Breeding childreni for novices

[n3xia]

My friend's female childreni is obese and a vet recommended she breed it to try and get her to lose some weight, so I gave her my male childreni a few days ago and they seem pretty fond of each other...

Only problem now is, we are both complete novices (never bred before and there's a lot of varied information online). We were just going to leave the mother to incubate the eggs naturally, but once they hatch, what do we feed them, and where do we get the food? I'm in Darwin and my local pet shop doesn't sell day old frozen pinkies. It's usually hard to get live ones too because they're in such high demand as pets and food. My friend is bulk ordering some rodents from these guys shortly, but even they don't have pinkies that young. Are mealworms okay?

Also, what should we keep the babies in? I read somewhere that deli containers with holes in the lids are a good idea because they're so small and can squeeze out of anything. If we use those, what should we put in there to make them comfortable and maximise chances of them feeding? What's this about sphagnum moss and would I be able to get it in Darwin or would I have to order online?

Lastly, does anyone know the laws on selling the babies, or even giving them away? The breeder I got my childreni from (reputable govt contracted snake catcher) said they are the only snake species you don't need to apply for a license for. It just gets handed out. Is this correct and if so are we able to issue permits or is that only for pro breeders?

 

[Sezzzzzzzzz]

i dont know about any of your other questions, but Mealworms are not appropriate for snakes.

 

[stimigex]

You do realise that if this snake is obese that it stands a higher chance of becoming egg bound and being a problem.
The best thing for an obese snake is to not feed it! It doesnt need to be fed until next spring.
Then there is the problem of quarantine but that now out the window as you have already
introduced them and after going to a vet sugery as well.

 

[n3xia]

No, I didn't realise that. We were just following the vet's advice.

 

[K3nny]

regarding the vet, is he/she a general vet or someone accredited/qualified in treating reptiles? That's a rather unusual prescription

 

[n3xia]

I'm not sure, as I didn't go to the vet with my friend. Most of the vets up here know reptiles though as lots of people own them or bring them in injured. Can anyone answer the breeding questions? I was surprised there wasn't a thread already for this stuff.

 

[Scleropages]

It would be far far easier to just reduce the food for the female.unless you have someone local to help you with breeding etc it will be a nightmare to get the babys feeding etc if you have no hands on experience.

No point trying to breed a snake if its not 100% healthy in the first place.. I don't understand how that could do her any good, sounds like bad vet advice.

 

[n3xia]

Okay so we've established we probably got poor advice from the vet. She is probably already pregnant though so still need to address the issue of what to do with the babies...

Edit: Just did some reading on obese snakes and it seems the general guide is if you can see skin in between the scales, the snake is obese. When I saw this snake it was just really large, no skin visible between scales though so maybe it's not obese, just fat. Regardless, I'm sure we will be fine with the babies if someone is willing to offer some advice.

 

[MadeInNZ]

Look up hatchie racks. usually small click clacks keep on shelves heated by a heat cord. there should be threads on that on here as well as information online. From what I have heard, people use mouse tails to get the hatchies started after thier first shed. look up feeding hatchies online. good luck and keep us updated.

 

[n3xia]

Look up hatchie racks. usually small click clacks keep on shelves heated by a heat cord. there should be threads on that on here as well as information online. From what I have heard, people use mouse tails to get the hatchies started after thier first shed. look up feeding hatchies online. good luck and keep us updated.

Heating cords? I live in the hottest, most humid part of the country. Also considering childrenis are native here I didn't think any heating would be necessary... unless hatchlings need more heat than adults, coz I've certainly never used heating for my childreni, nor have any of my snake keeping friends for their snakes. I have heard about mouse tails though so I guess we could try that.

Hatchie racks look expensive ($200+?). Are you sure deli containers with holes in them won't be a suitable alternative?

 

[IgotFrogs]

hrmmmm Unless the breeding season is way out of whack with down here i very much doubt shes gravid .... as its way past laying season ....its just coming up to cooling off season again

 

[n3xia]

Vet said it might be too early and breeding season here isn't usually till May-ish, but I'm pretty sure we saw them doing the deed. Tails locked together and stuff.

 

[MadeInNZ]

You can build your own hatchy rack, check out the diy section. You might not need a heat cord but you will still need a way of checking temps to make sure they dont get too hot up there. Deli containers might be ok for a start but as they get older they may be able to push the lid off, they can be quite strong, thats why click clacks or similar are recommended. snakes are escape artists.

 

[Ozzie Python]

as mentioned above, don't breed it- snake is not in 100% health, and you don't have a clue what your doing.

slowly decrease the temperatures over the next few months until you are only providing normal day time temps, and no night heating. it will brumate and go off its food until around september.- edit, just saw you dont provide heating, it will go into brumation in its own time as ambient temps drop.

then revise your feeding regime and only feed an appropriate amount, and cool the animal again next year.

you also don't seem to be ready for hatchlings- they will cost you for housing, feeding etc + your time. you may have them for some time if you can't sell them. my advice and i think the responsible thing to do is seperate the pair and stop feeding.

