Thank you for the input everyone. I guess I should note that the head of the snake is about 1/4" wide, to give scale

Julie,

Your terms are good enough! Pipping is the term used to describe the hatchling breaking through the egg if you really want to though.

Peggysue & James,

As for cute & fuzzy I have a Shiba Inu, as if one was not enough I have 2 lol.

I can tell you this, after having a pet Snake:

Snakes don't smell after they get wet or leave hair everywhere. No muddy footprints, nothing chewed on, can be left alone for 7-10 days no problem, don't need to be let out to pee so you're not chained to coming home. They don't fight over things for no reason other then they can and they don't bark! If you have a busy life or you just want a low maintenance pet you can't beat a small snake!

As for the images; I will have to take some more challenging shots, these ones were a god place to start however, I don't have the equipment I need to take the shots I would like next.

That being said, is there anything I could do to improve these shots in PS? I actually picked up a copy of Lightroom 2 to learn myself but my wife can use CS4 to do anything necessary till I get going.

Thanks everyone