Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just received 2.1 100% het pieds from Pete Kahl. Hopefully, I'll have some pieds in my future. They are my favorite.

For those who have het pieds, I have heard rumors that some may not eat very well. Has anyone noticed this?
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Jay A. Martin

I have a 100% Het male that is a poor eatter.
He's an 03 and 400 grams as of Feb/05.
The female is a little better.

DragonDavy

an awesome eater....produced by and purchased from Ralph.......July '04 baby....it's been awhile since his last weighing and he is currently in shed, but his last weighing @ 2 months ago...he was over 500 gr. He eats live rats mainly, but occassionally he prefers a live mouse for din-din.....

I've heard the same thing..(Pieds and hets being poor eaters)...from several other owners, but I've seen many responses from Pied and het Pied owners that purchased theirs from Ralph and all say "Ralph's line" are awesome eaters. Go figure??........

They are June and July babies and the weights are as follows male#1 790g
male#2 500g
Female#1 830g
They are pigs and would eat almost every day if the wanted.
Kevin

I'm pretty sure I have four pied clutches on the way (Homo X Normal). So I should have a nice pile of 100% het pieds. I felt 7-8 eggs in one of the girls due in april.....my first pied clutch ever.....no visuals...all 100% hets. I can't wait for my first visual pied clutch!!!!

Good luck with your hets..........congrats!
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Jim Perron
Python Passion Reptiles
pythonpassion@hotmail.com
www.pythonpassionreptiles.com

Pieds are my favorite morph. I know I'll be excited when I produce my first. The female I have is about 2 seasons away from breeding but when she's ready, she'll be ready and I will hopefully get the little "bleach bombs" I have been admiring for so long. Keep us posted on yours!
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Jay A. Martin

just curious why you would buy 2.1 insted of 1.2? Eitherway I have het pieds and have never had a problem with them eating.

I bought 1.1 with the budgeted funds I had. Pete threw in an extra male for good measure.
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Jay A. Martin

Males dont count cause once they get to 750grms everything is gravy...I have only one 100% het pied female. She is an 01 from RDR and is ok eater but it took her a long time to get to breeder size. She seemed to be at 1200grms forever! This season she might go.... maybe

I also have a boat load of 25% poss het females from my two 50% poss het males. Some of them chow... some of them suck! I have one thats 18 months old and is at 2000grms full of follicles. Will she be a het? Shes not a marker......lol.

On the other hand I have two marker females that are from 02 and they are at 400grms......eat a rat pup a month.

I say that it depends on the specific snake. If they were all crapy feeders Ralph Davis wouldnt have a het pied female lay 11 eggs last season. I hope my female is directly related to her lol.

Raul

Jay,I purchased a 100% het male a couple of months ago he is a late 04 and is currently at 400 grams.He is eating f/t weaned rats every five days never turns down a meal.He is from Chris @ Top Shelf Exotics.Are you in Port St. John,I am in Palm Bay.Thanks Jeremy Hall

Yep, Port St. John. We aren't too far away then - 30 min.
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Jay A. Martin

Hi Jay ...
Congrats ...wish you all the best,am also working towards pieds ..got a pair from Alan Bosch and they're eating just like boas but then again I must be doing something right since all my ball pythons eat like boas !!!!

Bill Shanahan
JLSnakes@aol.com

We could all be so lucky LOL. The feeding records on these show, they are consistent eaters and they have good size so I'm happy. I just need more room - I'm out of space!
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Jay A. Martin

I have 4.4 2003 100% hets from a variety of breeders including Corey Woods, Jack Briggs, John Manser, Morph King and Steve Roussis. All females are over 1000g, the Jack Briggs' girl over 1700g and breeding. All males over 800g and breeding. No power-feeding, feed once a week. No worries here regardless of who they came from. The worse-feeding BP I have is the "het" from "dead Harry" for those of you who remember that scam, it's a 2002 female barely over 1000g.

Paul

P.S. I'm a fan of genetic diversity in the breeding program!

Mine are eating like hogs every 5 days. I got a pair from Pete as well and they are doing good so far.

Rob Reiding.

I've talked to several breeders in my area and have heard the same things about some het pieds being finicky eaters. On personal experience, I can tell you this...

I have two 50% het pied females that are about 8 months old now. One of the females is doing absolutely fantastic, and is eating one small rat a week and growing like crazy. I'm pretty sure she's not a carrier of the Piec gene.

The other female, from the same clutch, however, is about a third of her sister's size and growing slowly. Her pattern looks normal, except maybe a few of the marker traits on her belly, which are hit or miss anyway. The big thing for me is she only eats mice, and the guy I bought her from said his breeder male pied only ate mice for the most part. So I'm thinking she may be het pied. I'm not upset either way.... one is a great healthy snake for my pastel male to latch onto.... the other may be a cash cow in a nother year....

Bottom line, yes I have heard of a lot of breeders having feeding problems with their hets pied. I think part of it is becase of the inbreeding that happens in lots of low number collections. The pieds and albinos too need a good shot of new vibrant genetic material to wash them up some. Might be time to outcross some of the strains.