A.ceratophora breeding protocol

All is in the title Wink

a person which would have reproduced will ceratophora could it indicate under which conditions it to maintained these adults and which period " hivernal" seem to be best adapted. I passably read opinions different on activation from the cycle of reproduction.

Thanks

Neil Villard

can't people answer me?

stay patient Neil,

our Atheris community surly answers to your question if they have knowledge.
unfortunately, i cant help you, as i have no experiences with the whole genus until now.

cheers
Mario

I've been keeping Cerat's for several years, but haven't actually had them reproduce here. I have had gravid females come in from the wild and I was surprised at the lengthy gestation period, and the tiny size of the babies. One female that gave a good litter on December 26th one year (can't remember when off the top of my head) had been imported in June of the same year and had been kept individually since arrival in the country. She had two babies and one slug.

I'm under the impression the wet/dry season has something to do with reproductive stimulation, but I've not specifically put any extensive efforts into mine. This year I hope to control things a little better and hopefully start getting some definitive results.

All the best,

JonK

Hi Neil. Sorry for the silence on my part, but like Jon K, I have not had success captive breeding this species yet and I was hoping someone else would answer you who has.

I had two imported females drop babies for me this year and they were both visibly gravid in June when I acquired them. They did not drop babies until November (one actually dropped slugs). I have a friend who bred his cerats in April (they bred on many separate occasions) of last year and they dropped slugs in late November. So I feel that gestation for this species is 7-8 months at least. If mine were visibly gravid and didn't drop babies for another six months, that means they go for a long time. I've also seen newborn babies from imports in the summer, so they may reproduce at different times of the year in the wild, as well.

My recommendation is to keep them mild with mild humidity and temps for a while and then make a sudden shift to colder and wetter and pair them up and see what happens.

Thank you with you for your precision, I read once on a protocol of reproduction. That it stays necessary to make one cold period 10°C-12°C. You think that it is not too cold?

Neil,

like i said, i have no experiences with Atheris, but i was 2 times in Tanzania, on Mnt. Meru for example, and on Mt. Kilimanjaro drops Temperatures in Winter June/July to 0°C. Well, i dont really know how high Atheris ceratophora climbs, but i can tell you, even here in the Philippines, some winter-nights, 10°C in not uncommon, depends where you go. rapid climate and temperature changes are not uncommon in higher rainforest elevations in tropical countrys..

A.ceratophora breeding protocol C6330110

A.ceratophora breeding protocol C6330110

Climate Map of Tabora, Tanzania (Elevation 1265 metres)

A.ceratophora breeding protocol Eb483510

Climate Map of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Elevation 14 metres)

i would probably not Hybernate at 10°C, but 14°-15°C, i dont see why not.. we hybernate our Parias mcgregori at 10°C for two weeks, no problem at all... Here its cold and wet, in Tanzania cold and relatively dry instead..

cheers
Mario

thank you very much for your answer it is a good confimation for me.

Atheris ceratophora climbs from ~ 700m to 1900 m
Atheris squamigera ~ 800 to 1700 m
Atheris nitschei over 2200 m

Regards, Michael

Guest

I think its got alot to do with where your located. My cerata like it around 74 (23.3°C) in the day and 70 (21.1 °C) at night and they flourish. I started out at higher temps and they just seemed to want to mope around on the bottom of there cages once i turned down the temps they stick to the branches and are quite active.

Edited by Mario: please try to use Metric data, the whole world is using it, we are using it too...! cheers

10 C sounds a bit low to me, as well. I've personally done 3 months at 14-15 C and had no problems with them. I provided a basking light and they basked sometimes and sometimes they didn't.

Timothy, what species is that on your avatar? If that is ceratophora, it has to be the fattest one I've ever seen. Or it's just the way the pic was taken.

Guest

Yes Derek its one of my cerats. the pic was taken up close she's probably as wide as my middle finger.

@Derek

Quote :: I've personally done 3 months at 14-15 C and had no problems with them

How you hold it with the humidity?
Do you spray water in the cold phase, and when yes how often?

Cheers, Tom

Hi Thomas, my basement is pretty humid as it is (~60%), so I don't need to spray too often. I spray them once every 7-14 days (more often when trying to stimulate breeding). I think that we often times associate spraying with humidity, but I try not to do that too much because it just makes the cages too wet. If I need to raise the humidity in a cage, I am more likely to dump water into the bottom of the substrate to do so. I do spray cages to simulate rain and what not, but I do not routinely spray cages to keep the humidity up....if that makes sense. Smile

Thank you for the infos, Derek.

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