WJS Herps
New member
Hello all -
Sorry if this gets a bit long, but I've had a difficult time finding good, specific info on getting difficult graybands started and thought I might share some of my experiences to help others.
The going theory (from what I've seen) is that baby graybands feed fairly exclusively on genus Sceloporus lizards (spiny lizards) which are common in their range. So, a baby alterna may be understandably reticent about eating a pinky mouse offered as a first meal.
After owning adults, I bought a couple of baby River Road graybands a couple of years ago. They were not yet feeding, but were large, heavy babies so I had some room to work. I had past breeding experience with green tree pythons, so I decided to take the plunge.
As it turns out, these babies were pretty easy to get started. It was suggested to me by a friend to feed them after my 3 hour car ride from Daytona. For some reason the vibrations can act as a stimulant. Sure enough, they both took a frozen thawed pink. The male ate from there on out. The female was a bit trickier. A car ride here and there and scenting using anoles (I put a large anole in a plastic bag, dropped a pink in and rubbed it all over the annoyed lizard). She took to this very well.
On another occasion, I had a young female Christmas mountains that would not eat pinks scented or otherwise. So, I tried braining a pink and she took it right away. After a few brained feedings, she began eating straight pinks.
This year, I produced my first clutch of graybands. Of the group of 6, none would eat an f/t pink placed in its shoebox. Next I tried cupping. One immediately ate, no luck with the other 5. Next I tried scenting with a live anole. No apparent interest. These baby graybands were very robust and fat from yolk. I don't know if this may have affected the situation. By this point, a bit more than two weeks had gone by. All still looked plump and healthy, but I did not want to let them get weak or skinny as I continued feeding trials. So, I gave each baby a piece of assist (basically forced)mouse tail, followed a few days later by a piece of rat tail. The babies have continued to hold weight nicely and the tail pieces seem much less stressful than larger foods.
They all went with me to Daytona and when I brought them back I tried the "right after a car ride" trick. No luck this time. Next I got the trusty bb gun and killed a large male brown anole. I split the gut and rubbed pinks in the body cavity. Success! Two more babies ate, no interest from the other 3. Said anole is in the freezer for further trials.
This is the point I'm at now. The three non-eaters will get a piece of rat tail tomorrow night and I will again offer gut scented pinks to all. I will cut back on scenting with the two that ate gradually until it is not necessary. I may try tuna juice with the other three ate some point as I have heard it sometimes works as well. The good thing is I have a new clutch of okeetee corns and my yearling Florida kings, so nothing goes to waste.
I hope this might be able to help someone out there - if you have anything to add, please do... In my experience grayband babies require patience and creativity.
Cheers!
Sorry if this gets a bit long, but I've had a difficult time finding good, specific info on getting difficult graybands started and thought I might share some of my experiences to help others.
The going theory (from what I've seen) is that baby graybands feed fairly exclusively on genus Sceloporus lizards (spiny lizards) which are common in their range. So, a baby alterna may be understandably reticent about eating a pinky mouse offered as a first meal.
After owning adults, I bought a couple of baby River Road graybands a couple of years ago. They were not yet feeding, but were large, heavy babies so I had some room to work. I had past breeding experience with green tree pythons, so I decided to take the plunge.
As it turns out, these babies were pretty easy to get started. It was suggested to me by a friend to feed them after my 3 hour car ride from Daytona. For some reason the vibrations can act as a stimulant. Sure enough, they both took a frozen thawed pink. The male ate from there on out. The female was a bit trickier. A car ride here and there and scenting using anoles (I put a large anole in a plastic bag, dropped a pink in and rubbed it all over the annoyed lizard). She took to this very well.
On another occasion, I had a young female Christmas mountains that would not eat pinks scented or otherwise. So, I tried braining a pink and she took it right away. After a few brained feedings, she began eating straight pinks.
This year, I produced my first clutch of graybands. Of the group of 6, none would eat an f/t pink placed in its shoebox. Next I tried cupping. One immediately ate, no luck with the other 5. Next I tried scenting with a live anole. No apparent interest. These baby graybands were very robust and fat from yolk. I don't know if this may have affected the situation. By this point, a bit more than two weeks had gone by. All still looked plump and healthy, but I did not want to let them get weak or skinny as I continued feeding trials. So, I gave each baby a piece of assist (basically forced)mouse tail, followed a few days later by a piece of rat tail. The babies have continued to hold weight nicely and the tail pieces seem much less stressful than larger foods.
They all went with me to Daytona and when I brought them back I tried the "right after a car ride" trick. No luck this time. Next I got the trusty bb gun and killed a large male brown anole. I split the gut and rubbed pinks in the body cavity. Success! Two more babies ate, no interest from the other 3. Said anole is in the freezer for further trials.
This is the point I'm at now. The three non-eaters will get a piece of rat tail tomorrow night and I will again offer gut scented pinks to all. I will cut back on scenting with the two that ate gradually until it is not necessary. I may try tuna juice with the other three ate some point as I have heard it sometimes works as well. The good thing is I have a new clutch of okeetee corns and my yearling Florida kings, so nothing goes to waste.
I hope this might be able to help someone out there - if you have anything to add, please do... In my experience grayband babies require patience and creativity.
Cheers!
