Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Last night I was highly surprised to find my red tail had given birth to about 20 babies. I didn't see that coming! Mom is about 4 years old and is 6 ft. Dad is 3 years and 5 1/2 ft. I've always kept them together in a comfortable climate but didn't increase heat and humidity that I thought was essential for breeding. So as an amateur, I did some quick research to deal with the clutch. I'm looking for confirmation and additional details I might need.

(1) Do I need to remove the mother and father from the tank? (Easier would be to remove babies...) It's a large tank- maybe 500 gallons. Currently Mom is sleeping beside - not on- the babies. Dad crawled under the covering. (Typical Dad: "I did my job! YOU deal with it."

(2) Should I do any special care of the babies? - I read they'll shed in about a week and will begin feeding after that.

(3) Can I begin selling them now?

(4) I fed Mom a small to mid-sized rat last week. She's been quite attentive to my movements. Is she hungry or just telling me to back off from her babies? Should I try feeding her again?

Thanks for help and advice.

congrats!
ive never had a clutch at home but when i worked for a breeder years ago we would take the babies out, and put them in the rubermade shoebox size containers on paper towel with small water bowls (each in their own box, helps with feeding and record keeping of sheds, feeding, and deficating)and we would wait to be sure they ate at least once before selling. a baby red tail should be able to take a pinky no problem, if you can get them to take f/t to start could be an advantage for new owners, and a good selling point.
mom may be a bit upset, not that they are super maternal, but i think there is some protectiveness there, so just be careful.
and as a rescuer, please sell only to responsible adults!! red tails are wonderful (im about to go broke on a Sx for my fave) but to many idiots think a snake will make them cool, and they either end up i the news for stupidity, or they get dumped on someone like me
good luck!!
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hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!