New Vipers!!

[Geofft]

I went today and bought a mated pair. Im expecting eggs soon... and how often do they lay eggs? Ive got them in a ten gallon and they are exploring at the moment..... They look so damn cool...


Thanks for the Info

geoff

[ReptiliansDOTca]

Generally, clutches are composed of two eggs. A healthy female will produce 10-12 times for you.

[manville]

They are pretty cool! Enjoy then

[bidden]

mine lay every 18days (aprox) make sure you can 1/8in crix(7day old) to feed the little babies, anything bigger than that wont work.

best of luck with the little guys

[Geofft]

shes alot fatter then my male. And much less active.... He walks around and she sits there... she still moves but not as much as him... pregnancy i guess.... Ill try feeding them tonight if they have settled in... or maybe i should wait more?? They should settle in pretty quickly because i persuaded the pet store lady to sell me the log that was in their cage, so they should feel more at home. anyway thanks for the help!



oh yeah... im using teh damn tiny pinhead crickets.... they are so freaking annoying... hopping all over...


thanks for the help

Geoff

[Geofft]

thats alot of babies.... is there a good chance that there will be no egg binding or things fatal to the female in these births? Im justr worried

[Burium]

Geoff-

Try putting the pinheads in the fridge for about 15 minutes before you want to feed. It cools them down and they stop moving making it easier for you to catch and grab the amount you need. Then you can place them back where ever it is you store them. Helps a lot! It doesn't hurt them, just slows them down.

Kelly

[Geofft]

Thanks,

I also have another question. After shes lays her 10-12 clutches, will they mate again? because i cant handle all those babies.. and i cant imagine that having more then 12 cltuches is healthy for her.. and will i ever have to seperate the male and female? cause that would suck... they like curling up with eachother...

In good news, they both ate last night... The male ate 5 where the female ate 1.... ill try again tommorow.

Geoff

[bidden]

From what I have heard she will stop after that and not lay again till next year, but I have also heard that if you keep them together she will lay year round. They are a fairly new species(in Canada at least) so getting some definate answers is kinda tricky. The breeder I got them from (thegeckocorral.com) said her's did not lay year round when kept together.

I hate to sound nasty here but don't you think you should have researched all this BEFORE you purchased a breeding pair.... What happens if you do end up with more? kinda something you should be ready for... and if they do continue to mate yes you will have to separate them if your female becomes stressed, I've been lucky with mine and have not noticed any changes in my female since breeding.

on another note....

Feeding tips for Viper geckos:
Method 1) non-observation method - take 20-30 pinhead crix and dust, dump them into the cage, turn off lights, leave the room dark and quiet. come back 30min later, remove any crickets left over.
Method 2) observation method - take crix. dump into cage, find a comfortable position close to the cage to watch and sit very still...... be very very quiet...... and then watch them feast!!!

you'd be surprised how much these little guys eat, it's quiet amazing. from what I've learned about Vipers they like it quiet, they'll come out more if in a quiet area of the house, they will eat more, and also your almost guarenteed mating. They are a very shy geko.

[Geofft]

thanks for the advice... I guess i should have done that stuff first... but i didnt think of it at the time.... I will i tell if she gets stressed out? is there anything i can look for?


and i am completely ready for MORE.... but im worried about the female continuing to pump out babies... for HER sake....


anyway
thanks for the advice

Geoff

[Geofft]

ooops.... i kind of contradicted myself a bit... I CAN handle the babies.... but my parents will force me to sell them... which sucks, but hey...

[bidden]

well at least your asking these questions now.... not when you have babies hatching.


It's very hard to tell if she's stressed because they are so shy and don't move around much when your visable. Best thing you can do is follow the instructions above and watch her eat. if you notice that she does not come out to feed, or is very slow and lathargic when trying to hunt that is a major sign.

You also might want to start asking around to petstore's/exotic pet stores in your area for people who will take them off your hands in the event you cannot sell them. The price will be greatly reduced but at least they have a better chance of going to a good home. It is very hard to privitly sell these little guys.

