Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[ultimate_boides]

Hello

I am curious to know whether there have been any recent breeding's of Varanus albigularis within the last few years in this country, i am currently seeking CB animals preferably 05/06 or even 07.

My other request is due to hopefully setting up a breeding group or pair. I would like to know in detail the cycling and other properties that occurred in the successful breeding.

Many Thanks

[lophius]

Speak to Rick (rickalbig)

He's your man

Carl

[Rick_Albig]

Cheers Carl, although i would not class my self as success-full yet (i need to actually hatch some of the buggers yet!)

I have had three clutches of eggs in the last two years. One from a female who sadly passed away after the laying and two from my currant female. As far as cycling goes i have made no special efforts to season them. I keep my adult pair together year round and feed them every other day. A cold snap (natural and accidental) has triggered breading with my pair in the past. They are housed in my garage where seasonal changes are achieved naturally with ambient temp drops. I am also going to reduce the photo-period this year down to 10 hours (14 in the summer.)

All of the eggs i have received so far have been dud. There may have been for a few reasons but I believe the biggest problem has been with nest sites. Both of my females have held onto the eggs for too long, despite having an 8x12 viv with over 4 ton of substrate in it! I have added a nest box for this year so hopefully i will have better results with this.

I only know of one person in the last two years who has successfully hatched albigularis. I forget the chaps name but he was based in Essex and he hatched some in 2005. He does not have any juveniles for sale though.

Good luck with the project! It would be nice to see some CBB animals available in the UK for once!

Rick

[ultimate_boides]

Rick,

Thanks for the response very helpful, do you feel that the "cold snap" as you called it helped with the breeding as through research from the states is been seen that 50% do cool and the other 50% don't. Were there signs of courtship before the "cold snap" or was this the cause?

Diet wise what do you feed yours after trawling through the archives on here it seems a very varied diet. I was planning a brick built enclosure with some what similar amounts of substrate to yourself however rather than a nest box possibly using a 12" deep layer in places and in other more accessible parts a nice 36-48" deep substrate.

I think it is a great shame they are not worked with on a more regular basis as they are fantastic animals and with daily interaction i found the young wc animal i had done extremely well at bonding.

Is there anyone with the "Ionides" strain as they are called in the states as these animals seem to have a lot more colour in them than others i have seen.

Is there anyone reading who is or knows someone that will be importing from the states within the next few months that would be willing to stick a few small albigularis on there obviously with us contributing to cost.



Thanks for your thoughts and experiences,

[Rick_Albig]

I definitely think the colder temps induced the breeding. There were no signs of courtship before this. I know a very experienced V. varius breeder in Australia that "winters" his monitors for 4 months with no food or heat. When he warms them up in spring he can pin point the exact day when they will begin breeding!

I feed a stable of chicks mice and small rats. I also throw in 100-150 adult locust a week and occasionally hiss-er roaches and giant African land snails.

Here are a few pics of the enclosure they bred in and laid the eggs. The substrate varies from 12-24" deep, i still find this is not deep enough and that is why i have added nest boxes. I think they need to feel enclosed and secure to lay comfortably.




My male is an ionides and my female is a microstictus. The Ionides are readily available in the UK and are almost always sold as white throats.

Male:




Female:




Rick

[ultimate_boides]

I was certainly thinking of a hibernation period as such for provoking a breeding responce. I have bred various snake species that have not been known to hibernate and find it very refreshing to see a recently hibernated animals looking fresh and ready for breeding i am certainly a big fan of hibernation.

Do you feed any raw meat ie ground turkey etc, i also plan on using diet consisting of rats, mice, chicks and other readily available prey items however i feel i would like to incorporate such things as turkey and chicken has this ever been known to produce bad results, i used to feed my water monitors various eggs which went down extremely well, have you tried it with your black throats.

The enclosure is really reviving for me to see and i am a big fan of providing animals with surplus room if it will be used and varanus of one of many i feel need large enclosures. I see you have in there numerous heat sources in the form of ceramic the mercury bulb and some other form on the side wall. Is there mercury bulb the only form of UVB the animals receive?

[Rick_Albig]