I will try to take some pictures of the cages soon. The babies are doing really well. They even overwintered their first winter! I just followed their cues... they didn't come out to bask at all even when the light was on and I knew that they had eaten a lot of crickets in the months leading up. Then I started turning their lights on around the same time as I turned on the parents'. They are growing well. Even though they have a UV light I think I should have been giving them D3 along with their calcium because I see a couple of tiny kinks in their tails. The parents have kinks too, which I think is because they came from the wild and their UV exposure was drastically reduced after capture. I think the babies didn't absorb as much UV as they would have because they are born terrified and hide all the time. Only now are they starting to let me hold them, and are still a little flighty. Have corrected the D3 situation and am hoping that it will prevent any further kinking in the tails.

My other pair that I bought from the Herp Fair mated this year and I am anxiously awaiting eggs any day now. This pair I have had for about three years now. The first winter I almost lost the male because he wasn't bulked up enough to go without food and just lost weight rapidly, so I brought up the temps and got some weight back on him. Then the second winter he overwintered okay, but they didn't mate. Then last winter I followed his cues and he pretty much didn't overwinter at all... I kept the basking light on a low wattage and fed him less but he pretty much stayed awake and fed (albeit less) all winter, except for maybe a week or two, while the female stayed dormant. I was really surprised when I saw them mating because the lady before me had them for a couple of years and never saw them mate, although she kept them outside, which I think is sub-optimum for this species because they come from Mediterranean desert which is opposite climate of our kind of desert.
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Lisa Rakestraw
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My skinks:
1.1.1 Corucia zebrata (Berman and Joni, baby Charlemagne)
2.2.2 Eumeces schneideri (Jack and Mabel; Kaa and Cochisa their babies)
0.0.4 Egernia striolata

Hubby's snake:
0.1 Lampropeltis alterna (Sandy)

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