Major Updates - Life and Geckos!

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted, but the months since then have been a whirlwind! I went and did the unthinkable, and got married. ;) My husband is in the Air Force and left for a 6 month deployment to Afghanistan the 8th of this month. Obviously we were not together long - only about a month total since our marriage on November 12th due to his training - so I miss him a lot. I decided to get off my butt and restart the blog to not only keep myself busy, but since I've actually got things happening now (gecko-wise) and other goings-on as well with the horses, etc.

Biggest news is... *drumroll please*... we've got hatchlings, folks! 8 of them, in fact. All are sired by Inigo and out of either Panic or Liebchen. Both moms have 4 each. :) And they're all outstanding - it's obvious literally after their first hatchling shed that they are going to be lavenders like their parents. They fire up a purplish color and fire down very light grey with creamy markings - just what I hoped for with this project! The first 4 hatchlings will be going to the person I received Panic and Liebchen from (when they're old enough and the weather is good), and I'm keeping the rest for a bit to see who I want to keep for myself.

I don't have the lightbox set up and I've been really bad about taking pictures (but I have a good excuse as you now know!) so don't have photos of the older hatchlings yet. I will try to get some soon. I do, however, have photos of the last two just after hatching - "Match" on the 16th and "The Flash" on the 18th. Though bear in mind that because these are "just hatched" photos so you don't get a true feeling for their coloration. If you've seen a lot of hatchlings you may notice that they don't have the quite the same reddish tint typical of crested hatchlings (it's more purple/dark), which I have learned is the first sign the baby will be lavender. And any reddish color at all is gone after the first shed. If I remember I'll try to get a picture of these two tomorrow to show you what I mean.

So, meet some Inigo x Panic kids, fresh from their eggs! First is Match:


And his clutchmate, who hatched tonight - The Flash:


The Flash... has a story. He hatched in a way I had never had one of my babies do before. I was feeding the geckos and almost done, so checked on the egg, expecting it to hatch anytime. No pip (hole), no nothin. Literally moments later I turn around and there is a fresh gooopy hatchling sitting in the incubator!! I realized he was the bumping around I'd heard behind me because he had left yolk splattered everywhere and dripping from the top of the incubator! Proof:


He even had almost completely buried his egg in perlite. My best guess? He pipped his egg and shot out of it immediately after... upwards! No reason for it, other than he's The Flash. And gosh he has some attitude, little bugger was gaping at me when I was getting off some perlite a few minutes later. Look at this sassy face, he knows he's hot stuff with all that cream!


I also got a pretty good shot of The Flash's egg teeth, so I thought I'd share for those who haven't seen or got a good look at them before. They use these specialized scales to slit their egg open, and then they are lost with the first shed. See the two little bumps at the end of his snout? Those are them! (And excuse his ridiculously goopy head, he hadn't had time to dry off at all after all The Mad Egg Escape.)


If you want to see any more photos of these kids I've got some more "just hatched" pictures on my iHerp account.

Nothing makes for a better first post of a new year than babies! I am very excited about them, all of the hatchlings from my lavender/cream project are turning out incredible. Obviously there was no success with the dalmations or gargs, but now I've just got more to try for this year! :) Before I talk your ear off, I'll end this post here. But I've got lots of things to post about soon... I've got more gecko news, interesting wildlife sitings, horse talk, lots of photos, etc. Stay tuned. ;)