The little guys!

[TekWarren]

took pinkie number 2 with no problems tonight! It was even a f/t pink i saved from when the litter was less than a day old woot! I used the deli cup under a towel method again and once again there is a bulge in the little guy in about an hour!

[Kara]

SWEET!!!! Sounds like you are on a roll.

K~

[Colin Vestrand]

i am really getting frustrated here... my guy refused again.
i also noticed he's rubbing on stuff like he's trying to shed but his eyes never turned blue or anything like that. i raised the humidity, which was low and raised the temps as well.

i'm thinking i need to feed live, too bad i have to drive an hour to get one.

[TekWarren]

kz, the first meal I fed my little one was live. Have you tried the deli cup method? Any small container other than what you keep him in with nothing in it except maybe a small piece newspaper or papertowel even. Another thing I have done still going on recommendations from another person is "washing" the pink, the f/t pink of course got washed in a cup of warm water to thaw. Lastly if you haven't wrap something completely around the container when feeding so no light gets in and leave him for an hour or so and do checks roughly every hour...i've never had to leave mine in for more than 2hrs so far.

Mine has shed once but I didn't see any eye clouding either but I was gone when he shed and being that small I don't know if I could have been able to see it! If you where closer I'd give a live pinkie! but they might be getting a bit to large now but kzoo is probably 2-3 hours from where I live (Fremont)

Keep trying, I have been keeping mine a small secure container for a living space with hides and water available.

[Colin Vestrand]

good info, thanks. next time i'll try a live one and put a towel over the cup.

you think maybe i should put some damp sphagnum moss in his hide?

[TekWarren]

if your really worried about himidity you could add some moss, I won't pretend to be an expert and say I know what the exact humidity should be but with the container I use I do see a bit of condensation from the water dish. I'm sure I'm way higher than I need to be but his shed was perfect a couple weeks back and he is frequently out and about looking around and is active when he sees me peering in on him. I will probaly add a couple more holes to the container or move him/her into something else and lower the humidity for mine as i don't want to cause respiratory issues.

maybe KLG will shed some more light on specific husbandry practicies for us I only know what I've read from the few articles online.

[Colin Vestrand]

yeah info has been unfortunately limited on antaresia... doesn't help that this is the first snake i've owned.
thanks again

[Kara]

The biggest issue with baby Antaresia (besides the fact that they are TINY) is that they're naturally lizard eaters. It's a good idea to try to get one that is already well-established on rodents, especially if you're not familiar with scenting techniques. Split braining seems to work very well for switching finicky eaters over, but there are some that may require lizard scenting in the long run.

Setup for these animals is very simple. This is how I do it personally...I'm not saying this is the only way to keep Antaresia, just what I've had success with.

For hatchlings, I use Accessory boxes from the Container Store. I'm sure there's a plethora of plastic boxes that will work well...I just happen to like the dimensions & tightly closing lid of this particular box. I put several holes on each side with a soldering iron for ventilation. Accessories are a 2-oz portion cup for water, and a small opaque plastic plant saucer for a hide. No hot spot, ambient temp of 80-85 degrees. Aspen substrate.

Bigger juvies go in Sterilite 1752 boxes in a shoebox rack. Same setup as above, just a bigger box & a hot spot of 88 degrees. Aspen substrate.

Subadult-Adult animals go in a Sterilite 1756 or Rubbermaid 2221 blanket/sweater box, in a rack. 90 for a hot spot, ambient of anywhere from 75-85, water bowl, hide. Aspen substrate. They breed readily for me in this setup as well.

HTH!

K~

[TekWarren]

wow great info! Thanks so much for filling us in.

[Colin Vestrand]

thank you much!

the guy i got it from (ben siegel reptiles) said they were feeding readily on pinkies, so i'll just keep trying. thanks for the info.