My first official breeding season!!

Update on the babies...
They have been offered 3 meals. Four have eaten all three meals, some have eaten either the first or the last meal, & some have refused all three meals. This last feeding, I offered live pinks, that were scented with deer mouse poop/bedding. Two previous non eaters gobbled them up. I still had 6 babies refuse this last feeding. So frustrating.
I'm going to try f/t next round, & use the deer mouse scenting again.

One is turning opaque, & a few look like they might be pre-opaque, so that might have something to do with refusals.... (IDK)

I'll get some updated pics fairly soon. I'm trying not to disturb them as much as possible.

Here's crossing my fingers that they all eat for you soon!

Thank you!! I hope they do!

How are the babies?? I had to come through and look at them again Such adorable little ones...

I offered meal #4 last night, & 7 refused. 5 of them have not eaten yet, & the rest have at least eaten one meal.
I'm spreading out the timeframe in between offering meals, & some are probably going to Tara's soon, to see if the "move" will get them eating &/or maybe they'll just like her better. LOL

I did move them to the hatchling racks I got from Jeff, last weekend. They offer more of a "cave-like" setting than the regular deli cups they were in.

I washed the pinkies with dawn dish soap & tried fish oil scenting this last meal. Next meal, I will wash & try the deer mouse scenting again. Possibly live, we'll see. I hate feeding live.

Sorry I haven't taken any updated pics lately. I'm trying to leave them alone as much as possible, until they're well established eaters. It's not easy, they're so darn cute!

nwheather said:

I offered meal #4 last night, & 7 refused. 5 of them have not eaten yet, & the rest have at least eaten one meal.

Sorry I haven't taken any updated pics lately. I'm trying to leave them alone as much as possible, until they're well established eaters. It's not easy, they're so darn cute!

Click to expand...

Oh dear, I hope they stop being stinkers soon =/

No need to apologize for leaving them alone! But anxiously waiting for them to behave so we can see them again!!!

Thanks

I get to start the whole process all over in 1-2 weeks....my 2nd clutch of Tessera's will be at day 60 in 8 days.....

I will be waiting 2 weeks after the next batch of babies hatch before I offer food, & space the feedings out longer than 5 days probably 7 days, maybe 10, until they become established.

I'm definitely interested in knowing if you get any difference with the longer wait to start feeding, I'd never heard of that before it was mentioned a bit ago.

A couple breeders have mentioned it recently. One (Carol) said she had a clutch that went 2 weeks from hatch date, because she was out of the right sized pinkies, & she said she had great success rate with that clutch.
Another (local) breeder said he has learned over time, that the less he messes with the babeis, the higher sucess rate he has on thriving. He waits longer for first meal, as well as in between meals.

I have a clutch of 18 (Tessera X Miami phase pairing) that should hatch in a week or two, so I will test it on them. Hopefully, they will be better at eating than my current clutch.

Yeah, I think I'd seen Carol's post, that was the first I'd heard of it. On the one hand, it seems a bit counter-intuitive, that however is probably the mammal speaking, whereas thinking about how reptiles eat, digest and often fast, it actually sounds like there could be something to it, on the other hand. It would be interesting to experiment with.

I might start a new thread for Kaia's clutch. I will include my "test" of the altered feeding.

Hahahahaha can i just say great thread...!!!!! I've not read it until tonight .... Great ..!!!!!, its exactly why i love this forum... Fun... Banter.... Jokes.... Informative..... Friendly.... Pictures....

Great

Educational & entertaining...glad I could help

sorry i've missed so much of this thread. Trying to catch up now that my babies have hatched. So....they've eaten at least once...correct? Cant wait to take on that challenge.

Five of the babies still refuse to eat
About four have eaten every meal offered, & the rest have eaten once.
I put NutriBAC in their waters today, & will try to offer 1/2 pinks to the ones that haven't eaten, & full pinks (xs small) to the ones that have eaten, later tonight, when I get off work.

Tara will be taking some home this weekend to work with. Hopefully they will all start eating regularly.

Kaia's clutch is due to hatch any day now. Kaia double clutched, & laid her eggs yesterday. 15 eggs, I think all are slugs. One looks possible, but I'm not holding my breath.

wow...here i was...stressing over 9 babies. Zena no longer appears to be double clutching. Is it possible that i felt an ovulation? just no sperm to fertilize the ova? So yeah...looking forward to my babies first sheds. Then...more stress. Lol....good luck with your non_feeders.

Thanks Rich. We're going to look into tube feeding the non eaters in the near future.
Yeah, you may have been witnessing ovulation. Kaia looks gravid when she's ovulating.
When I first got her, the guy told me she was gravid. She was swollen & "bumpy". I waited & waited for eggs, but they never cmae.
This year, I knew exactly when she was ovulating, & I made sure to put Taz with her then. (I have 18 beautiful pearly whites to show for it...that are due to hatch any day now...)

Update on my first Tessera clutch:

Half of the babies have gone to live with Tara. Hopefully she'll have better luck with getting the problem eaters to eat.
I have babies #1Tessera, 2Aztec, 3Normal, 10Motley-ish, & 12Tessera. #7Tessera is possibly in my walls somewhere. (He) got away from me when I was cleaning bins. He flew out & ended up behind the rack & went under the molding where it meets the carpet.
He is one of the non feeders. I really hope he turns up, but the odds are not good.

On a good note, I did get all of the Mica babies to eat last night! It was the 6th meal I offered, & it was the first time all of these ones have eaten at the same time.
The Motley-ish looking one (with the "X" on the head) had not eaten on his own. I tube fed him twice, & on an off chance he might decide to eat on his own, I offered him a tiny pinky last night & he ate his first pinky on his own!!

I washed the pinkies in dawn soap, dried them off, then scented them with a little bit of used deer mouse bedding that Tara had given me. It worked!!

I will get updated pics of these babies in a couple days. I won't try resexing for a little while, until they're all well established. I tried after I offered about 4 meals, & they were so wiggly, it was next to impossible. So I have "probably" sexes, but don't know for sure. (Except #10, the Motley X one, I am sure is a male).
#1 is possibly a female
#2 is probably a female
#3 is probably a female
#7 (escaped) is probably a male
#10 is a male
#12 is probably a male

perhaps tara could package up her deer mouse bedding. And she could sell it.. Lol...i'd buy some! At what point do you force feed a pinkie leg/tail...just to give the lil one a chance?

Tara got it from someone else. I agree that it could be benefitial to package up & sell. It definitely works.