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Rhac Scenting?

Zach Spyker

Zach Spyker

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Anyone have experience with having to sent food for certain species of snakes.
From what I have read many people use anoles to sent.

arboreal snake. arboreal lizard eater.

ie. anoles scent

has anyone tried scenting rodent prey items with rhac scent. Just curious. seance I am very interested in a certain picky eater and I have rhacs just sitting around. mine as well have a second function if need be.:D

I know if they are CBB and started on pinkies they are usually well off, but have read a few stories, I think mostly of imports.

The species I am interested in are Candoia.

I know the old stand by ..TUNA

just wandered about arboreal geckos.(scent).
 
Sorry, I'm not familiar with Rhac, but my captive born and wild caught Candoia (bibroni bibroni) go wild for normal house geckos (Hemidactylus and Lepidodactylus) AND forest geckos (Gehyra). In fact the cb born ate nothing else for their first 2 years.

In my experience at least this one species of Candoia would probably grab any gecko known to man, and any item (fingers included:D) that smell of gecko.

Not too keen on skinks though. :shrug01:
 
Lol, you got the big ones Helen, mine couldn't handle that. Maybe the heart cut up but that's it.

The whole gecko slurry thing is why I'm not considering breeding them. I think house geckos are cute & would feel so very guilty :(
 
Twizted Paths said:
Lol, you got the big ones Helen, mine couldn't handle that. Maybe the heart cut up but that's it.

The whole gecko slurry thing is why I'm not considering breeding them. I think house geckos are cute & would feel so very guilty :(
Click to expand...

I feel guilty about the geckos too, but not guilty enough haha...:D I've heard they'll take frogs too, but I don't have any handy here so I've never tried.

They ARE hard to feed when they are neonates- it's more their size than anything.

What worked for me with the the chicken hearts was to feed a gecko, and insert a heart under its tail as it was vanishing, and the snake just kept on chomping.... now they'll take hearts voluntarily, although it took a while.

There's a breeder in the UK who got all of his more than 20 neonates straight onto pinky mice though, so it is possible.
 
See, that's scary tiny! I saw a pic some where of a paulsoni curled next to a quarter and the quarter looked huge.

I'll take pics of mine feeding on their mice not this coming feed but the next. I'm still worried about the flash putting them off.

Hey Zach! Have you decided what kind of candoia are you looking towards?
 
Thanks for all the great feed back everyone.
I'm feeling pretty confident I could handle caring for Candoia even though I have not kept snakes before - well a ball python years ago and now getting back into balls again. But have kept a variety of other herps from many gecko species, to PDF, tree frogs and akies.

I was and am still thinking I love the SIG and they would be my first choice. But I met a sweet SIT the other day at a local reptile shop and well, they're on me radar. I guess it would depend what came available first. The SIT was very cool and rapped himself around my rest nice and cozy and didn't want to leave. I think eventually we will have both.:D
 
Hi Zach,

Don't be put off by inexperience! I was in a similar position when I started with Candoia - I used to keep a variety of snakes including Corn/ Rat snakes, Ball Pythons and a Boa, but it was a LONG time ago. I started to keep Candoia because I got neonates in a happy accident, and even though I was very out of snake practice I found the previous reptile experience (mixed with a fairly healthy dose of common sense and some good advice from forums such as this one) was more than adequate - once you get them onto the right food they are really an easy snake to keep.

Further to food options, a friend of mine gives his (larger) C.b.bibroni whole (fresh but dead) fish, interspersed with chicken portions, and she's prospering. I'm thinking of trying it with my larger females. They were wild caught, found hanging out by a creek, and love to bathe, so I figure it's worth a try.

In the wild Candoia bibroni bibroni feed on geckos, frogs, birds (probably fish), rats and fruit bats, and which they prefer seems to be governed only by where they are and how large they are. I don't feed live food ever, as I prefer snakes who feed politely without striking, but mine feed in my hand, in a feeding box from tongs, and in a feeding box with food on the floor.

I think they are more flexible than people give them credit for - but sometimes (like any other snake) they go off food for no apparent reason, and the trick is not to panic and wait them out, (unless they start to lose weight of course).

Re frog species I don't know, I've never tried it. However if my gecko experiences are anything to go by, I don't think it really matters as long as the frog in question DOES NOT have toxic secretions through the skin (as many toads and tree frogs do, so check that out).

Keep us posted, and pictures are always nice once you have made a purchase (but start another thread for that as "Rach scenting" won't attract as many viewers as "New baby boa!") :)
 
I have a note saying florida cubans are deadly toxic to them but I can't for the life of me remember exactly what I was referring to :shrug01:

Sorry :(

I have plenty of experience with snakes and lizards but I still get nervous anytime I get a new species.

I'm still nervous with mine but that's just because of all the horror stories I read. They're such awesome little guys & I'm thrilled somebody else is thinking of giving them a chance :D

Please remember to get us some pictures once you take the leap & get yours settled in :yesnod:
 
Okay-I'm NOT a snake keeper, but a few years ago, my daughter was interested in getting a SI Ground boa, and I have issues feeding animals that I keep as pets to other animals, so I asked around, and was told that there is ONE scenting product that is ABSOLUTELY IRRESISTIBLE to just a about EVERY snake. I swear on my geckos... The under part of the skin taken from a piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Just peel the skin off, rub the slimy underside of the skin on whatever you're trying to feed to the snake, and you're in business. Now-I've never tried it myself, but I've watched others do it...AND IT WORKS!!!! The picky eater scarfed that mouse down like it was chocolate!!! I hope this helps!!!
 
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I'm amazed with the KFC thing. It must be the "Secret Ingredient!. Or maybe nothing can resist MSG???? :lick: I'm going to have try it just for the hell of it (but I am NOT taking them down town for Saturday night treats!).

Re the tiny size of the neonates, I am wondering whether if babies might take guppies. Never tried it, but I may have a pregnant female (unconfirmed) and if she does give birth, I might experiment a bit. I do think scenting pinkies with fish skin may be effective, but again it's something I haven't tried.
 
Be sure to post about that! I have an emergency rack plan for if mine is only fat because she's preggers but neonate food plans are still iffy, though I do know where I can get minnows year round. I have my fingers crossed that mine's not.
 
Oh, and something I forgot to mention - you can (with a bit of effort) get neonates to take gecko TAILS, so if you don't want to feed geckos, but either are prepared to manhandle geckos until they drop their tails (please don't beat me, gecko lovers!) , or maybe can get accidentally dropped tails from a breeder, you CAN have a food source without killing them. Would also work for making scenting slurry I guess.
 
I keep SI grounds, and mine would just about ONLY eat house geckos. They refused anoles, minnows, live pinkies, green tree frogs, african dwarf frogs, bugs, (I was desperate), etc.
I think the key with mine was habit. Once I got them to take the house geckos from a certain pair of tongs, they just always struck at that pair of tongs coming. I think I scented maybe 3 meals, if that. They also like to be surprised by their food so you might try making their prey dance into their hiding place with you out of sight lol. Mine love that!! good luck! I love candoias.
 
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