[mikm]

morning all ... thank you all so very much for the well wishes James, when I got that female (and stubby tail) she was pretty beat up looking. She must have been 'snatched' fresh out from brumation. Her color at first looked more like a greenish blue at best. I wish I had pics of her from then. With each shed and comfy living conditions no doubt, her color though slowly, improved drastically.
The babies do look large to me as well. I took all of the pics with no flash, macro setting 'on'. With my hand in the pics you can judge the actual size. At birth they were thin and very long. At one day old (prior to feeding) they no longer look skinny.

Three of the seven ate a nice sized worm for me yesterday afternoon !! I first tried a freshly f/t, chopped up rosey red but 'no dice'. Their reaction to food (worms) varied. The ones that fed had an almost immediate reaction. The frozen stare followed by the snatch, the backward retreat, ending with the tail prop up for support while wrestling with their prey. Only one appeared to be somewhat frightened by the worm, while the rest just gave up after seemingly trying to figure out what to do. They would come forward, taste it with their tongue, even touch it with their chin, then back up slightly and watch it with a seemingly curious expression upon their little faces It is just too cute watching them leisurely 'stroll' over to their water dish, take a little drink and look up at me. The baby that I felt was a bit lethargic no longer appears so. For the most part 'she' hangs by herself while the rest stay in a group or two.

All of the babies are pretty docile as I can pick up a group of them to move them and no one freaks out. So I was surprised to see them all trying to leap or climb straight out of their container while outside on my back deck, after removing the lid for a photo opt. While I was standing there adjusting my camera, it occurs to me that all of the sudden I hear birds excitedly shreiking nearby. DUH !!! The poor little guys must have thought they were being offered up for lunch !!!

have a great day all !!!
marian