How long should they stay with parents?

Saille

Saille

New member
For you breeders out there, how long do you leave the hatchling Tokays in with the parents before you separate them out into their own enclosures to start working with them? I have eggs incubating right now and would like to know when to separate the hatchlings to give them the best chance for survival?
Thank you!
 
Ophidiophile

Ophidiophile

Member
I know people who just leave the babies in with the parents indefinitely though I don't think this is a good thing to do unless the cage is extremely large. I generally remove my babies within a week of hatching and usually within more like 2-3 days.

By the way, initially I was keeping pairs of hatchling babies together in 10 gallon tanks but I am now trying to keep them 1 to a tank. I've found that when kept in pairs, one always seems to dominate and grow well while the other lags behind, sometimes significantly. So if using small tanks like a 10 gal. for hatchlings, I'd recommend keeping them separately.
 
I

Ingo

New member
4-5 months are abolsutely safe. At the age of 6 months or older, parents start chasing around offspring of their own sex and latest then, they should be removed.
In some cases, offspring can stay in ther parents enclosure for almost ever without any sign of aggression. This however, in most cases indicates that the enclosure is too small and the seemingly peace is just a consequence of a crowding effect.
Even halfgrown tokays do not harm their youngest siblings. The only challenge for the keeper thus is to provide enough food within all size classes needed for a growing family of tokays. Key is, to feed a lot of tiny insects, because even the larger specimens prey on them and if small feeder insects are not given in excess, hatchlings might not be able to catch enough of them before they are eaten by the rest of the family.
Keeoping hatchlings in pairs in fact is not a good idea unless the enclosure is larger than 20g from day 1 on. Raising in groups works much better. I typically raise all babies of one pair from one year in the same enclosure (50g and up), if they do not stay with the parents.
So far, survival rate during the last 10 or more years is 100% and all grow up nicely.

best

Ingo
 
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Ophidiophile

Ophidiophile

Member
Pic appropriate for this thread...

Kinda crummy because it was taken with a cellphone camera but still cool - Dad and baby:

DadBabe.jpg
 
cliff_f

cliff_f

New member
I usually take mine out within a week or two just so I can keep a better eye on them. I have left them with the parents for a few months with no problems at all. I usually wait at least a week because that is when the hatchlings start venturing from the parents to find food. That makes then easier to catch when they are not right next to the parents.
 
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