T. eques cuitzeoensis behaviour

[chris-uk]

IMAG0285.jpg

Lacrimosa is coming up for a shed. With eyes like these you can see why they got a reputation for being evil in more superstitious times.

[gregmonsta]

It's always accented in darker snakes too. Looking forward to seeing her post-shed

[guidofatherof5]

Lacrimosa is awesome looking, even in blue phase.

[chris-uk]

Lacci shed today while I was out (I think CuitzeoCam was pointing up at the Thammock, so probably nobody saw it).
She's not playing ball with photos this afternoon, I'll try her again later.

[chris-uk]

Lacci and Vlad had their first food fight today. Lacci has always been a good eater, but recently has been a bit off her food.
I found Vlad in the water and Lacci half in a tube when I brought their dinnertime them today. Lacci wasn't really interested, but Vlad was quite happy to take bits of salmon that I dangled over the water. Eventually Lacci relocated to the hide next to the pool, and showed some disinterested interest.
She often comes up to the lower edge of the door to get food, and was checking out a piece of salmon I was offering her at the door. When Vlad snaked up and homed in on that piece, got close and grabbed it from under Lacci's nose, and pulled it down and under water where he ate it.
A few minutes later Lacci was homing in on a another piece of salmon when Vlad caught a whiff of it. Just as Lacci took it and I let go of it Vlad struck at the loose end and ripped away all except the bit Lacci was biting down on, took it into the water bowl and ate it underwater.

Considering that in the past Vlad has tended to let Lacci (who is almost twice his weight) eat first, this is a ballsy change of attitude for the little guy. Interesting to see, and probably not a bad thing as he will be rooming with a male radix next month when I get the new snake room setup.

[guidofatherof5]

Good story Chris. Nice to hear they are both eating.

[chris-uk]

Good story Chris. Nice to hear they are both eating.

These two have both always eaten, it seems that one is always more enthusiastic than the other. And they change between themselves, almost as if they have agreed to always challenge me with having one fussy eater, and swapping just when I think I know what the deal is.

[EasternGirl]

I love that pic of Lacrimosa...so sinister!!! She is a big gorgeous girl! Thanks for sharing the food fight story...must be food fight day because my babies were going at it too.

[johnc79@hotmail.com]

Are you not worried they could mate and be Gravid to young? Ive also read females of some sub species of Eques will kill the males if they do not want to mate. Is it a risk worth taking?

[chris-uk]

Are you not worried they could mate and be Gravid to young? Ive also read females of some sub species of Eques will kill the males if they do not want to mate. Is it a risk worth taking?

It's a concern, but a risk that I've balanced and will continue to take until the radix come out of quarantine. I've not read about females killing males when they aren't interested in mating, that raises my concerns a little more - can you point me at the article?
At the moment I'd assessed that the risk of courting was mitigated by a few factors:
- Lacci is already the same weight/size as gravid wc Cuitzeos in the literature.
- These two are in a viv in front of my desk, so I can see them for most of the day.
- They haven't shown interest in courting for months, so it seems that Lacci isn't receptive at the moment.
- If I do see them courting I'm ready to remove Vlad.
- Other than Vlad snatching food from Lacci yesterday they haven't shown any aggressive behaviour, most of the time they just like to curl up on their basking shelf together.

The reason I have them together at the moment is because both of them, and particularly Vlad, are miserable when they are on their own. When I housed Vlad on his own he stopped eating and just hid away for the 2-3 weeks. So having him with Lacci where he is eating, basking and exploring seems to be a better option than having him starving himself and hiding.

In 4 weeks I will be able to move Lacci in with Adora, and Vlad in with Lipwig. So both will have same-sex radix company. With us having a baby in August I don't plan to let any of our garters breed this year, so it will be next Spring before Vlad and Lacci see each other again, by which time they should both be mature enough for breeding.