I have kept S. Ater since 2001 in my outdoor enclosure here in Nevada with breeding success for several generations. I decided to change course in 2009 when I purchased a Calico Hispidus x Various hybrid. I was so impressed with his disposition and “personality”… (Aters were always skittish, even the ones that were raised from hatchlings in the enclosure) so I decided to get a female Calico and focus on them. Long story short, I lost the female sometime during the first winter (very sad and unfortunate and I’m still not sure why). So I changed course again and thought I would try some Aters with my male Calico just to keep him company and keep the enclosure interesting. I found out quickly that even though they were different species, a male Ater with a male Calico even in a large enclosure (8’x30’) doesn’t work at all! So I collected some hatchlings, weeded out the males and had two compatible females to share the enclosure with Big Chuck. Everything was great until this September when I noticed that he had taken an aggressive interest in the females (chasing & biting) Keep in mind that they were one quarter his size. So after a little research I decided to remove the females for fear that come spring this aggressive behavior would be worse and possibly tragic. Not to mention that if they did survive another year and he was successful at mating…I thought egg binding would likely happen due to the egg size difference between the species. So now, I am hoping to find a female or two, either Calico or Hispidus, to share the enclosure with Big Chuck. Finally, my question, has anyone successfully kept an adult male Calico or Hispidus with juvenile females from hatchling to adult? Is this advisable? I ask this because adult females are apparently difficult to come by, so I will likely need to start with hatchlings. I don’t think I have the time, space or resources to build another enclosure (indoor or out) or modify my existing one to create two separate living areas. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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