Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Whats the difference between a clutch born and a nice wild caught (no mites, ticks, etc)? If the WC is feeding regularly then why are they not as much as CB?

Thanks

Because these animals(wc)will always remember what it was to be free.Some will acclimate,eat,maybe even breed.

Why bother...when there are captive bred animals to be had.That will never have a "memory" of being free in the wild or the potential for disease(plague in some cases).Of an animal that was originally picked up off the ground in Africa!
...IBD...Crypto...and i know there are more,but those two are enough to scare me away as it is.

If you don't have anything already..maybe it would seem like a good idea...but really all it does is throw you behind.They take alot of time to adjust.(No guarantee they ever will either.)

I bought two wc females that were around 700 grams at the time..Picked the ticks off!Treated for mites.Took them to the vet.Treated one for internal parasites,several times.Returned to vet for two more fecal exams.Kept them for two years.Got them up to about 1400 and 1500 grams.Cycled them,paired them.One bred(no eggs).Then i traded them off as long term captives the next spring.
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Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.

what if they have been treated for mites and ticks and internal parasites? Most of the time they will not be able to produce eggs?

I think the biggest problem with wild caught is that they are so difficult to acclimate. Some never accept captivity and will starve themselves to death. I suppose to some peope this is looked upon as a challenge. In the long run the small price you pay to purchase a WC could easily end up costing you hundreds of dollars just to watch it die. Simpler to spend the extra money on an already healthy captive born snake that, if cared for properly, will live 20 years and more.

>>In the long run the small price you pay to purchase a WC could easily end up costing you hundreds of dollars just to watch it die.

It costs even more in time, which, IMHO, is the largest cost of all (unless an animal dies). For every success story with WC, there are dozens of failures.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

ok thanks

Mine didn't produce any,and the one that did breed(both ate well after about a year or so too)did swell up like an ovulation.No eggs though.

I had two breeder males for the season,and two other females.That did lay eggs.(A clutch from each male too.)So it wasn't the males that were lacking...

I have heard of people getting eggs from wc,but i also hear about some wc dying from stressing/not eating.

Another bonus to cb,is that they usually have better eating habits.Making it easier to feed on YOUR schedule(,and not only at 4am on tuesdays and thursdays,with only a red light on,or some other trick.)

If they are in a cage their whole life(ie,from birth/hatch)..then they don't know to be unhappy about being in a cage.
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Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.

My husband bought me two WC females at the Aug show here. First off one we have since named spaz completely freaked out when we picked her up after the trip home, she completely voided her bowels luckily all over my husband. This girl started eating two weeks ago which I'm thinking is still darn good for a WC adult. The other female starting eating shortly after we got her only took 2 weeks but then went off feed for breeding season. Neither are very large and both are extremely skittish, we have named them spook and spaz since that is there reaction to contact. Meanwhile my CH and CB babies are all wonderful. CH though if you are going to get them make sure you get them from a reliable source since a baby can not go for months without eating and sometimes that is how you will get a CH. I got some in July that looked like they hadn't been fed for a few months and only 4 survived. If I do that again I go to the source so they aren't being passed around to 8 people or so that aren't bothering to take care for them for the 2 months it takes to get to me.
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Nita Hamilton
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Ball Pythons
ballpythonworld.com