if the poop and musk starts flying toward your face. But it has to be done. For babies I will generally opt to use the popping method of sexing them. Its just faster and safer I feel for these little ones. You just need to be careful not to hurt them. They are still a little delicate at this age. If you have never done it, or are unsure how to do it, there are several youtube videos out there covering how its done. 

After they have shed and been sexed I will attempt to get them to eat their first meals. I expect some will just dive right into eating without hesitation and I expect others will be more hesitant. It's just the nature of the beast. One thing is for sure, with kings, once they are started they are generally very hardy animals. I am still awaiting a shipment of frozen rodents which contains some extra small pinkies for these guys. So once its here I hope to post some update photos of some of these babies taking down some food. 

First Clutch of 2025 is out

 Finally my first clutch of the year have all hatched out. Pairing was het albino male (Apollo) eastern kingsnake bred to het albino female (Hestia) eastern kingsnake. I started with 20 eggs laid. A few of those went bad during incubation and did not hatch. Seventeen of them did go all the way. I ended up with twelve normals and five albinos. All of them look pretty healthy. There are a couple of the first ones out which are a little bit on the small side compared to their siblings. But I am hopeful they will do just fine.

I'm debating on sexing them now or after they shed and will update with the results once I do that. I have plenty of pinky mice to feed them, so hopefully they are hungry and eat readily. This was an exciting clutch for me since I have wanted an albino eastern king since at least 2008. Do you know what is better than buying an albino eastern king? Hatching your own.

This clutch has been in the making since 2022 when I acquired the parents as hatchlings. I spent the last few years feeding and watching them grow. I always planned to breed them and hoped they were in fact het albino. Both parents have been great pets. They are good eaters and easily handled. When they are fresh out of a shed, they are absolutely stunning examples of kingsnakes. The last few years of keeping them has been very rewarding. I will likely keep a couple of the albinos since I have wanted one for so long. 

So if you're interested in an albino or 66% het albino eastern kingsnake, stick around. I will likely be making several available for sale in the not too distant future.

I still have two clutches of Florida kings in the incubator. These should produce some killer morphs if you're into that. I am into FL king morphs and I cannot wait to see what emerges from those eggs. Rest assured I will update on them once they start pipping. 

Seven Babies - One Albino

The eastern kingsnakes are still working their way out of the eggs. Seven babies have made it completely out. One of which is an albino. This is great, because now I know my het parents are in fact 100% hets. I bought them as 100% hets, but you never really know for sure, you are trusting the seller that they are what they say they are. Until you breed them or get a genetic test done you cannot be 100% sure. So it was a relief to know I haven't been raising, feeding, and cleaning up after this pair for several years and them not be hets. That would be tragic. This is my first albino eastern kingsnake I have ever hatched.

I see two more normals have pipped, but not out yet. There are still eight more eggs that haven't pipped. I am really hoping for a couple more albinos. But I will take what I can get out of this first time breeding of my het albino pair. Pretty sure I will do this same pairing again next year in an effort to get more albinos. An albino eastern kingsnake has been a dream snake of mine since, well forever

It is reassuring seeing this clutch hatching as I still have two more clutches of Florida kingsnakes in there. Seeing one clutch go to term tells me the incubator is working just fine. I will add some more photos of the babies after they have had their first shed. 

Now that they have hatched comes the work and potential frustration. Baby kings can be a little difficult to get started eating. I have historically had very little if any trouble getting baby floridana to eat. But easterns can be a little finicky. Some will just be almost automatic, while others can be notoriously stubborn. This clutch is composed of some small kingsnakes too. So while I am a little nervous about getting them all to eat, I will just do my best to get them going and thriving on frozen/thawed rodents.

Wish me luck and stay tuned to see how these babies do moving forward. Also be on the lookout for some of my other cool clutches to hatch in mid and late August 2025.