hallenhe
Avid Member
I have had several bearded pygmies hatch in the past few months, with hatchlings emerging August 7-10, August 30, and September 24. All babies hatched in the adult cage, as the female I had observed digging had chosen to lay her eggs way in the back of the cage, where they couldn't be accessed without stripping it down; all were perched on plants when I discovered them. The August batches were promptly removed (sometimes by trimming off the branch on which they were perched) to a Critter Keeper, where they have a fake plant and some leaves. One baby was not growing as fast as the others (being outcompeted for food?), and sat on the floor for a couple days before I gave him his own quarters, where he resumed climbing up and down his branch and could eat his fill.
There are springtails and other little snacks abundant in the adult cage, and I thought I would experiment with leaving the September babies in there. I have never seen my neonates so small that the adults could readily eat them - one was nose-to-nose with his father on a branch when first discovered - and the adults seem to leave them alone altogether. I know the potential risk of being chewed on by crickets; with the exception of the runt mentioned above, all babies have consistently climbed into the foliage for the night, and I watch the cricket numbers and sizes carefully.
It's been a month, and the three babies left since hatching in the big cage are alive, well and growing. I added the runt to the big cage a couple weeks ago, and he's been doing fine as well. The foraging size is considerably bigger, of course, but the springtail colonization is pretty good, and invertebrates can sustain populations in the big cage that they can't in the Critter Keeper with its paper towel floor covering.
There are springtails and other little snacks abundant in the adult cage, and I thought I would experiment with leaving the September babies in there. I have never seen my neonates so small that the adults could readily eat them - one was nose-to-nose with his father on a branch when first discovered - and the adults seem to leave them alone altogether. I know the potential risk of being chewed on by crickets; with the exception of the runt mentioned above, all babies have consistently climbed into the foliage for the night, and I watch the cricket numbers and sizes carefully.
It's been a month, and the three babies left since hatching in the big cage are alive, well and growing. I added the runt to the big cage a couple weeks ago, and he's been doing fine as well. The foraging size is considerably bigger, of course, but the springtail colonization is pretty good, and invertebrates can sustain populations in the big cage that they can't in the Critter Keeper with its paper towel floor covering.
