Re: A question about gila geriatrics.........................

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Posted by Maryann on June 26, 2002 at 16:26:02:

In Reply to: A question about gila geriatrics......................... posted by Kevin Earley on June 23, 2002 at 22:03:39:

Sorry to take so long to answer, but I don't get to this forum as often as I'd like.

I think I can say with certainty, that our gilas are wild-caught. And they were adults when we acquired them.

They last bred, successfully, about 5 years ago. Since then we moved, and did not even bother to hibernate them. We did hibernate them last year, and tried breeding the female to another male we have, without success. This year we put her with her original old man, and they indeed bred, but without success (no eggs...yet) Probably put them together too late in the spring.

They eat regularly and readily, no change in looks, appetitite, etc. No "gray scales" yet!

I think if anything will shorten the life span on any reptile, its over-feeding, and over-breeding. For instance, ever seen an old albino Burmese? We have many geriatric reptiles around here. They probably do NOT get a meal every week, and most haven't been bred since we've been hard-pressed to pair up some of them.

On an odd note, we have a rattlesnake (who's approximately 20 years old or more) that we did breed successfully (with a male) about 6 years ago. Since then her mate died but she has had live births two years in a row, 4 years AFTER the male died. She only had one once, and two the second time, but...

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thanks.......... Kevin Earley 06/26/02 (1)
- Re: thanks.......... Maryann 06/26/02 (0)

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: Sorry to take so long to answer, but I don't get to this forum as often as I'd like. : I think I can say with certainty, that our gilas are wild-caught. And they were adults when we acquired them. : They last bred, successfully, about 5 years ago. Since then we moved, and did not even bother to hibernate them. We did hibernate them last year, and tried breeding the female to another male we have, without success. This year we put her with her original old man, and they indeed bred, but without success (no eggs...yet) Probably put them together too late in the spring. : They eat regularly and readily, no change in looks, appetitite, etc. No "gray scales" yet! : I think if anything will shorten the life span on any reptile, its over-feeding, and over-breeding. For instance, ever seen an old albino Burmese? We have many geriatric reptiles around here. They probably do NOT get a meal every week, and most haven't been bred since we've been hard-pressed to pair up some of them. : On an odd note, we have a rattlesnake (who's approximately 20 years old or more) that we did breed successfully (with a male) about 6 years ago. Since then her mate died but she has had live births two years in a row, 4 years AFTER the male died. She only had one once, and two the second time, but...

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