Cuitzeo baby(ies?)

[chris-uk]

I had a bit of a surprise at lunchtime.

Some of you will be aware that our Cuitzeos are in a viv near my desk. I often glance past the laptop screen when I see movement, and I spotted something moving, looked up and saw a head looking towards me. Except the head was too small to be Vlad. By the time I got up it had disappeared.

It turns out that Lacrimosa has been gravid after all. I'd come to the conclusion that she wasn't because she wasn't put weight on so quickly and wasn't bulking up in the lower third. The evidence would suggest that I'd come to the wrong conclusion.

At 1:30 I found a baby Lake Cuitzeo Garter exploring the viv. Cute little guy (or gal) with the same chin and tail as it's parents.

Throw in a flurry of activity as we moved the baby into a RUB and Vlad into a bigger RUB.

"Baby C" had already freed the skin around it's head. And completed it's first shed in the RUB. I gave it a bit of a swim in a warm bowl (Steve suggested that) and since then it's been exploring or sleeping in the RUB. I guessed at that point that it was between 150-200mm from nose to tail tip.

Around 2:30 I found a jellybean.

I checked on Lacci through the afternoon and although she seemed restless (moving frequently from warm to cold hide), she seemed OK and nothing else to report until 6:30.

Between 5:30 and 6:30 she delivered a stillborn. It didn't make it out of the yolk sac. It could have been delivered anytime in the last hour while I was eating, and there was no movement, I opened the sac in case but there's no sign of life in this one. I won't know if it would have lived if I'd been there to get it out of it's yolk sac.
Being a man of science I used the stillborn as an opportunity to photograph a newborn Cuitzeo and get a more accurate length. It was 230mm long. Other than not being alive it looked like it had developed normally.

Lacci has been quite active while I've been typing climbing onto her shelf and the Thamock, and spent the last 5 minutes staring at me from the top of her rock. She doesn't look like she's got anything else in her, so I'm not expecting any more live or stillborn.
Cuitzeo babies certainly weren't in the plan for this year, but I guess Vlad and Lacci were ready afterall.

I know what you're going to ask. I'll add some photos shortly, I need to switch from work laptop to home desktop to get the photos off the camera.

[gregmonsta]

Congrats mate

[reptileparadise]

Woohoo! Congrats mate

Look forward to seeing some photo's!
If I understand correctly, only two babies so far of which one is alive? Hmm, wondering if you'll find more tomorrow morning... We've noticed such a strange thing with our cyrtopsis as well last year. We've never seen any get born, but learned last year that these guys didn't go "all at once", but she gave birth during the day, explaining how we've never seen any true activity with them!

Good luck rearing the tiny thing! If you might need any advice....

[guidofatherof5]

New scrubs are always a joy. Sounds like a special one.
It's only 9pm there. Plenty of time to post some photos

[Invisible Snake]

Congratulations! Did you brumate Vlad and Lacrimosa?

[chris-uk]

Woohoo! Congrats mate

Look forward to seeing some photo's!
If I understand correctly, only two babies so far of which one is alive? Hmm, wondering if you'll find more tomorrow morning... We've noticed such a strange thing with our cyrtopsis as well last year. We've never seen any get born, but learned last year that these guys didn't go "all at once", but she gave birth during the day, explaining how we've never seen any true activity with them!

Good luck rearing the tiny thing! If you might need any advice....

Yes, so far one live and one dead. I think she's finished as she's now laying on her shelf in the open rather than moving from one hide to another - her behaviour is suggesting that she isn't in "birthing mode" any more.
The plan is to keep the little guy safe and to try feeding him tomorrow. If there's any specific advice you can give for Cuitzeos I'm always listening.

New scrubs are always a joy. Sounds like a special one.
It's only 9pm there. Plenty of time to post some photos

Your wish is my command. Keep scrolling.

Congratulations! Did you brumate Vlad and Lacrimosa?

No, they weren't brumated as we didn't plan for them to breed this year. They were on a schedule for next year, but you know what nature does with human plans sometimes. We'd separated them before, but Vlad stopped eating when he was on his own in a large RUB. They were due to be split up in a few weeks when our radix pair leave quarantine to act as company for the respective Cuitzeo.


Now for some photos. ..
These were all just before he sloughed his first skin so he's looking a bit rough, but then he is only around 2 hours old. You can see he's broken the shed around his mouth where it's hanging off his lower jaw and the eye in one of the photos has what looks like a retained shed (obviously it's not retained, he'd just not shed it yet). For perspective, the edge of the water bowl he's on is between 5-10mm (say 1/4" to 3/8" in American) wide. And as I said in the earlier post, the stillborn was 230mm (9") long and I think this little guy is about the same length.







I just popped in to check on him, and he's half in one of the cardboard box hides and part in his water bowl and flicking his tongue at me as I looked at him. Got to be a good sign.

[johnc79@hotmail.com]

As you know I'm dissapointed as I know the age ect but I guess you know that.

[chris-uk]

As you know I'm dissapointed as I know the age ect but I guess you know that.

That's a whole discussion that's been had elsewhere. And to a degree a difference in philosophy - allowing sexual activity at a natural age, or deciding an artificial breeding age. There's just anecdotal evidence to support either argument. I'm happy to discuss, but not in this topic. The baby has been born, that is what this topic is about.

[katach]

Congrats!

[Selkielass]

Wonderful!