2nd 2014 O. p. coxi clutch update thread.

[Charis]

All of these are in some stage of blue for their first shed but looking good despite that! First up is AxS9914-4 who hatched out at 10 grams.

Then AxS9814-3 who hatched out at 10 grams also.

And AxS9914-5 who hatched out at 9 grams.

 

[Charis]

AxS9914-6 who hatched out at 11 grams and did not want to cooperate at all for pictures.

Then the second twin, AxS9814-T2 who hatched out at a measly 3 grams. Next to a nickel for size reference.

And finally the first twin AxS9814-T1 who hatched at 5 grams and also didn't want to cooperate for pictures.

 

[Charis]

Still T1.

 

[gila7150]

They are all looking really good. It will be a challenge finding food items small enough for the 3 gram twin. Does he look like he'll be able to take 1 day old pinkies?

 

[Charis]

I'm still debating that with myself. I've been through the bag of day olds I have and there are some especially small ones in there that I think he could handle but even they are a little on the big side. So I've also been thinking about offering just a head for the first try. Still haven't decided yet.

 

[gila7150]

That sounds like a plan. It wouldn't be as much fun if they didn't throw us a challenge every once in a while.

 

[Charis]

Very happy! The two twins and #3 all shed and ate for the first time today! The littlest twin seemed to manage his whole pinky well, one of the smallest day olds I could find.

 

[Charis]

Well, the official gender tally is in and it's 3.3! Oddly, the twins are different genders, checked several times on the one that is female and am now sure about that. The other one is a very obvious little boy. The male twin was the 3 gram baby, he is now up to 5.9 grams and the female one is at 6.3 grams, didn't gain as much as its twin.

 

[gila7150]

Can't beat that ratio. I'm glad to hear that the twins are thriving!

 

[Mooing Tricycle]

REALLY cool. Thanks for sharing. Those little ones are amazing.

 

[Charis]

Some new freshly shed pictures of #5, male.

And #4, female.

And then T2, the tiny male twin, who isn't so tiny anymore!

 

[gila7150]

Amanda, I'm curious whether you brumate your coxi. I've heard differing opinions on whether it's necessary for Oreocryptophis. I'm considering cooling my pulcher and vaillanti down for next year.

 

[Charis]

I have not brumated them so far. Probably won't this winter but might next. Last year I wasn't sure my one female was going to be big enough to breed, so I didn't want to brumate her and slow her up, though I have heard of people feeding their Oreocryptophis at brumation temps. I paired her with the male after her first shed in February and they locked up immediately, was figuring if they bred without it, good, if not, it wouldn't hurt anything for her to go another year without.

This year I was wanting to get my other female up to size, although she is now more than big enough to breed, so I probably could brumate all three adults this year ...

At the house we used to live in, there was a great room in it to use for brumating, was very easy to keep it around 50/55 degrees. Unfortunately the house we bought two years ago doesn't have any place that works nearly as well. I'm still struggling to get it below 60 degrees.
In most cases (not all) I don't see the point in brumating snakes under a year old though, so I almost never do it with hatchlings.

So I guess in answer to your question, I don't really know. It doesn't appear completely necessary for a decent breeding season but it might help give you better results.

 

[gila7150]

Thanks! I may try it with the pulcher since things didn't work out so well with them this year. The male seemed very interested in breeding but the female wasn't always so receptive. I thought I observed a hook up one time but I may have been seeing what I wanted to see.
I actually bought a huge wine cooler back when I was breeding on a larger scale. It's about as big as two full size refrigerators. It's pretty difficult to get brumation temps in Florida. Our winter lasts about a week

 

[Charis]

AxS9914-6. Female, the one that didn't want to eat but has now had three meals and seems to be getting an appetite now.

AxS9814-T1, the slightly bigger female twin.

Continued ...

 

[Charis]

AxS9814-T2, the little male twin. He's hard to get good pictures of!

 

[MyDumName]

Could you tell me what the adult weight is for this species?

 

[Charis]

The adult females are around 300-350 grams and the male is smaller, around 250 grams.