Good evening/morning/afternoon all from Australia... Haven't been on this forum for a while, but I'm keen to report my first clutch of chondro babies
pipped Feb 23 and all emerged by Feb 27. 13 fertile eggs, one slug, one dead in shell full term, and one baby died within 1hr of hatch. All shed within 14 days
of hatch. (Of course they were due to hatch the very weekend Greg M. was in Melbourne addressing herpers, so I couldn't go down to meet him...)
Anyway, I have 11 yellow babies on the perch, all quite spirited, ranging in weight from a TINY 5g (1) to mostly between 8-11g... The smaller ones clearly hatched without absorbing much (or any) yolk.
Now... I am an experienced breeder of other Australian pythons, and have (usually) little trouble in getting them to feed, but these guys are something else! When I tease them I can get them to strike a few times, in a very haphazard and poorly directed way, but the strikes are very inaccurate, more thrashing around really, and after a few moments they tire of the teasing and take off like rockets. I haven't exhausted the list of experimental items to offer yet, but I'm just keen to ask the experts what I should do with the littlest ones especially - there are 3 of concern, one @ 5g and 2 @ 6g. I don't want to wait too long before getting nourishment into them because they obviously have fewer resources within than the bigger guys. Do you suggest I feed mouse heads/tails on a fairly regular basis at this stage - I have always found mouse tails to be quite easy to feed difficult babies - the bristles make it pretty much a one-way street.
I do feel a little impatient with them sometimes
- it seems like
such a long haul since the introduction of one of my males in Sept last year thru to the hatch in late Feb... but I don't want to lose any of them, and I
would like the small ones to have the best chance of survival as well.
I would like to be proactive about getting them started, so any suggestions offered will be very greatly appreciated!
Jamie.
Anyway, I have 11 yellow babies on the perch, all quite spirited, ranging in weight from a TINY 5g (1) to mostly between 8-11g... The smaller ones clearly hatched without absorbing much (or any) yolk.
Now... I am an experienced breeder of other Australian pythons, and have (usually) little trouble in getting them to feed, but these guys are something else! When I tease them I can get them to strike a few times, in a very haphazard and poorly directed way, but the strikes are very inaccurate, more thrashing around really, and after a few moments they tire of the teasing and take off like rockets. I haven't exhausted the list of experimental items to offer yet, but I'm just keen to ask the experts what I should do with the littlest ones especially - there are 3 of concern, one @ 5g and 2 @ 6g. I don't want to wait too long before getting nourishment into them because they obviously have fewer resources within than the bigger guys. Do you suggest I feed mouse heads/tails on a fairly regular basis at this stage - I have always found mouse tails to be quite easy to feed difficult babies - the bristles make it pretty much a one-way street.
I do feel a little impatient with them sometimes
- it seems like
such a long haul since the introduction of one of my males in Sept last year thru to the hatch in late Feb... but I don't want to lose any of them, and I
would like the small ones to have the best chance of survival as well.
I would like to be proactive about getting them started, so any suggestions offered will be very greatly appreciated!
Jamie.
