leachie dinner time :)

[sara]

Every once and a while I break out my spoon for hand feedings, it's a great way to check up on them and seems to make the concept of "out" more bearable and even something to look forward to. These guys are so neat, they almost remind me of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh.:p Hope you guys enjoy these.


http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/180leachielick1.jpg

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/180leachielick2.jpg

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/180leachie1.jpg

[Bartman]

Great pics!

[DragnDrop]

They look so much like big babies when they lick their fruit, don't they?
How old are yours? I thought you posted something about GT leachies a while back, are they the same ones?

[Enter]

thats awsome what are u feeding them

[sara]

I have an adult pair, but I did purchase two yearlings a while back. My adults are extremely incompatible, so I brought these guys up from the U.S. in the hopes of finding a better match for one/both of my adult GTs. Since they are clutchmates, I recently decided to offer one of the two for sale. (that's why I have so many extra pics of them at the moment) They are such cute little buggers, and these guys are super tame and laid back which is a sharp contrast from my adults. (they can't even look at each other without showing a threat display) The adults are definitely a m/f pair because I had 4 good eggs last year, but they nearly killed each other in the process. :rolleyes:
Hey Hilde, you have a big island girlie right? Any breeding plans?

[sara]

Oh, that's t-rex leachianus diet and peach babyfood... they go crazy for a little extra peach in the mix. They can eat a spoonfull of the stuff, which is crazy because their bodies are roughly the same size.:p

[DragnDrop]

I have one leachie, a Pine Island version. He was supposed to be male, so I named him Oscar. I changed it to Lady Oscar when I found infertile eggs. I spent 3 years looking for a verifiable female for 'him', and only found males. Now that I have to find a male, I can't find any. LOL. Oh well, I think I might have that solved, there's one I'm working on.

I've often heard that GTs can be hard to pair up. A leachie breeder in Germany told me they have to be slowly introduced. Let them see each other across the room for a few months, then move the cages closer. Eventually let them interact for a few minutes but separate them again. Each introduction can last longer until they're showing signs of being friendly towards each other, then leave them together, but be prepared to separate them again if need be. Apparently in the wild they spend a lot of time checking each other out before deciding to team up. Imitating that in captivity helps make for safe pairing. Just plunking one in with the other sets off a territorial dispute and can end up with injuries, sometimes fatal. I know if/when I get a male for Lady Oscar, I'll do the slow intros with them even though they're PI not GT. She might be anxious to find a mate since she's mature already, but I'm not risking anything by going too fast (not after 4 years of waiting for a mate).

[sara]

Yes, I have heard of incompatibility issues before. They have been in close proximity for about 4 years, and it took me 8 months to get them used to being housed side-by-side. They seemed fine untill maybe 15min after being introduced into a neutral enclosure... it was just supposed to be a quick introduction... (both can be territiorial, so if figured I could eliminate that factor by making them familiar with a space outside of their defined "territory" prior to their meeting) Anyway, to my suprise they decided to go for it after 5 min. but it was way too rough for my liking, both ended up with bad lacerations. Now i'm pretty much back at square 1, but now I get chomped on if I forget to wash my hands after handling one or the other. They're definitely not tokays, but just look at what they can do to a pinky...

[DragnDrop]

Oscar can polish off a fuzzy like it was a marshmallow, so I can imagine what a GT can do. I normally give her a pinky every 4-6 weeks as a treat, but ran out once a few months ago, so I thought I'd let her have a fuzzy. She dove on it like she'd asked for on for Christmas :) Yet this same lug will lick fruit with the smallest daintiest licks, you'd almost expect to see her sit there with her pinky fingers up.
Leachies are great, interesting critters, even when she keeps me awake at night with her 'barking'.