Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I am incubating my first clutch of beardie eggs. They should hatch in the first week of March. I have a few questions about the care of the hatchlings:

1 When can I give them away or sell them with good conscience?
After the first meal? first shedding? Is there a certain
time period to wait?

2 I have some large outdoor pens. (see example below) All my
reptiles go outside
for the summer. If I still have hatchlings by then I'd like
them to go out as well. I have been trying to think of ways
to keep a steady stream of insects coming to them without
sacrificing hygene. Would ants be a danger or a food source?
(I live in New England so we don't have any crazy things
like fire ants or harvesters.)

3 Any other considerations I should have?

Thank you for your input.

Brian

1. 6 weeks old and at least 6" long is the general rule for selling babies. People have done it earlier but there is a much higher mortality rate because they're not well established yet.

2. I wouldn't keep them outside, I'm not sure how you would maintain the heat that babies need or keep the food in and the wild stuff out. Ants are not a good food source, they need crix, roaches, silkies, etc. Be prepared to feed each one up to 100 crix per day split up over 3-5 feedings.

3. Ya, if you don't feed enough (or sometimes just for the fun of it) they will eat at each other. Keep the groupings small and the food plentiful to help avoid this.

Sean
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Heart Mountain Herps