Actually is was a very funny story.

I had recently obtained some ackies from a Texas dealer/breeder who obtained them from europe. This was when they first started coming in.

I had them in the open cages with about two inches of substrate in a back room. The cages were like outdoor cages with heat lamps, but indoors. The ackies grew quickly and started laying eggs. They laid them under a board and they looked fertile but quickly died.

So I moved a pair into another room that was for pythons and set up a regular cage. In this room I could watch them. The first room only had a outdoor entrance. So I did not see them much.

I could see that the female wanted to dig, so I kept piling up dirt, I build a false wall in the front as the cage was front opening(snake cage) and built up the dirt as much as I can.

I was hoping i could use this cage as a nesting cage then take the females back into the other room.

Well she laid her eggs and I fed her a couple of times , then took her back to the other room. She stopped feeding, so I moved her back into the nesting cage. She then cycled again and laid a second clutch, I did put a male in with her.

I have a really long time friend thats a vet in europe and I called him and questioned him about her multiclutching. As Bernie Idenmuller had just published that if they lay more then two clutches they will die.

I repeated the move to the other room and she quit feeding again, so I moved her back, Then she cycled and laid again. I again called my Vet friend, and he said, OH oH with an accent, she is going to die. So again after feeding her I moved her back. Yes she stopped feeding again, so in to the nesting cage she went. Well she laid another and another and stopped at six clutches.

Then my vet friend came to Tucson and I showed him the female, He took one look at her and said, shes in great condition. And that was that.

So I applied that principle of a nesting cage to each of the four females I had and all responded the same way.

Then I did the unthinkable, I traded a adult female boelens python that I had raised up to that texas dealer for a group of V.tristis. That female boelens was then sold to Paul Miles and she produced eggs and hatchlings(she bred here before I shipped her off)(big mistake by me)

The Tristis responded the same way, so I applied it to Storrs, then gillens, then kimberlys, pils, etc etc etc as well to larger monitors, starting with argus, then the whole gouldi group, lacies, crocs, etc etc mertens, etc etc albigs and more.

And it worked.

Not to whine, but pretty much thats why folks like Bob there are not happy. That lucky guess and me listening to the animals instead of other varanid keepers, changed the landscape for varanids.

ALso unlike most of them folks, I not only obtained the animals and read the literature, some very good friends sent me everything they could, one was Dennis KIng(he visited here too)

I went to europe and the zoos and private breeders and spend lots and lots of time in the field looking at monitors and attempting to find key data, like temps and soils and depth etc.

I thought in my peabrain thats how it should be done. Unfortunately my work did not compliment those varanphiles of the time. I instead used the animals actual results and the animals I observed in the field to guide me. That made them mad.

The sad part was, some of those folks were very nice people, but I had to stay away from them as to not influence what I was doing. They had very strong beliefs that were not successful or of limited success, so I could not allow them to influence me with information that was not proven or poorly proven. And they felt they had to influence me. Hence the rift.

I already understood the responsibilities of doing something different and being successful. Its contrary to making friends.

So the wars began. To bad as only the animals suffer. I did not know the "Bobs" when I started as I was and still am a, snake guy.

I also was and still am a field herper first and formost, which again alienates me from that group. I believe animals in the field first, and people, including myself, way down the list. Maybe fiftith or something. have a great day

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]