A.chlorechis breeding advice needed

Hi guys some advice about breeding this species would be very much appreciated. I have done a lot of reading on them but practical tips from your experience would help a lot.

I acquired a pair of A.chlorechis from a friend. Both the male and female seem to be doing very well, both eat and drink regularly. I am keeping them in 30litre plastic tubs with holes drilled for ventilation. I’m using sphagnum moss as a substrate with plenty place to climb and perch. I’m using plastic plants in the cages so they have place to hide.

My temperatures are ranging from 25 degrees(daytime) down to about 19-20(night) the humidity ranges between 70 -85% I have let it drop right down to 50% for short periods to simulate their dry season. I’m using a 60 watt infrared globe placed between the cages as a heat source and it seem to work quite well in maintaining the correct temps. I was using an ordinary (energy saving) bulb to simulate day and night but abandoned this idea.

My female is about 45cm in length and my male about 35cm. I’m currently keeping them in separate enclosures and would like to introduce them in early spring (mid August) or once my female sheds.

Any comments or advice would be very much appreciated. I will post some pics as soon as I get hold of a camera.

Maybe this page is useful:
Climate Ghana

In my opinion you're doing well, I think to simulate the dry season is the right way to get them together ;-)

I managed to breed A. nitschei last season and I believe my female is gravid this season.
The majority of atheris we see around are wild caught, no matter what the seller tells you.
I would get them both into large well ventilated cages and do some re-search on, if possible your atheris locality because I believe many atheris localities differ in altitude resulting climate preferences.

Your temps are good but I would increase it slightly by adding a basking spot of 30 degrees.
Any success with breeding I ve heard of is following the locality climate and starting your spraying process when the locality climate best matches that of your climate where you live.
Your best bet would be to wait until the rainy season and try introducing them then.

Maybe it's no mistake to offer a basking spot, but I think it's very important not to heat the whole cage up to 27-28 degrees after installation. In my opinion lower temps also in high parts of the cage are really important.

https://venomland.forumotion.com/atheris-f7/atheris-chorechis-t2440.htm

here is some infe that i got of here..
gr jorg

Thanks for all the advice guys. I really appreciate it. Our rainy season should start her in September, although our winter which is supposed to be dry has been ver rainy. My chlorechis were supposed to have come from Togo but the seller isnt quite sure. I know many of the specimens floating arround South Africa are from Ghana so who knows. I will hopefully post some pics of them a bit later today.

I have just had a look at some climatic data charts for Ghana and Togo and both countries share similar patterns. Their rainfall increases from March and peaks in June this correlates with a temperature drop. From July temps increase and rainfall deacreases.

I have also wondered about the usefullness of a basking spot. Where does this species occour in the forest. If it is a species occouring on the forest fringes or openings in the forest such as river courses then it could get to suitable areas to bask. If however it is a true forest species it would have to climb to the tree tops to bask as the sun on the forest floor would be very filtered, and these snakes lack motivation to move at the best of times.

Basking spots will typically only be used if the ambient temperatures are too low, or by gravid females. I give all of my breeding females a basking spot and that's one of the best ways to tell that they are gravid.

please explain a bit more about this conclusion of gravid females.
My room temperature is at the moment at 25 degrees so below the striplight come about 28-29 degrees. But also in winter when room temperatures fall down I don't install a basking spot so 25 degrees below the striplight down to 20 degrees away from the striplight. My animals choose rarely hideplaces next to the striplight.

Hi Jonas, when I see a female basking with the fat part of her body closest to the basking light, that is when I know she is warming her brood and working to maintain them. That's the best sign that I know of to tell that they are gravid before they start actually getting fat and showing that they are gravid. Some females stop eating, but others will continue to feed, so that's not a good indicator all the time. And sometimes the babies are so small that you will never see lumps in the females and you may never even know they are gravid. So, the basking is a good indicator. I've seen many females hide from the spot lights (especially chlorechis that seem to like it cooler than squamigera) until they get gravid and then they suddenly appear beneath the light.

thank you!

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