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Baby Westerrn Diamondbacks
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by caverdude on August 24, 2003
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My Western Diamondback just gave birth to 10 babies. I'm going to turn most of them loose in a National Park, but I was curious to know what do they eat since they are so small? It seems like they might start with crickets?
thanks,
Pat
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RE: Baby Westerrn Diamondbacks
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by Chris_Harper on August 24, 2003
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Pinkies is correct. Caverdude, go to a pet store and ask for pinkies and instructions on how to feed baby snakes. Also, if you are going to release them, be sure to release them in the area where the mother is from, preferrably a rocky outcropping where other C.atrox are known to live.
There is a single care sheet on the Eastern diamondback that has a lot of useful information for you. Have a look:
http://www.venomousreptiles.org/libraries/Care%20Sheets
~CH
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RE: Baby Westerrn Diamondbacks
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by HELERI on August 24, 2003
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Hello. I belive that it is illegal to release captive animals into the wild even if they are neonates; especially into a national park! Please find another way of disposing of the snakes so that you don't break the law!
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RE: Baby Westerrn Diamondbacks
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by TomT on August 24, 2003
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While I don't know if it is illegal to release rattlesnakes into the wild, it is not generally a wise practice to do so. Anytime you take an animal out of a wild population and later release it, you run the risk of introducing pathogens into the wild population. The risks are low, unless you have diseased animals in your collection...
As to caring for baby C. atrox, I have found them to be pretty undemanding as captives. Most will feed on day-old mice (I try thawed frozen first and then live) on the first or second try. I wait until the snake has shed once and then offer the baby mouse to the snake(s). It is important not to offer too large a meal, although they will most often eat larger mice than day old pinks, too large a meal may cause the snake to regurgitate...
Chris Harper gave good advice about releasing the babies in the same vacinity as the mom was captured, but there is more to the release of captive born babies than that... studies indicate that neonatal rattlesnakes follow pheromone trails left behind by the female on her way back to the den. By design, I recon this scent trail is like leaving breadcrumbs so one can find one's way home again. The babies follow mom back to the den for the winter, or so I'm told... So, you might have to put the babies *in* the den or right near the opening in order to ensure they find the dern thing....
If you need any help with the babies as far as getting them started, let me know...
Tom T
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RE: Baby Westerrn Diamondbacks
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by HELERI on August 25, 2003
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While everyoe has their views on releasing captive animals into the wild, my primary concern is for releasing the babies into a national park. While I could see that the motive would be to ensure the protection of the snakes, there are some things that I would consider.
1, one would be breaking the law by introducing animals into a national park because one would be interfering with the ecosystem within the park and that would be interfering with propery of a national park, which is against the law.
2, one might be interfering with a field study and/or introducing pathogens that one might not be aware of.
Thanks-Robert Villa
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RE: Baby Westerrn Diamondbacks
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by Chris_Harper on August 25, 2003
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I agree on the issue of not releasing captive reptiles, but if someone is going to do it, they need to know the best way to go about it.
MsTT and I co-wrote an article on why captive reptiles should not be released a while back. I'll have to upload it to the site when I get the chance.
~CH
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RE: Baby Westerrn Diamondbacks
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by caverdude on August 31, 2003
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Thanks for all the valuable information. These snakes are not captive bred snakes, they were just born in captivity by a mother snake who was pregnant when I caught her ~1 month ago.
I'm going to release the babies into the same type of environment as their mother, but I'll avoid the problems with National Parks.
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