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Getting Hatchlings Started
Last Edited: August 9,2004
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Many people post their "breeding
recipes" on the internet, and there is also a ton of
advice about incubation techniques. But once the eggs hatch, then what? Here is exactly what I do.
Once all of the hatchlings have emerged from their eggs, I set them up individually on a
damp paper towel with a hide box and water dish. Typically, within a week to ten days, they will all shed. I remove the sheds, give them
a dry paper towel, and then leave them undisturbed for another week.
After waiting that week, I drop a pink rat in each hatchlings box and leave it over night. The snakes
that eat are then usually rat feeders, and the ones that don't get to try again. The following week I again drop a rat pink in each box
and leave it over night. By this time about two thirds of the babies have fed on rat pinks.
By the third week after their first shed, any hatchling that hasn't take a pink rat will get a hopper
mouse overnight. This feeing usually gets just about all of the remaining babies eating. On the fourth week after their shed,
the non-feeders and hopper eaters from the week before are offered live hopper mice again overnight. I sometimes get one or two hold outs
to take a hopper on this feeding.
For the sixth week post shed I skip anyone who hasn't eaten yet. I don't even offer them a
meal this week and leave them alone. Sometimes I might add some crumpled up newspaper to their boxes for added security. For this
feeding I also try and convert any of the babies that have taken mouse hoppers two or more weeks in a row over to rats. If they don't
take the rat pink in an hour or two, I give them a hopper mouse again.
By seven weeks post shed, I try one last trick with the non-feeders. I put them in a deli cup with a crawler mouse and a damp
paper towel overnight. This usually gets the last hold outs to eat. If not I keep trying this method week by week while at the same
time being careful to pay attention to the snakes weight and skin tone. If the snake seems to get getting thin or starts showing that
loose wrinkly skin, I will resort to assist feeding. I have been very fortunate to not have to do it often, but placing a pre-killed
mouse crawler into a stubborn feeders mouth has always done the trick for me.
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