Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an 08 pair of jani. The male eats whenever and whatever. The female eats less frequently. I have had them for about a month, and the female has refused about every other meal, at one week intervals. The last time she feed was on the 28th of Aug. I have them in steralite containers with holes in sides and cypress mulch for substrate. Should I switch to aspen or some other subsrate. I have read that jani do eat small meals, less frequently, but I want her to be comfortable. The temp. is mid to high 70's. Sometimes very low 80's. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Matt Kauffman

Ok, you have had them for 4 weeks, given that you let them settle in for a week and follow a once a week feeding schedule, your female can't have skipped too many meals maybe one? two? my suggestion to you is this, take a step back and don't micro manage these guys. Young of this species can be shy and desire to be left alone until they get established so don't handle them excessively. My advice is that you take a step back, keep good feeding records and don't stress over the occasional skipped meal. Once established jani can get huge (my male is over 7 ft long) and can tolerate classrooms full of kids but take it easy on the youngsters. Good luck

You are correct. I took about a seven year break from keeping more than one very hardy spec. king. This year I've expanded my collection to 16 now, with some exotic species. I guess I have forgotten a bit how sensitive some species can be, although I rarely handle any of the shy species. But I guess the constant worrying is not healthy for them or me. It has been about twenty years since my last Pit., which was a large male northern pine and he could be finicky. I do keep records and try my best to provide my sankes whith the best surroundings, but I probably do need to chill out. Thanks

Matt Kauffman