 | Keeping & Breeding Morelia carinata Rough Scale Python
I got a group of 2,3 M. carinata from BfN from a seizure end 2011th.
All five animals were at the handover about a year old. Housed them first individually in small glass terrarium with the dimensions of 30 x 30 x 30cm, each installed with a middle crossbar ( for resting and hunting ).
Unfortunately initially have all five jungster refused to eat - just as the other four remaining in the reptile sanctuary in Munich.
As I have previously kept and bred many tree pythons -and the rough scale python a close relative I added a "large" plastic plant - wich was successful when i had the same problem with my young M. viridis.
A week later, all five M. carinata had readily accepted food, this "trick" I have passed on and also in Munich have then all eaten promptly.
After one to two years, I transferred all of them to a larger terrarium, which almost all again acknowledged with several weeks of anorexia.
The now grown-up animals I have all individually housed in terrariums of about 90 x 60 x 90cm large terrarium with plenty of branches, a hiding box, a large bowl of water and some real plants. The terrariums are heated either by a underfloor heating or by hotspots, the daytime temperature is on average between 24 - 29 ° C in general (depending on where in the terrarium) and on the heating, or under the spotlight around 40 ° C, at night the temperature drops to around 20 - 22 ° C.
Once or twice a week I spray vigorously, thereby I reach for several hours a RLF of about 100%, the rest of the time is the RLF at about 60 - 70% by.
After a "winter time" with reduced temperatures occurred early 2015 to the first pairings.
In mid-May, the first female laid 15 eggs and at the end of May has one more females laid 19 eggs, both females were at this time about five years old.
Both clutches were transferred to an incubator and in the usual way and
manner incubated (at 31 ° C).
After 61 / 62 days then slipped about 90% of the Hatchlings (remaining eggs had died during incubation).
All Hatchlings were about the size of newly hatched M. spilota, but slimmer and the neck is very thin, but quite large heads (similar to young M. viridis).After removal from the incubator, I washed all juveniles housed and individually in small terrariums (20 x 20 x20cm) gender-determined (popped).
All terrariums have household paper (kitchen roll) as a floor covering, a crossbar and a water bowl.
Since I could hardly accommodate plants in so small terrariums, I got the idea to hang a camouflage net (see picture) all by terrariums - regarding known from Australia feeding problems in hatchlings / of this kind may to Avoid. And indeed, after about 2 - 3 weeks all of them had shaded and 80% of all juveniles took without hesitation the first attempt to feed. Offer after the second feed already devoured 90% of all hatchlings. Overall, I needed "only" two juveniles forced feeding, but even that only twice, afterwards they also willingly accepted food.
After eight weeks they took already several offspring of mine frozen food from the tweezers.
Further cultivation prepared no difficulties.
Images to this article you`ll find on my homepage www.morelia-spilota.de
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