More on husbandry and breeding....long

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Posted by glenn n nancy on June 28, 2002 at 11:37:50:

In Reply to: Re: Can you get them captive bred?n/p posted by Ian on June 28, 2002 at 03:08:25:

In response to Terry's e-mail yes I think once more people understand the husbandry and background of these animals they will become more popular. You can't deny the beauty of one when you see them in person.

Husbandry with mine has been pretty straight forward. I keep mine in a large Vision #422 cage with sphagnum moss layering the entire bottom of the cage. Since they are mostly arboreal. I divised a canopy at the top of the cage using two PVC pipes set in place with screws running the length of the cage. Between the two pipes I have used silk plants to create a platform in which the animals can hide and rest. Mine spend alomst 80% of their time there. The other 20% is spent in the moss and in the sweater box water container on the bottom of the cage. Feeding is done with forceps and they attack prey voraciously. Rearing of the babies has been also fairly straight forward despite some initial feeding issues that I believe we have figured out. My belief is that juvenile rhynos initially feed on fish. I frequent the local fish stop once or twice a week to get feeder guppies to feed. Scenting and switching too pinks can occur once the babies get large enough to accept a fair sized pink. New born rhynos are pencil-thin and in my experience even an hour old pink can be too large. Your best bet is to get them feeding and a little bit larger before you try to make the switch. The scent and switch has been much easier to do than any hognose or king I have had in the past.

Breeding - In all honestly I have treated my pair as I would have a pair of corns in regards to temperature. A three month hibernation in sphagnum moss with a large water bowl is necessary. Natural temps in Southern California reach to approx. 50 degrees in the winter. If I can see it getting lower I often utilize a small space heater in my garage to raise the overall temps.

Last year I was fortunate enough to get 11 eggs from a first attempt in breeding. Of these 7 hatchlings were produced. This year my female graced us with 15 eggs and has 2 others still inside her. This weekend I will attempt to asperate them in the hopes that she will pass them. I want to thank Cathy Love for her knowledge and sharing of how to asperate a bound egg. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

To my knowledge, there have been four or five parties who have had US breeding success with this species (Robyn at Pro Exotics, Rick Cunningham, another fellow on the East Coast, and myself). Please forgive me if I left anyone out.

Hope this information sheds some light on this wonderful species. Also please forgive us for posting info. on this species on the ratsnake forum since it is not actually an elaphe species. It seems someone along the lines gave the animal a common name of 'rhyno rat' so here is where this beautiful animals has found it's home.

Sorry this has been so long. Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions, etc.

Cheers - glenn n nancy

ps. sorry for all the spelling mistakes.

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Excellent account of Asian longnose rat husbandry.....> Terry Cox 06/28/02 (0)

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: In response to Terry's e-mail yes I think once more people understand the husbandry and background of these animals they will become more popular. You can't deny the beauty of one when you see them in person. : Husbandry with mine has been pretty straight forward. I keep mine in a large Vision #422 cage with sphagnum moss layering the entire bottom of the cage. Since they are mostly arboreal. I divised a canopy at the top of the cage using two PVC pipes set in place with screws running the length of the cage. Between the two pipes I have used silk plants to create a platform in which the animals can hide and rest. Mine spend alomst 80% of their time there. The other 20% is spent in the moss and in the sweater box water container on the bottom of the cage. Feeding is done with forceps and they attack prey voraciously. Rearing of the babies has been also fairly straight forward despite some initial feeding issues that I believe we have figured out. My belief is that juvenile rhynos initially feed on fish. I frequent the local fish stop once or twice a week to get feeder guppies to feed. Scenting and switching too pinks can occur once the babies get large enough to accept a fair sized pink. New born rhynos are pencil-thin and in my experience even an hour old pink can be too large. Your best bet is to get them feeding and a little bit larger before you try to make the switch. The scent and switch has been much easier to do than any hognose or king I have had in the past. : Breeding - In all honestly I have treated my pair as I would have a pair of corns in regards to temperature. A three month hibernation in sphagnum moss with a large water bowl is necessary. Natural temps in Southern California reach to approx. 50 degrees in the winter. If I can see it getting lower I often utilize a small space heater in my garage to raise the overall temps. : Last year I was fortunate enough to get 11 eggs from a first attempt in breeding. Of these 7 hatchlings were produced. This year my female graced us with 15 eggs and has 2 others still inside her. This weekend I will attempt to asperate them in the hopes that she will pass them. I want to thank Cathy Love for her knowledge and sharing of how to asperate a bound egg. Please keep your fingers crossed for me. : To my knowledge, there have been four or five parties who have had US breeding success with this species (Robyn at Pro Exotics, Rick Cunningham, another fellow on the East Coast, and myself). Please forgive me if I left anyone out. : Hope this information sheds some light on this wonderful species. Also please forgive us for posting info. on this species on the ratsnake forum since it is not actually an elaphe species. It seems someone along the lines gave the animal a common name of 'rhyno rat' so here is where this beautiful animals has found it's home. : Sorry this has been so long. Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions, etc. : Cheers - glenn n nancy : ps. sorry for all the spelling mistakes.

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