my first litter! and pics of my setup

[SquamishSerpents]

so i got these ASF's at the beginning of august i believe...1.1 adults, 15 weanlings, and about 15 rat pups. i took the rat pups for my trouble-feeder cornsnake hatchlings (they GOBBLED them down, even after 3 months of non-feeding!) and froze the rest to give to the feeding cornsnake hatchlings. i left the female and male together and moved the weanlings to a very large (105 quart) sterilite tub. the parents are still in a 64quart tub. along with their first litter they've had with me...there are 14+ rat pups! i got a quick count in today while the mom was distracted. looks like my colony is finally growing! here are some photos of the babies and my setup:

parents bin:







the babies!



the grow-up bin:







i plan on feeding off the current parents as soon as the grow-ups start producing...first 6 that give birth are the breeder females! i'm planning on having 2 64quarts for the breeding adults (gonna try 1.3's), and the 105 quart sterilite for grow-ups. can grow-ups from different litters/at different stages live in harmony?

[Mike Cavanaugh]

You should NEVER put ventilation holes in the plastic like that. Mark my words sooner or later one will climb on top of something and reach the hole.... It would take minutes for them to chew out of it.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=87286

[SquamishSerpents]

wow, really? are the holes even big enough for them to get their teeth on? they were made with a soldering iron. i'm gonna read your link but right now my wireless internet at work isn't loading the page.

it just doesn't seem like they could even fit their teeth in there.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Yes they can, and will.

It may take time but sooner or later ONE rat will be exploring around and he will figure out how reach and get a tooth on it. The others will see him doing it and together they will have a hole the size of a golf ball chewed in just a couple hours.

By the looks of it I am surprised they haven't discovered it yet. By the pictures it looks like they can easily reach the holes by climing on the hoppers.... Just remember it only takes ONE to discover and start picking at it for them ALL to start doing it.

[pavlovk1025]

Tis true I just had a water bottle destroyed. Didnt think they could even maneuver their heads around enough to do it but they did and bit thru one of my plastic bottles at the very top and flooded their tank.

[SquamishSerpents]

yes, thanks guys! i went to walmart and got new ones (thank GOD they're cheap!), still same sizes though. this time we used 1/4" hardware cloth and zip ties to secure it. seems to be ventilating even better than the solderholes anyways.

thanks again, i certainly don't want a grand escape, considering i live in an apartment!

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Do you have any pics of the new setup?

[SquamishSerpents]

not yet, camera bat's charging right now, but i will soon! but they look exactly the same lol.

[euphuistical]

Yeah make sure you use metal ones. I've been plagued by escapees lately. Thankfully some friends are building me a 3 tall by 3 wide rack system with gravity feed water. I can't wait. Going to probably go with 4 or 5 breeding colonies and use the other tubs as grow outs.

One of my males and one of my females escaped from one of my breeder tubs. It sucks. Going to have to wait til one of the small ones grows up enough to father babies. I also have another 1.3 starting. They've been together a month and no sign of any female being prego yet

But I got good things happening inthe growout bin (I also use a large 30gal tub for grow outs). I have a lot of nice big females to help start my colonies.

If they are all the proper size will they start making whoopie pretty much immediately or should I expect a wait of a few weeks to a month before even the first pregnancy?