Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Im well aware that my male is waaaaay underweight....as far as age goes. I bought him as a yearling and he was about 200-250g. My guess is the breeder wasnt trying to maximize growth, just keep him healthy. It would cost him more money in rats to grow him than to just keep him alive and with good body mass than to grow him fast. So my # 1 task so far has been FEED FEED FEED. which he has been extremely picky about. He refused mice...and the petstores around here dont sell live rat pups, only frozen which he also refused. SO I picked out the smallest small rat i could find and prekilled it, and tried to get him to strike while it was still breathing....He didnt want anything to do with it. Finally i re-warmed the rat with a lamp, put it in the middle of his coils, physically wrapped him around the rat with my hands, and began to shake the rat by the tail. Well instinct kicked in and he fed. Since then (around late sept) hes been eating one small rat every 4days or so. Just yesterday he ate his first med rat. Hes around 700-750g with the rat in him. Im sure hed be willing to chow on another in a few days...So hopefully hell be up to size. Also is in my females cage, The daytime ambient temp is around 85f and she has a basking spot of around 90f. at night, her cage ambient temp drops to around 71-72f, but she stays in the hide on the UTH wich I leave on. Should I be turning this off or leave it on? The males cage drops to around 70-72 as well with his uth on as well. I figured I should leave his on to aid in digestion. They both stay on the hot spots at night, but the female during the day is always moving. First at the waterbowl, for an hour or two. Then the rest of the day in a perfect coil ON TOP of her hide to get in the basking spot.....wich she stays in until i turn the lights off. I think they wil breed I guess its just a waiting game from here. Thans so much for everyones INfo. Jeremy

"put it in the middle of his coils, physically wrapped him around the rat with my hands, and began to shake the rat by the tail. Well instinct kicked in and he fed."

thats funny!...but hey,it worked right?
With that attention to detail,you should do just fine.

I try to keep the overall temp at least 74-78 in the snake room....and then i drop the hotspots from 92 down to 87 or so at night....yet,i also hatched a clutch of six from a girl that was never cooled.So i may be dropping to far myself.

gl
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Charles