My Licence

[bcurko]

Hey all i just got my reptile Class 1 licence today YAY . Im thinking about spending 2k on the snakes for a begginer and building my enclosure. Ive been told to avoid hatchlings of BHP's as they are rather hard to feed. Im also considering getting into reptile breeding if i know what im doing with your help.

So can someone help me out with the following
What snake can i get prefearably hatchling
What is required in breeding of snakes
Is it smart to buy a pair of 2 of the same breed to start breeding?
What size enclosure is required for the snake
What food is involved and how often i have to feed the snake and how much the food costs.
What is an incubator?
So i know their are alot of questions but i want to know what im doing before i get my new herp also im in NSW.
So can someone help me out with the following ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Auzlizardking]

Look in the wiki first ^^^^^^^^

[falconboy]

Geez, where do we start???

Your best bet is searching these forums for keywords 'breeding', 'enclosure', incubator' etc etc

Theres tonnes of info. You will probably get addicted like the rest of us. I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open and am still keeping an eye on new posts and searching for old ones...

[Rennie]

http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/...ng_outline.pdf

This page should tell you what you can get on a class 1 licence in NSW.

I'd start with a good book like Care of Australian Reptiles in Captivity by John Weigel, it'll answer most of your questions.

[bcurko]

thanks for all the replies do you know of any book stores where i can buy those reptile books in sydney?
Also to anyone that owns a bhp are they heard to feed genreally and keeping.

[jeramie85]

id say if you want bhps get them

but thats just my opinion

[Rennie]

http://www.mikeswanherpbooks.com.au/

Here's a good herp book shop, I know you can get it in good pet stores and other online stores like herpshop, etc.

I don't have a blackhead, but as long as you get one that is already feeding well on defrosted rodents you shouldn't have any problems.

[Logan & Allana]

I've heard some BHP hatchlings are hard to get feeding (but that's the sellers responsability). Once feeding you can't stop them ( I have heard of hatchies that never had a problem) I have a almost two year old BHP and out of all my snakes he feed the best, never rejects a feed (as they have a great feeding response). A incubator is what you put the snake or lizard eggs in to hatch lol (u proberbly new that) I can PM you a great setup for one if you wish. I have no idea what snakes you can get on your liceance (as I'm in QLD) but there's plenty of hatchies out there. I've heard jungles are hard snakes to feed (I personally havn't had too much problem with them. If your serious about breeding snakes I don't think it's easy (I'm learning myself lol) but I think it's a matter of hit and miss a lot of the time (helps if you got some good contacts of people that are old time breeders) also if you want to breed fairly soon you going to need bigger snakes then hatchies (get a breeding pair). With regards to enclosure size it will all depend on the snake you get (ground dweller or climber) and how big the snake is so you might want to work out what species of snake you want and then think about enclosures. In regards to food again depending on size of snake you will need either mice or rats and in saying that either pinkies (baby ones) or adults. Depending on were you buy them from (breeder or pet shop). How much you feed them and how often also depends on snakes size and size of the meal you giving them. So for eg my 5ft BHP has 1medium rat a week and he's quite happy with that. Just wait until the deficate before you feed another. Hope this helps, it's a bit hard to answer that many questions at once.

[hodges]

congratts on getting licence
cheers
brad

[bcurko]

well i mainly want a hatchling of any kind of snake really

[hodges]

its best to pick a snake and study it instead of just saying u want any snake
cheers
brad

[Logan & Allana]

Originally Posted by bcurko

well i mainly want a hatchling of any kind of snake really

lol, well that makes it a bit hard. When u choose a snake even though any will do you really should think of 1 how big do you want it to grow, 2 how easy or hard that perticular species is to breed, 3 do you care if it's a agressive snake as some species are more prone to this than others and oviously a big aggresive snake like a scrub python will cause damage, 4 who big of a enclosure do you really want to keep and how much room you have, 5 how much money you have to spend (remembering that the cost dosn't just stop at the snake as there can always be vet bills, food etc etc. Once you have a answer for all them questions then post it up here and someone will be able to help you with what species of snake you should go for. Remember that you shouldn't really keep two snakes together and some species actually eat other snakes so it's impossible. So if your serious on breeding you will need to consider that as well

[Logan & Allana]

Like hodges also said once you go through that list of what would be suitalbe and you find a snake that sounds good to you, you really should study all the pro's and cons about it first. If you just rush out and get any old snake in a years time you may change your mind for many reasons so do your reasurch first as it will be better in the long run.

[bcurko]

well i was aiming towards the bhp but i was told by another member that the hatchlings are hard to feed and not to get a breeding pair for a beginner.

[hodges]

i reckon for u, a coastal carpet python or a pair of any liasis
cheers
brad
and then when ur expericnce is up get a bhp or 2