Vixen
Very Well-Known Member
As requested I decided to make a thread for this little hatchie to get some thoughts / opinions. Some of you might have seen some updates on my Facebook page, but for those who haven't please read the below.
Background story :
From Port Macquarie Intergrade parents ( Greg Hollis lineage )
He/she hatched out from a very small egg, about half the size of a regular carpet egg. I was expecting it to die through incubation, but the little tike made it through and even hatched out by itself. Was then expecting it to pass away with the first few days, but it's now a few weeks old and seemingly doing ok. It has a quite unusual appearance since it's so small, the head was tiny and a bit odd looking compared to a normal hatchling but assuming this will correct itself with growth? It also has a very unusual colouration, all in red/orange tones with only some darker spots around the face area. In these clutches there's always a variation of lighter and darker hatchlings, but in four clutches and 100+ hatchlings i've bred from these there has never been any with this specific colour.
For the first week or two it never flicked it's tongue either and was quite lethargic, but this has now improved in both regards and it moves around like a normal hatchling. It never absorbed any yolk unfortunately so was getting quite skinny the past week, and since it's not eating by itself yet I decided to start force feeding which I don't like doing, but I also don't want to lose this little one to starvation. Force feeding is going well, in the past few days it's taken a partial rat tail and a pinky mouse - as long as I get it part way down the neck it will do the rest of the work itself if left in peace which I was happy about. I'm not sure if I should continue to force feed, as ideally I want it to start eating by itself but this probably won't occur so long as i'm forcing it due to the stress? It's VERY placid which also makes it hard as there is no striking or defence when I try to entice with food.
I'm assuming the colour is something linked to the very small size / some deformity - but who knows if this is genetic or not, or even if the snake will hold this colour or develop into a more normal looking animal in a few sheds ( so far has had two sheds, but no colour change yet )
Pre Shed - one day old :
After First Shed :
Background story :
From Port Macquarie Intergrade parents ( Greg Hollis lineage )
He/she hatched out from a very small egg, about half the size of a regular carpet egg. I was expecting it to die through incubation, but the little tike made it through and even hatched out by itself. Was then expecting it to pass away with the first few days, but it's now a few weeks old and seemingly doing ok. It has a quite unusual appearance since it's so small, the head was tiny and a bit odd looking compared to a normal hatchling but assuming this will correct itself with growth? It also has a very unusual colouration, all in red/orange tones with only some darker spots around the face area. In these clutches there's always a variation of lighter and darker hatchlings, but in four clutches and 100+ hatchlings i've bred from these there has never been any with this specific colour.
For the first week or two it never flicked it's tongue either and was quite lethargic, but this has now improved in both regards and it moves around like a normal hatchling. It never absorbed any yolk unfortunately so was getting quite skinny the past week, and since it's not eating by itself yet I decided to start force feeding which I don't like doing, but I also don't want to lose this little one to starvation. Force feeding is going well, in the past few days it's taken a partial rat tail and a pinky mouse - as long as I get it part way down the neck it will do the rest of the work itself if left in peace which I was happy about. I'm not sure if I should continue to force feed, as ideally I want it to start eating by itself but this probably won't occur so long as i'm forcing it due to the stress? It's VERY placid which also makes it hard as there is no striking or defence when I try to entice with food.
I'm assuming the colour is something linked to the very small size / some deformity - but who knows if this is genetic or not, or even if the snake will hold this colour or develop into a more normal looking animal in a few sheds ( so far has had two sheds, but no colour change yet )
Pre Shed - one day old :
After First Shed :
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