After a false pregnancy in 1996 and slugs in 1997, I was sure excited to finally get some live babies from this pair early in 1999.  I noticed one hatchling in particular, top left in the portrait, that looked unusual, although all the babies were very dark except one.  Sadly, the joy of hatching these special animals was to be short-lived, when an unknown toxin caused massive kidney damage and wiped out much of the five clutches hatched that spring, including five of these babies.

Quite happily, the unusual baby was one of the survivors, and became the now-famous, second true calico male ever hatched, Calico Junior.  The other two survivors, both males, did not develop an obvious calico pattern.

Thanks to Tomm Phillips for creating this image, and for inspiring me with the idea for all the subsequent Portraits.