royal whiptail babies - week one

on first of july my panamense hatched out - 54 babies! i put dad on his leaf in a breeding trap a day earlier, where he happily settled down to aerating them. removed him straight after hatching, and the bubs are doing great, doubled in size! they have old rotting leaves from the tank, plus i'm pureeing zucchini and green peas for them and adding the 'soup' every couple of days. it's one of those material traps, cotton netting, and all the adults suck the zucchini slime from the outside while the bubs are slurping away on the inside. i know they're tough to rear, apparently at the 2 month stage there'll be a die-off - but even if i get 10% of them through i'll be a very happy chappy!

pictures of dad guarding eggs, mum and aunty, and 2-day-old babies in link - enjoy!

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...101/sturisoma/

Great pics do you know what the differance in male and female?

once mature it's pretty easy to sex them - the male grows a beard of bristles along his cheeks,and his fins tend to be more curved. i got a second batch from my pair a fortnight later, so i now have around 100 bubs, no losses yet.

let me know when they're ready to go, I'd love to grab a couple. Royal whips are one of my favourites. :)

Hi,

Just wondering how you are going with these and whether you would have any for sale?

Cheers,

Chris

hey there chris,

well, i told myself if i got 10% through, i'd be happy - and that's just about what i've got, 4 little bubs left from 54. they're doing well, but even so i don't think they would be sell-able until they were six months old or so - they are only 2cm's long now, at almost 2 months old.

i won't be parting with these ones - they will join my gang, but as i get better at raising them i may have others for sale and will post here accordingly.

No problem at all - fully understand you holding on to them. Will keep an eye out in the future :-)