Trial and error tips.
1. Males and females are very obviously different. If you can't tell a difference, they are either very young, or all the same. Get young females and an older male.
2. NEVER keep the male in the same cage with the expectant females. He will almost always eat the pups.
3. NEVER keep more than one male together. They will kill each other. They smell very bad. Keep as few as possible. When you can tell, feed them to the snakes first.
4. Mothers will eat their pups as soon as they come out if they are stressed. Keep only one or two together in the birthing tank. If there is people noise or movement around the tank, cover it with a towel so they have privacy. Don't mess with them. Don't lift their hide unless you have to, and never the first 24 hours. You won't be able to tell if they have eaten their pups other than their size.
5. Mothers will nurse anything that doesn't have people scent on them. If you catch one mother eating pups, take her out and put her with the male. Without scenting the pups, put them with other moms. They will take them in. Pairs of mothers will share the load and take turns nursing.
6. A vegan diet is bad for them. It gives them the runs and makes them smell dead. Don't give them meat. Just balance their diet. Rodent and bird food, sunflower seeds, dog or cat food, work just fine. You can feed them lots of leftovers too. just not too much of anything.
7. Bedding.... No pine or cedar. It causes respiratory problems. Aspen is too expensive to change often enough. I use
http://www.blazerpellets.com/Animal-Bedding/noahs-choicer-horse-a-animal-bedding.html. It is great for smell and they love moving it around. You just add more and mix it up weekly and you only have to change it monthly. (half as often if a male is presant. Smelly bastards.) It is super cheap and costs me $4.50 for a 30 lb. bag which lasts me 2 months.
Any other tips, I have had my success through determination.
Hope this helps!
