Corucia parturition

[serraticauda]

I have a colony of corucia zebrata - all wild caughts from the last import. I have had some breeding and babies, but so far 1 yolk, 2 stillborns, 2 failure to thrive neonates (one died 2 days after, the other was eaten by it's father). I have 1 successful juvenile (i think there's a thread about it).
Anyways, I have 2 females who are suddenly down at the bottom and looking really big. Has anyone monitored the actual birthing process and behavior beforehand ? The first one I caught 2 days ago, so cleaned the bottom, gave her a new hide box with a small heat pad under it. She has been sitting there as far as I can tell the whole time. She is very alert and attacked me when I checked on her last with great speed and does not seem dehydrated. The other female, in another group, is fat and also sitting at the bottom.

So, to those who have bred this species, how long do they sit there before birth ?

Do you supplement with calcium or induce with oxytocin if the birthing takes too long ?

I lost 2 females after parturition, presumably due to hypocalcemia / stress / hypoglycemia and now hit them with subcutaneous fluids, calcium and a small amount of dextrose right after if I know what happened. Thing is, most of these females gave no hint they were gravid and the babies just appeared.

I think that the two defective neonates I had as well as some or all of the stills seemed premature. They were smaller than my healthy juvenile at birth and one seemed a bit deformed. I do not want to induce birth if I end up with a weak neonate.

Lastly, do those with colonies find that they breed/give birth at the same time ?

So any advice or input appreciated. There is so little info on this, it is frustrating.

Thanks in advance.

 

[K-Ran]

Frustrating sums up my experience with these guys as well! I have only one pair that the female is a LTC I have had for 3 years and the previous owners had her for about 4 I think and the male is a CB that is almost 7. They have been active breeders each spring beginning the last week in may for the third season. That is where the frustration begins. My first neonate was born full term and weighed 92 grams. It looked great; then died the first 48 hrs, next time we had twins, both born with yolk sac intact, one survived and the other died. the surviving one only lived because I took him out the next morning and provided alot of supportive care. He is now 4 1/2 months old. I did not return him to his mother. He weighed only 39 grams when born and is now 74. I think the first one failed due to low temps. They are always born the last week in Dec or first of Jan when temps are low. My temps are higher the higher you go in the enclosure. Overnight temps on the ground can drop to 65 on very cold nights. I think if it had been warmer, things would have been better. The second set I think was born too soon. It was over 32 weeks from first signs of mating; however, they were small and had complete yolk sacs. I had added a heat mat this time, but it was not enough.

I did get to witness the birth of the twins. The mother was acting strange and had stretched out holding on to a cypress log in an upright postion, something I had never seen her do before. I even took a picture because it was so odd. This behavior took place in the evening. The next night I was cleaning enclosures and we noticed that the female's pupils were very small, My daughter noted that she had a "crazed" look in her eyes. I stepped out to get paper towels and when I came back several minutes later, the baby had been born. We got the camera and sat back and waited. 1hr 20 minutes later the second twin was born. The mother sat quietly resting between births. It was not until minutes before birth did she begin to move. She lifted her tail and moved her hips back and forth, and then a newborn just slipped out. The neonate was free of the birth sac, this was delivered a few minutes later.

Each time I learn a little more. I have learned that a newborn that is not active within a few hours and is not up and about and ready to climb seems to be in trouble. Others describe that their newborns are soon able to climb and ascend to the top with the others. It seems that labor for my female started about 24 hours before birth. My female always remained on the floor after birth. Even after the removal of deceased young, she stayed on the ground for up top 5 days. Not usually eating much. Then all of a sudden, she would return to her normal behavior. She does eat the birth sac that the newborns did not finish to clean up afterwards. I never had to do anything to assist her. The male, by the way, always stays far out of the way, not coming down to the ground to eat or soak until the big event is over and things return to normal. He perches himself on an upper limb and just watches. He seems to know to stay away!

I hope this bit of info is helpful. The most frustrating thing is not having any resource info on birth and reproduction other than the basic stuff. I would love to hear any other birth stories that anyone would like to share. You can check my previous posts for more history.

 

[Mike Searson]

Years ago when I lived in Florida, I had a trio of wild-caught adults. They were housed in a large cage that was able to be moved outside for the benefeit of the Florida sun. I fed them predominatly leafy greans supplemented with occassional fruits and vegetables, sweet potato, and the only meat I could ever get them to eat was shrimp occassionally.

Eventually two of them bred and the baby was stillborn. The female died shortly after.

I was actually so distraught over this that I sold the remaining two and left the hobby for 10 years. It's definitely a species that I love and would like to work with again.