I'm going to stress again that you need 7 DAY OLD crickets for the hatchlings. These crickets should be no larger than the tip of a pencil. The babies cannot eat the same size as the parents. There is a whole list of problems that can occur if they are fed inproper sized crix. The most common is death. It's sad but a very strong reality.(happened to my first little guy :( )

Hope this helps!

[Geofft]

Well, thanks for the advice. The pet store will take babies off me if i wish to sell them. AND, my mother dropped an egg last night. Just one, but it seems solid. I had my suspisions that she had when i saw dirt all over the cage floor from the plant pot. I had seen her in there yesterday.... so i checked. I had to dig, but i found a pearly white egg. I took an old olive container, filled it with paper towel and stuck the egg in. I then put the container in the cage just to the side of where my lamp shines down.

Right now, i have my parents on pinheads.... how am i going to get my hands on 7 day oldcrickets...?? I dont think my pet store sells them...

My main question. Will she keep laying, all her life if i keep her with the male?


Thanks for the advice Bidden
( it does help. Keep it up :) )

[bidden]

WOAAAA!!! I think your main question should be what do I do with the eggs!! First off.... if you have a plant with dirt inside your cage take it out! They originate from Pakastan(sp?) and like it hot and dry, plants give off way to much humidity. Plus humidity kills their eggs(unlike many other gecko's). I can almost guarentee there with be another egg burried so keep looking.

Next, I think you mentioned earlyer that you were keeping them on sand.... If you still are you'll have to do a little work finding the eggs when she lays, like you said it's usually easy to tell when because there's a mess everywhere. If you have them on papertowel you can put a sand lay box inside the cage but it does get messy and like I said earlyer mine decided to eat the sand for some reason.

next, you need an incubator. the temps in your cage vary way too much for eggs, and also when the babies hatch mom and dad will mistake them for food and eat them(ewwww, and yes they are that small when they hatch).
I use the following and it's worked for me:
Get a small margerine dish or similar with a clear lid. Poke some holes in the top. put about 1-2in of sand in it. Next, get a old cooler, or similar insulated box, it only has to be big enough to fit the dish. then get a clamp lamp and fasten it overtop somehow. You'll need a thermomiter, digital one with probe is best. stick the probe right near the sand. The temps in should read 84-86 F.

Now when you find eggs, grab a fine tipped sharpie and put a little dot on the top of the egg before touching it. This dot should stay up all the time now. Put the egg in the sand dish(incubator) about half covered and let it cook. When the little guys hatch they will cause a big fuss and roll all the other eggs over, this is why you mark them.

I've read that they are supposed to hatch between 45-60 days but mine took over 70. I was told that it was because my temps were too low so I've bumped them up to a steady 86.

This is just my method, there are many other ways to do it. It has worked so far for me.

[Geofft]

Whoops. The container has a thermometer, and the olive container has a lid with holes in it. The parents couldnt get in if they wanted to. When you say incubater... do you mean that box you were talking about? or buy one of those really fancy metal expensive ones... Im just doing what the pet store told me to do.... I asked advice and they told me. As soon as i get home from school, i will remove the pot from the cage... but it will have to wait till then. Cant the olive container with the lid just be put in the parents cage if its warm enough? The parents cant access the egg... I will replace the paper towel with sand though....


Keep the advice coming..


Geoff

[bidden]

if you really wanted to you could keep it in but your reducing your chance of them hatching drastically. Eggs need a very constant temperature, hence insulated container. It reduces the amount of temperature fluxuation. Your cage air temp. changes as your house air temp changes. so one minute it could be 85, and then 75 the next. Get what I'm saying. Just take the olive container with sand and put it in an old cooler with lamp over it.

It would probably benifit you a lot to do some research tonight. do a google search on Viper geckos, and then on breeding and incubating. It's a lot more work than you think.

[Geofft]

I did just that. I took the old cooler with the container and the sand and the light. It was more work then i thought... And you were right... i got home tonight and searched the plant after i removed it. I found one. I did the markings on the top like you said, and then put them in an olive container full of sand and put them in the cooler. Then i bought a bulb and made sure the temp didnt go too high.... I think ill be alright.


Thanks again
Geoff

[bidden]

Sounds like your on your way to some babies, GOOD LUCK!!!!

they are so cute and tiny when they hatch. Keep us posted.

Dan