I have a WC eastern hog, that just layed 31 eggs about a week ago. One was clearly a dud, so I tossed it. The female is a melanistic...how long are we looking for hatching? What chance is there that other morphs will hatch out? The area I live in has normals, melanistics, and reds. Could I get a little of all, or will they primarily be the color of the mother? I've been forewarned to start freezing baby toads, so I'm doing that. How hard are they to get feeding when they hatch? Thanks in advance.
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Eastern hog and eggs.
Conrad
Jun 17, 2003 07:36 PM
Replies (2)
chrish
Jun 18, 2003 10:42 AM
The female is a melanistic...how long are we looking for hatching?
The should hatch in 60-80 days, depending on the temperature of incubation.
What chance is there that other morphs will hatch out? The area I live in has normals, melanistics, and reds. Could I get a little of all, or will they primarily be the color of the mother?
The problem is that all babies look the same. Melanistic babies start out normal and get darker as they age. Most babies have some red on them, particularly on the anterior part of the body. That can fade, or can remain. I have never seen a baby that turned into a really red adult, so I don't know how much red they would show.
How hard are they to get feeding when they hatch?
After they shed, eastern babies are pretty good feeders. The problem is that they are somewhat high strung (hooding, hissing, etc) when they are supposed to be eating! If you put them in a small container, such as a deli cup, with a f/t food item, they will generally eat every time. You might also consider starting them off on scented pinkies if you plan on keeping them. It will certainly make them easier to feed as adults without depleting local toad populations.
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Chris Harrison
Conrad
Jun 18, 2003 06:54 PM
Thanks. I'm hoping that to do just that, get them onto rodents. The mother is really shy about eating, and so far will only eat toads, and live ones at that. I'm also hoping that I get some good reds, as I've seen a couple good sized snakes DOR in this area that are very orange red to red between the dark markings. I've got all the eggs incubating right now, and hope things work out. Thanks for the info, I'm sure to be back on here with more info on the clutch turn out.
