well, i got into phantasticus breeding without even planning on it. i just got my first male in may of 2003 and my first female in early september 2003. the day i bought the female from the reptile show in south carolina, i set up a tank and put her in. that night, i looked around the tank for her and noticed she was on the ground, which was odd because they've always stayed in the branches. she ended up laying two eggs, and one just hatched about 5 or 6 days ago now. i had anoles breeding, but for some reason their babies always died a day after they hatched. maybe the two happened to be related when i bought them. but anyway, this baby has actually survived, which i didnt expect at all. it's actually doing well. i have it in a small plastic critter cage. it looks to me as though some of the tiny bugs in the dirt bored thru the other eggs and emptied it. not sure though ,so im gonna keep an eye on it. as for the one that hatched, im pretty sure hes male telling by the big notches in the tail. luckily i was able to get free fruit fly cultures off of the genetics department at my school, so i just dump those in with the little guy, and while i havent actually seen him yet (its not always easy to stick around and watch these guys eat, they never seem to 'gorge' themselves on crickets, but maintain a good body size. well this baby is just like his mom from what i can tell so far. hes a dark maroon, with two little white teardrops on the back of each eye. i keep him in pretty cool conditions, as i have read that was suggested. usually pretty cool in this house, seeing as it is december. i built a tiny screen box for the eggs soon after they were laid, put some peat moss on the bottom, and just placed the box in the tank with the parents. i made the box out of small 2 inch square screen patches i got from lowe's. they stayed in the tank with the parents until the one hatched. thats when i moved him into the small critter keeper with a wet paper towel on the bottom, orchid moss from lowe's on top of the paper towel, and then i dropped in some tiny crickets and also offered a tiny bottle cap with some baby food i change regularly. i dont know if he eats any of the baby food, but i keep it there if he wants it. he was so tiny from the point he hatched, but he seems like maybe hes grown a tiny bit already. theres tiny sticks also in the cage with him to climb around on, and remember i also offered fruit flies by just dumping a few in with him whenever it didnt seem like many were left. im guessing this is what he has been eating mostly, but i cant say for sure except for i never noticed any lumps in his tiny belly until just today. so maybe he has finally managed to nab one of the crickets. once i see him eat a cricket, ill start to offer them to him dusted. im also trying to look for tongue marks in the baby food to see if he touches that, also tried rubbing a little on his nose to see if he would start to lick it off the dropper. but he didnt. i keep the house temperature between the high 60s and low 70s. the parents had it a little warmer, since they had their own light. the baby just gets light from being placed next to their tank. remember these lil guys have high metabolism, so they cant tolerate too much warmth. i use a red heat light at night when it gets too cold and i put him close enough to where its kept warm, but not too warm. and finally, i mist his cage as often as it start to look dry in his cage. i hope i have provided enough info to help some, since these guys are notorious for being tough captive breeding projects. ill try to stay updated, cuz i know im still in the danger zone just since hes still so young. im confident that he is strong and will survive.
i have just a few questions i hope some people could help me with to make sure this guy grows up well, seeing as im still new to these guys and all.
1. he has shed twice already, i dont know for sure if he eats his own skin or just tears it off. these guys are quite secretive about just about everything they do, which isn surprinsing since theyre nocturnal. only problem is, it doesnt seem he can get the skin off his head from about the back of the eyes forward, and one of his front feet. should i try to assist him in pulling this off, or let him learn for his own? he is just so tiny i want to make sure i dont hurt him.
2. does anyone think im doing anything wrong in the way im keeping these guys? i dont have any friends that can help me much on this topic seeing as these guys arent too popular.
3. going back to the anoles that hatched, does anyone know possible reasons why they might have died overnight each time?
4. if this works out, i might be interested in getting another female the next time the reptile show comes through. anyone have any tips?