Ok I have 50 minutes before I need to start feeding the Royals, so thought I'd squeeze in a very quick blog. As you may have gathered, I'm very busy lately - looking after 65 hatchlings, plus the other residents of the snake room really takes it's toll on my free time (free time? What?), with something needing doing pretty much every night, and usually most of the weekend too - usually feeding and / or cleaning.
On the subject of feeding: It's pretty common to get a few none feeders out of a clutch of Corns, and hatchling Royals are notoriously difficult to get feeding - well that's certainly been true here! Of the fist clutch of Corns which hatched, most of them took their first feeds without a problem, and as the weeks rolled by more and more caught up too. Except one. Stubborn little number 8. After two months (and all the other clutches had hatched and mostly fed in this time) he had still not fed of his own accord, so I was forced to take matters into my own hands, and resort to force feeding him. This was after trying just about every trick in the book with scenting and prepping pinkies, to no avail. I initially started off force feeding him bits or rat tail and chick legs, before moving up to small pinkies. The first attempt actually wasn't as dreadful as i was expecting, and he took to being force fed with no real issue, and kept it down too. Unfortunately I'm still continuing with this on a weekly basis, but it gets easier (and I think less stressful for him) on each attempt, so I'm hoping he'll strike or drop feed of his own accord any day now. The second clutch to hatch also produced 3 none feeders - this is hardly surprising and actually a lot better than I was expecting, due to the large number of hatchlings from this clutch (27) and their tiny size. The three none feeders had their first force feed this week, which again, went without any real issue. They are a lot smaller than #8, so I'm really glad I've had the opportunity to get the practice in first on a slightly larger hatchling, as I think I may have struggled here without a little prior experience. The third clutch however have been great and all feed with regularity, so no issues here.
The Royals, however, are being little buggers...typically. I shouldn't complain, as it's to be expected, and what I've come to learn is that a lot of breeders actually get their hatchlings started off on live mice - but it's not openly spoken about all that often. I'm really not comfortable with the idea of live feeding, so this will always be a last resort option for me, for if all else fails. Two are actually strike feeding reliably and are now ready for their new homes. Another one sometimes strikes, but often doesn't, so it's work in progress with him. The other 5 however, are being assist fed at the moment. It's not actually that bad, and again, gets easier with each occasion - a couple of them actually constrict my hand when they're feeding too (which is kinda cute). I'm confident they will strike feed soon, it's just a matter of patience, and trial and error in terms of prey type and size. Now that they've all had a few feeds, and can give drop feeding another go, so we'll see how the next few weeks turn out. All of the hatchlings from this clutch have been reserved, with some very anxious people looking forward to receiving their new snakes, so I'm hoping I don't have to keep them all waiting for too long - but it takes as long as it takes.
And on the subject of sales (that was handy wasn't it!): It's going pretty well! I mentioned in my last post that many people have difficulty selling Corns, and this is true - they are cheap to buy and easy to breed. Right now there are lots of people in my local(ish) area alone that are also selling hatchling Corns, so it's easy for people who are wanting to buy one, to find one. I'm quite fortunate in this respect - I make a couple of sales a week, and to very good homes too. Most of the first clutch have all been rehomed now, and a few from the other clutches too. Again, there's no rush here, and I even turn some sales away if I'm not confident in the persons experience or knowledge in keeping snakes - I'm certainly not desperate to sell them as I can house them for many months yet, so I won't just offload them to anyone who asks. If it means that they go to good homes where they'll hopefully live long and healthy lives, then once again it takes as long as it takes.
Well that pretty much wraps it up. I do have some news to share in regards to an influx of new additions a couple of weeks ago (and a hectic week in setting up homes for them), but I'll save that for another day when I have more time and some decent pictures of them. Right, must dash, feeding to do. Ciao :)
On the subject of feeding: It's pretty common to get a few none feeders out of a clutch of Corns, and hatchling Royals are notoriously difficult to get feeding - well that's certainly been true here! Of the fist clutch of Corns which hatched, most of them took their first feeds without a problem, and as the weeks rolled by more and more caught up too. Except one. Stubborn little number 8. After two months (and all the other clutches had hatched and mostly fed in this time) he had still not fed of his own accord, so I was forced to take matters into my own hands, and resort to force feeding him. This was after trying just about every trick in the book with scenting and prepping pinkies, to no avail. I initially started off force feeding him bits or rat tail and chick legs, before moving up to small pinkies. The first attempt actually wasn't as dreadful as i was expecting, and he took to being force fed with no real issue, and kept it down too. Unfortunately I'm still continuing with this on a weekly basis, but it gets easier (and I think less stressful for him) on each attempt, so I'm hoping he'll strike or drop feed of his own accord any day now. The second clutch to hatch also produced 3 none feeders - this is hardly surprising and actually a lot better than I was expecting, due to the large number of hatchlings from this clutch (27) and their tiny size. The three none feeders had their first force feed this week, which again, went without any real issue. They are a lot smaller than #8, so I'm really glad I've had the opportunity to get the practice in first on a slightly larger hatchling, as I think I may have struggled here without a little prior experience. The third clutch however have been great and all feed with regularity, so no issues here.
The Royals, however, are being little buggers...typically. I shouldn't complain, as it's to be expected, and what I've come to learn is that a lot of breeders actually get their hatchlings started off on live mice - but it's not openly spoken about all that often. I'm really not comfortable with the idea of live feeding, so this will always be a last resort option for me, for if all else fails. Two are actually strike feeding reliably and are now ready for their new homes. Another one sometimes strikes, but often doesn't, so it's work in progress with him. The other 5 however, are being assist fed at the moment. It's not actually that bad, and again, gets easier with each occasion - a couple of them actually constrict my hand when they're feeding too (which is kinda cute). I'm confident they will strike feed soon, it's just a matter of patience, and trial and error in terms of prey type and size. Now that they've all had a few feeds, and can give drop feeding another go, so we'll see how the next few weeks turn out. All of the hatchlings from this clutch have been reserved, with some very anxious people looking forward to receiving their new snakes, so I'm hoping I don't have to keep them all waiting for too long - but it takes as long as it takes.
And on the subject of sales (that was handy wasn't it!): It's going pretty well! I mentioned in my last post that many people have difficulty selling Corns, and this is true - they are cheap to buy and easy to breed. Right now there are lots of people in my local(ish) area alone that are also selling hatchling Corns, so it's easy for people who are wanting to buy one, to find one. I'm quite fortunate in this respect - I make a couple of sales a week, and to very good homes too. Most of the first clutch have all been rehomed now, and a few from the other clutches too. Again, there's no rush here, and I even turn some sales away if I'm not confident in the persons experience or knowledge in keeping snakes - I'm certainly not desperate to sell them as I can house them for many months yet, so I won't just offload them to anyone who asks. If it means that they go to good homes where they'll hopefully live long and healthy lives, then once again it takes as long as it takes.
Well that pretty much wraps it up. I do have some news to share in regards to an influx of new additions a couple of weeks ago (and a hectic week in setting up homes for them), but I'll save that for another day when I have more time and some decent pictures of them. Right, must dash, feeding to do. Ciao :)