- Joined
- Feb 24, 2009
- Messages
- 5
Well I am pretty damn excited here, a first for me. Two baby Russians. I have my trio set up in a 5'x3'x3' indoor enclosure with about 12"-18" of dirt with surface rocks & tiles that cover hide areas.
I caught the biggest female digging what I thought was a nest hole to lay some eggs in the hide area, but when she was done she didn't fill the hole back in like she normally does. Upon closer inspection I was absolutely shocked to see a fresh baby sitting up in the dirt at the edge of the hole under the cover of their hide. A careful sweep of the hole with my hand to see if I could find more of the eggs and I saw movement beneath. One more baby poked it's feet and head out of the dirt.
I had decided this spring after several years of nice looking but infertile eggs, "screw it... I'll leave them in the dirt and see if the natural way will work" since I've tried pretty much everything else with no success. I was getting nice looking calcified eggs but always infertile. I had chalked it up to the male but it looks like it may have been the female as it appears the second female has produced these eggs.
What I found fascinating was how the mother took the time to dig out the dirt to help the babies come out, or at least appeared to be doing so. The dirt was pretty dry as well which was really surprising. Is it normal behaviour to see the mother helping dig out the babies?
A quick shot taken that morning of them (Aug 29 2012). The first one I had just rinsed off and the second one was exactly as I found it, right out of the dirt.
I caught the biggest female digging what I thought was a nest hole to lay some eggs in the hide area, but when she was done she didn't fill the hole back in like she normally does. Upon closer inspection I was absolutely shocked to see a fresh baby sitting up in the dirt at the edge of the hole under the cover of their hide. A careful sweep of the hole with my hand to see if I could find more of the eggs and I saw movement beneath. One more baby poked it's feet and head out of the dirt.
I had decided this spring after several years of nice looking but infertile eggs, "screw it... I'll leave them in the dirt and see if the natural way will work" since I've tried pretty much everything else with no success. I was getting nice looking calcified eggs but always infertile. I had chalked it up to the male but it looks like it may have been the female as it appears the second female has produced these eggs.
What I found fascinating was how the mother took the time to dig out the dirt to help the babies come out, or at least appeared to be doing so. The dirt was pretty dry as well which was really surprising. Is it normal behaviour to see the mother helping dig out the babies?
A quick shot taken that morning of them (Aug 29 2012). The first one I had just rinsed off and the second one was exactly as I found it, right out of the dirt.