 

[Origamislice]

Heating cords? I live in the hottest, most humid part of the country. Also considering childrenis are native here I didn't think any heating would be necessary... unless hatchlings need more heat than adults, coz I've certainly never used heating for my childreni, nor have any of my snake keeping friends for their snakes.

depends where you keep your snakes. my dad often gets annoyed at me if i leave the heat on my snakes when its hot outside, yet with the air con blasting its still 20-25 degrees inside. if your not supplying any heat make sure the inside conditions is just as hot/humid as the outside conditions.

 

[Blake182]

Heating cords? I live in the hottest, most humid part of the country. Also considering childrenis are native here I didn't think any heating would be necessary... unless hatchlings need more heat than adults, coz I've certainly never used heating for my childreni, nor have any of my snake keeping friends for their snakes. I have heard about mouse tails though so I guess we could try that.

Hatchie racks look expensive ($200+?). Are you sure deli containers with holes in them won't be a suitable alternative?

your saying 200+
your probs going to spend that on food if any live
but good luck on your budget
(Y)

 

[n3xia]

You can build your own hatchy rack, check out the diy section. You might not need a heat cord but you will still need a way of checking temps to make sure they dont get too hot up there. Deli containers might be ok for a start but as they get older they may be able to push the lid off, they can be quite strong, thats why click clacks or similar are recommended. snakes are escape artists.

Hmmm okay. I was thinking the type of click-shut takeaway deli containers you get from Coles that they put olives and cheeses and meats and stuff in. Of course I wouldn't get used containers, only unused ones... which even I have trouble opening sometimes, so I figured hatchlings wouldn't be able to get out of. Will look into the DIY racks too, thanks.

as mentioned above, don't breed it- snake is not in 100% health, and you don't have a clue what your doing.

my advice and i think the responsible thing to do is seperate the pair and stop feeding.

As mentioned above, we have already attempted to breed the snakes as per vet advice. My male childreni has been in the same enclosure as my friend's female for 2-3 days now. I will be picking up my snake tonight and won't try again though.

depends where you keep your snakes. my dad often gets annoyed at me if i leave the heat on my snakes when its hot outside, yet with the air con blasting its still 20-25 degrees inside. if your not supplying any heat make sure the inside conditions is just as hot/humid as the outside conditions.

I keep my childreni in my lounge room in the shade, hardly use aircon and would definitely not use it if I had a bunch of hatchlings to keep warm.

your saying 200+
your probs going to spend that on food if any live
but good luck on your budget
(Y)

My friend is probably going to spend that on food if any live. My friend's snake is the female. I'm just trying to get some advice here to pass on to her as she doesn't seem to know what she's doing, although not for lack of researching. But yeah, $200+ for a hatchie rack does seem a bit steep for what will probably be a one-off clutch when there are cheaper, suitable alternatives out there. An elaborate setup might be ideal and affordable for regular breeders as I have no doubt some of you are, but I'm sure it'd be possible to compromise a little without inhibiting the health of the snake/s too much.

Some of you are really reminding me why I hardly post here. Members of Aussie Pythons and Snakes obviously don't take kindly to reptile noobs. I'd hate to see the reaction if someone really irresponsible decided to post here. I.e. the type of person who is quite happy to just take these animals from the wild, feeds their snake any old live prey they can get their hands on, really doesn't give two ****s about the poor reptile, etc. Coz I know quite a few of those kinds of people.

 

[Ramsayi]

Seems like a hell of a lot of trouble to go to so you can get a snake to lose some weight.

Much simpler just to give a very small food item once a fortnight.By feeding a small item you can keep their metabolism ticking over as opposed to not feeding at all which will just get them to slow down and not drop much weight.

 

[Blake182]

View attachment 247005with a cheap rack
get a 2 plank's of wood
get a rouder and rouder lines so the heat cord can fit in there
just make the plank big so u can fit all the tubs on it
View attachment 247004
see
and then put the tubs on
View attachment 247005
i use planks that were under my bed
the heat cord was $22.00 bucks 15w
and the thermostat was $15.00

 

[n3xia]

Seems like a hell of a lot of trouble to go to so you can get a snake to lose some weight.

Sigh. Maybe I should post the vet's phone number here so you guys can tell them they're doing their job wrong. I will tell my friend when I pick up my snake tonight that she should just feed her snake smaller rodents, and in the meantime we will do our best to look after any possible hatchlings. What should we be putting in with the hatchlings, by the way? Nobody's answered that yet...

View attachment 247005with a cheap rack
get a 2 plank's of wood
get a rouder and rouder lines so the heat cord can fit in there
just make the plank big so u can fit all the tubs on it
View attachment 247004
see
and then put the tubs on
View attachment 247005
i use planks that were under my bed
the heat cord was $22.00 bucks 15w
and the thermostat was $15.00

Your attachments didn't work Where did you get the thermostat from? Was it a specific reptile one? And I won't be needing a heating cord......