Adding stage-tagged photos

Why stage-tagged photos work

A photo of a hatchling is a product shot. A photo of the hatchling, plus the sire and dame who produced it, plus a confirmed lock, plus eggs in the incubator, plus the pip moment — that's a story. Buyers who follow a pairing from the beginning aren't buying a morph. They're completing a journey they've been part of.

• Parent photos build genetics credibility — buyers see exactly what produced the clutch
• Lock and lay photos confirm the timeline is real, not estimated
• Egg and incubation photos build anticipation during the slowest part of the wait
• Pip photos create urgency — buyers who see a pipping egg know they are days away

How to upload and tag photos

Open your pairing edit page and scroll to the Photos section. Tap the upload area to add photos from your device. After uploading, a stage assignment panel appears below the uploader. Use the dropdown next to each photo to assign it to a stage — Introduced, Locked, Pre-lay Shed, Laid, Pipping, or Hatched. Untagged photos appear in the general gallery. Tagged photos are grouped by stage on your public pairing page.

What to photograph at each stage

The right shot at each stage tells a different part of the story. Here is what to capture and why it matters.

• Introduced: Separate shots of sire and dame. Full body for pattern, plus close-up to show morph traits clearly.
• Locked: If you can photograph a confirmed lock without disturbing the animals, do it. This is the most convincing proof of a real, productive pairing.
• Pre-lay shed: The shed alongside the dame for scale, or the dame post-shed showing her visibly swollen abdomen.
• Laid: Eggs in the incubation container. Include a ruler or familiar object for scale so buyers can gauge clutch quality.
• Pipping: The most shareable photo in the cycle. A clear pip photo generates more waitlist activity than any other single update.
• Hatched: First emergence shots — hatchlings in the incubator, or a portrait of each individual if you are logging morphs separately.

Photo quality

You don't need professional equipment. A modern smartphone in good natural light produces results that are more than adequate. The two things that matter most are sharpness and lighting. Blurry or dark photos undermine the credibility that stage documentation creates. Shoot in natural daylight or under a bright lamp. Focus deliberately on the animal rather than the background.

Photos and your waitlist

Each time you upload new stage photos, buyers following your pairing have a reason to revisit the page. Think of photos as updates, not just documentation. A pip photo posted to a pairing with 15 waitlisted buyers will drive 15 re-visits in the next few hours. That engagement keeps your clutch front of mind right when it matters most.