Help Baby Emps

[kb1290]

So our two emperors at work are now obviously a male and a female. When I came into work the larger of the two has ten babies sitting on her back. I separated the mother and babies into one tank and then the dad in another, but need some info on raising babies and proper setup if its different for them.

[llovelace]

I'm just going by what I've read here
1. Seperate mom, which you did
2. Offer her some fesh killed cricket or 2
3. When babies leave her back, move them to their own enclosure

I sure hope Jeff and the rest of the invertebrate crew are on, to chime in

[kb1290]

I'm just going by what I've read here
1. Seperate mom, which you did
2. Offer her some fesh killed cricket or 2
3. When babies leave her back, move them to their own enclosure

I sure hope Jeff and the rest of the invertebrate crew are on, to chime in

How long until the babies come off her back?
Each baby on its own or can I house the babies in one tank together?

[llovelace]

I don't know how long til the babies come off, not too long
I believe each baby should be housed seperately to prevent canabalism, but some have housed together

[kb1290]

Does anybody know of a good website with info on this?

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Actually, you can offer mom some crickets but once the babies shed, she will kill them and back away allowing them to eat before she does. Momma emps take care of their babies.

Make sure the enclosure is kept in a warm room. No lower than room temp. 75 or above is preferable. Substrate should hold humidity well. Ecoearth is best but if you only have cypress mulch, be sure to spray it down well. They are a tropical scorpion.

I'll send more info in a little bit.

[kb1290]

Actually, you can offer mom some crickets but once the babies shed, she will kill them and back away allowing them to eat before she does. Momma emps take care of their babies.

Make sure the enclosure is kept in a warm room. No lower than room temp. 75 or above is preferable. Substrate should hold humidity well. Ecoearth is best but if you only have cypress mulch, be sure to spray it down well. They are a tropical scorpion.

I'll send more info in a little bit.

Okay. I read that she would feed them should I provide more food than usual? How much more? They are in a temp controlled room that will not drop below 75. They are on ecoearth and there is moss around the hides.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Not yet. Just offer mom her normal this week. When the babies have their first molt they will begin to come down off her back. Much of the molts will stick to moms back. Don't worry about this. In a few weeks when you move mom in with dad just spray her down once a week and eventually it will all come off.

Once all the babies have molted, start putting about a dozen small crickets in per week or so. Keep an eye on how much the babies are eating. Babies will eat them selves to death so if they look too round like they will pop at the seams, wait a week to feed again.

Every so often, you can take a couple super worms and cut them into tiny pieces. Drop them around mom and the babies will each take a piece. These are a great starter food due to the high fat and protein but only do this every few weeks. Otherwise, pinheads to very small crickets once the babies are hunting and killing their own food should be used.

For the first 3-4 weeks the babies will climb back on mom after eating. It's best to offer her a super worm on feeding tongs at this point. It will help give back what she lost from carrying the babies for so long.

Once they begin to stay off her back longer then it's time to remove her and let them have the tank to themselves.

Some will be more aggressive feeders than others so as time goes by, once they begin changing color and you see personalities develop, you will know which ones are shy and don't eat as much and which ones take all the food.

For the shy ones you can wait til the rest have a cricket and then kill one for the shy ones.

You won't have problems with cannibalism as long as all the babies are eating the right amount. An appropriate sized meal once or twice a week as long as they do not look too fat once they have a few molts and begin to turn grey.

[kb1290]

Not yet. Just offer mom her normal this week. When the babies have their first molt they will begin to come down off her back. Much of the molts will stick to moms back. Don't worry about this. In a few weeks when you move mom in with dad just spray her down once a week and eventually it will all come off.

Once all the babies have molted, start putting about a dozen small crickets in per week or so. Keep an eye on how much the babies are eating. Babies will eat them selves to death so if they look too round like they will pop at the seams, wait a week to feed again.

Every so often, you can take a couple super worms and cut them into tiny pieces. Drop them around mom and the babies will each take a piece. These are a great starter food due to the high fat and protein but only do this every few weeks. Otherwise, pinheads to very small crickets once the babies are hunting and killing their own food should be used.

For the first 3-4 weeks the babies will climb back on mom after eating. It's best to offer her a super worm on feeding tongs at this point. It will help give back what she lost from carrying the babies for so long.

Once they begin to stay off her back longer then it's time to remove her and let them have the tank to themselves.

Some will be more aggressive feeders than others so as time goes by, once they begin changing color and you see personalities develop, you will know which ones are shy and don't eat as much and which ones take all the food.

For the shy ones you can wait til the rest have a cricket and then kill one for the shy ones.

You won't have problems with cannibalism as long as all the babies are eating the right amount. An appropriate sized meal once or twice a week as long as they do not look too fat once they have a few molts and begin to turn grey.

Okay sounds good. How long approximately before the babies are on their own? How fast do they grow, they have to be 2.5 " for me to move them back to the sales floor.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

3-4 weeks before they outgrow moms back and she needs to be moved out. They should be about 2" or so when they are 3 months old. They will not be large enough to sex them until they are between 3-4 inches though.

These are some of my babies at 3 1/2 months old.