Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if anyone has tried quail for their Hondos and if they would be beneficial to incorporate in as feeders?

I have tried them before.It was weird cause I only had about 10% of my females eat them but about 75-80% of my adult males would eat them.
I saw no real difference in them vs. rodents so I went back to rodents.

L8r Shannon

Whatever the results are, the brown spots will never be the same.

Mike

I would say, in general, if you can provide any captive reptile with a mixture of prey items it will be beneficial to their health. I do not have any quantifiable data to support this statement. Nevertheless, I think it does make a difference in the breed-able females’ egg production.

I feed my adults Hondos f/t mice, rats and chics…but when I fed them chics, they attack them with special fury. I'm not sure why they react so aggressively, compared to mice and rats, but they love their chics!

NOTE: Hondo stools from the chics are especially smelly and watery.

-Rusty

Rusty, would you say that the chics are digested faster too? I just got some to try myself after seeing your favorable comments over the last few months.

--Dennis

I haven't noticed a difference, but then again I don't really pay attention to the digestion times.

My gut reaction is the chic will be digested quicker because it is in total (meat, fat, bone) smaller/lighter than a large mouse...it's like comparing a hard boiled egg (chic) and a bratwurst (mouse or rat).

I'm not sure why the stools are so watery however, I would assume it has something to do with the fluffy down.

Nice Tricolor by the way!

-R

Thanks. Your "extremes" look great!

I have a group of double/possible triple hets I held back from last year. I still have yet to get some "extremes". I definitely want some.

I am thawing out some chicks as we speak.

--Dennis

They are just really nice hypos. This clutch was really nice and they all sold quickly. Unfortunately, the parents are no longer in my collection.
Extremes look like they do as adults or lighter.

-R

Thanks for the clarification.

--Dennis

Dennis,...unless your double/poss. triple hets are both from clutches that contain the extreme hypo gene somewhere along the line, it is very doubtful you that you will produce any genuine extremes with them.

~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Doug, I didn't mean I expected extremes from my line, only that I do want to obtain some when I am able.

What is the indicator in that picture that should have let me know those animals were only extra nice hypos? The bands sure seemed very silver/gray.

--Dennis

Oh, I'm sorry Dennis, I misunderstood ya there..LOL!

The hypos Rusty produced are of course VERY nice indeed!, and they all vary some too. The pile of babies he photographed there was taken just after they hatched from the eggs, so they are a bit more grayer-looking than they would normally look because of the initial dull layer of skin they are first born with that will be shed within the first 7 to ten days after hatching. And with the flash of a camera, it accentuates this effect even more. Depending on how strong a flash is set at, distance, and from what angle it hits the snake on, it can tend to wash snakes dark pigment out quite a bit.

Hypos can have intensities of anywhere from a 1 to a 10. Hondo's that are very hypomelanistic, but not quite "extreme" are probably best referred to as "ultra-light" hypos.

Anyway, Rusty was absolutely right, and I saw all of his hypos in that clutch personally here at my house. They were very exceptional looking hypos for sure, but they weren't "extreme" hypos.

cheers!, ~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

That answers my question. I guess I should have known since they were in a little heap that they were newly hatched. Just didn't think of that. They were very beautiful, period.

--Dennis

I hope to have even better stuff this year!

-Rusty

That was a really nice batch of babies for sure. If they were from 2007, some of them could be breeding size right about now.

--Dennis

But who knows where they are...seems like a lot of people have gone away from Hondos in the last few years.

these were actually hatched out back in late 2007...time flys!

Oh!,.....my mistake bro..LOL!

I thought that was the clutch you showed me over here..LOL!...wow, they look VERY similar.

No doubt you will produce some killer's this season as well!

I have been busy writing down what will be paired with what............can't wait man!

~Doug

-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

They do look very similar indeed!

I'm doing the same planning myself!

Can't wait to see some (hopefully) good eggs this year!

-R