Baby fire sals

[xxianxx]

My first breeding year for S.s.terrestris, i had the parents since they were juvies, finally bred after five years. I keep them in a very cool shed with a cooling winter period so i think development was a bit on the slow side. Ive recently increased my colony from four to twenty adults and am in the process of building a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft viv to house the majority of them. Pics when ive finished it.

 

[John]

Nice one Ian! They look fantastic. How many juveniles did you end up with?

 

[xxianxx]

Just one female dropped twenty babies, i raised seventeen to go terrestrial. Have eight left, five are going out next week. Im tempted to keep these as the original buyer is not returning my meassages but i have ten juvy solling on order which im collecting in a couple of weeks and i need the cash. Next year im hoping to produce a couple hundred, with the import bans in place the UK needs to be self sufficient in producing amphibians.

 

[John]

Yes and from what I hear, Brexit is making everything a lot worse for stuff coming in.

 

[xxianxx]

Wether its existing legislation or brexit which is causing the phib shortage idk. What i do know is that wholesalers are struggling to find stock to supply retail outlets, the prices have gone up accordingly. Hopefully this price rise will encourage hobbyiests to breed more and supply cb rather than wc. I think in the short term we will see a few species disappear from the hobby but in the long term i can see a golden period for captive breeding which wc imports were supressing.

 

[xxianxx]

New fire sal viv, trading the plastic bowls for terracota ones soon. Couldnt rotate the first pic for some reason.

 

[John]

Very nice. What's the ventilation like?

 

[xxianxx]

On the top of the viv there is 6" pane of glass siliconed on both ends, a sheet of glass is placed at the back running along its length, the gap left for ventilation is 3ft x 1ft. I intend to cover the opening with wire mesh to keep rodents out. Ive trapped a rat and a few mice in my shed this year and i want to keep my sals safe. Is the ventilation sufficient ?

 

[John]

Sounds good. Terrestris is pretty forgiving in that regard anyhow.