Hi Gexers,
I picked up quite a few C. elegans from the Czech guy at Daytona, all
are doing well. All appear to be cb, that is neat too. They were all
juvies, barely sexable, some too young to sex. Before I start my
discussion on them, let's go back in time to when I first picked them up
about 4 years ago.
I saw the Czech guy at an IRBA show in San Diego, he had them in
quantity and I'd never been able to get any from anyone in the USA. I
know one breeder had some, but was not willing to part with any.
Needless to say, I was excited out of my gourd and was happy to get some
although I knew nothing about this guy. He had a bunch of expensive
anoles and a lot of very rare stuff lizard-wise. So, I took a chance.
Cyndi, my steadfast pal and show compadre, and I drove back home from
San Diego, a nine hour drive, the following Monday. It was sometime
between buying them and the trip home that I realized some of them were
not doing well! I was puzzled and upset. Cyndi figured out that the
containers the Czech guy used had NO AIRHOLES!!! A warning to you all,
he is still doing this. I complained about it to him this time, he did
not seem concerned that they could run out of air. If you ever plan to
buy from him at a show bring your own containers with airholes!
Once I got them home, some did die right away, I am sure because of the
no airhole deal. Very frustrating! Then, to add to my frustration, I
went to feed them and they just stared at the 2 week old crickets I gave
them. More died of hunger I am sure before I figured out what they would
eat.....waxworms! They looked like a cartoon character with their eyes
popping out when I put those in there. Pretty soon I had them converted
to crickets, and they thrived. By this time I only had three out of
about 12.
I keep them similarly to C. mitratus, moister and cooler. Until I
figured out this was what they needed the babies my pair produced did
not survive. I found out they like to tunnel....I recently set up one of
those snake hide deals with the hole in it to enter and one large food
bowl in their 16qt. Sterilite set-up. For substrate I used spaghnum peat
moss, about an 1", topped by fine grade orchid bark. They promptly dug
out two tunnel entrances to go under their snake hide! In the food bowl
I put a culture of mini-mealworms that they can pick at and eat anytime
they like. At night they gather around it and help themselves!
As far as their eggs, I incubate them leopard-gecko style in vermiculite
at 80-83F. I never had a problem getting them to hatch, most eggs did.
As I noted earlier, they must have moisture or else they croak. I have
set them up two ways with equal success. One way is to set them up by
clutch in a 6-1/4" wide clear deli cup, using paper towels in folds with
a few pieces of Black Jungle's true Canadian sphagnum peat moss stuck in
between to both provide moisture and a "tunnel" in the paper towels.
Nightly I mist this set-up and offer the young 1-2 week crickets
depending on size. They will also eagerly take the mini-mealies. The
other technique is using the same container, but using living moss,
broken up in a few big pieces. They will tunnel under it and run around
on top of it. They seem to really thrive in these set-ups. I knew they
were happier as they were out more than in drier type set-ups.
So far they are not as prolific as C. mitratus, however, that may change
I as figure out their needs better. Most of my babies this year have
survived and done very well. Hope that helps some of you working with
them or wanting to work with them!
Julie Bergman
http://www.geckoranch.com
GGA lifetime member
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