Jobi, I started to reply to your post the other day but got busy with customers. When I got back the dang thing timed out and made me sign in again and I lost my post!

So, a few days late and, well you know the routine! Anyway, here is my reply, long and maybe boring! ; )

You asked: "do they act like capra’s? Are they as easy to care for when baby?"

My answer:
Yes, they are a lot like the capra babies but they are a little different in personality. They are a little more timid than the capra, more inclined to react defensivly. Two of the three clutches have calmed down and are pretty easy to handle but still aren't quite like the capra, they have more moxie or something than the capra. I love their spit & vinegar!

They do behave like the capra when it comes to feeding, drinking and swimming. I find they are even more inclined to lay on top of the top leaves than my capra. They don't seem to lay on top of one another like the capra but then they are smaller clutches, only 5-9 eggs as far as I am aware, so I am not sure if this has something to do with that aspect. I know that I usually find them in separate places, each on his own leaf for instance. In the clutch of stumpies I do occasionally see 2 on one leaf but that isn't the norm.

They are smaller then the capra but are vigorous feeders/hunters so are very easy to raise. As described in the post about the heat, I am keeping a little heat on one end for these guys and I do find them using it, not all of the time, but they do use it. They take readily to the water, eat any feeders I offer that are appropriate size. They seem to favor silkworms and roaches over mealworms, and of course I am sure they are more easily digested.

The only losses I had were the 2 eggs that were left in the viv to incubate in the natural conditions. They took 196 days and the babies were very weak and never made it out of the shell. These eggs were overlooked when I dug up the clutch and weren't found until 4 months later. The other loss was one of the stumpies. He was very tiny when he arrived and he just didn't keep up with the others and didn't take to the change from crickets to silkworms.

As for the colorations, I want everyone to realize that there was no selective breeding here, just chance! I had 4 dragons, Calamity was bred when I got her so we don’t know what the father looked like. It could have been Wild billy but he is only a slight chance. Wild billy is a barred over green. He is my only green lep. Calamity is a very plain Jane lep with tan background and crisp dark bars. She produced that awesome flame baby. Of course, only time will tell if the colors stay true!

Lacy was marked very much like Calamity and Billy but she had cinnamon and orange splotching over the tan background, reason for me to hope that these colors do maintain into adulthood. She could have been bred by either Occifer or Billy, only males she was with! Occifer is a gray without bars. He has some pretty cool coloring but is hard to describe.

I don’t know what the stumpies parents looked like. I didn’t breed them. I love the red-cinnamon one. If it is a female I will be keeping it! I am also hoping one of the orange-flames is a female as I will keep one of them as well!

Here are photos of the parents just to show how diverse the colors and patterns can be even in the WC generation. With this diversity we are bound to see a great diversity in the CB offspring!

Calamity Jane




Wild Billy




Lacy




Occifer







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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html

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