Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Today the first few started to pip. Thank you to Mike Fedzen for the help!

-Zach

No prob.
Nice pic!

What sub-species?
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.kingpinreptiles.com
^ Updated 7/21

These are northern ringnecks from Tompkin's County, NY.

-Zach

How many eggs did you have?
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.kingpinreptiles.com
^ Updated 7/21

.

What are your plans for feeding?
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.kingpinreptiles.com
^ Updated 7/21

I won't be feeding them - in about a week or so I will be conducting a study on chemosensory perception in hatchling ringnecks, and how this affects prey discrimination. This will be done by scenting cotton swabs with various prey items and presenting them to each hatchling. The amount of tongue-flicks made by the snake within one minute will recorded and used to calculate the snakes' level of interest in each item. This is a well documented method that has been used with a few other species of snakes, but has not been done with ringnecks before. After the study the snakes will be released where I found them

-Zach

Good luck at getting interest after a week.
I've had them go for months before finally being interested in food.
But I bet the most tongue flicks are for salamander scent.

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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.kingpinreptiles.com
^ Updated 7/21

Hmm...in that case maybe I should wait longer before testing them? It's just hard to imagine they could last that long without food based on how tiny they are. Let me know what you think would be a good period of time to wait before testing.

Thanks,
Zach

I would think to wait at least 2-3 weeks before they would even be hungry.
They don't come out looking full with yolk, but the yolk they did get will last them.
I've heard some hatchlings won't eat for up to 2 months.
So who knows.
Guess it all depends on the specimen.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.kingpinreptiles.com
^ Updated 7/21

Good work! Hope they survive for you.