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P. cornutum hatchlings

By Mark Brock

Breeding:

Healthy adults will mate, and are cabale of laying up to 40 eggs in a clutch. You must be prepared with an incubator beforehand. Over time you will notice a marked difference in the growth rates between the hatchlings. Depending on the size of your group and the growth rate difference, there may come a time to separate the runts into another enclosure. They will not be as competitive for food as their larger brethren, and will suffer for it all the more as that difference grows.

Hover over photos to enlarge

header=[<center>Cornutum and solare hatchling. Photos by Mark Brock</center>] body=[<img src='p_data/husbandry/cornutum/MarkB/image1.jpg'>]delay=[600]
header=[<center>Group of solare and cornutum hatchlings, one week old.<center>] body=[<img src='p_data/husbandry/cornutum/MarkB/image2.jpg'>]delay=[600]

Feeding Hatchlings:

Small ants, fruit flies, and pinhead crickets are good for the first few weeks. As they grow, they will take P. californicus harvester ants, common to the west. Californicus can range in size dramatically. Make sure they are not too big. After 6-8 weeks, they will be able to eat most smaller harvester ants without problem. Ants should be fed in small quantities several times a day. Generally, if they are willing to eat, they should be fed. This ensures optimum growth and development. A group of hatchlings can go through a lot of crickets and fruit flies in their early stages of growth. Hatchlings do not have the resilience of adult HLs in not being fed regularly. They don't have enough fat stores to see them through lean times.

Water & Temperature:

Hover over photos to enlarge

header=[<center>Hatchlings in a bed of dirt and leaf litter from a desert tree.</center>] body=[<img src='p_data/husbandry/cornutum/MarkB/image3.jpg'>]fixedrely=[10], delay=[600]
header=[<center>Cornutum hatchling, two months old.<center>] body=[<img src='p_data/husbandry/cornutum/MarkB/image4.jpg'>]fixedrely=[-15], delay=[600]

Captive born cornutum will readily take water from a dropper (as detailed in the husbandry pages) and should be provided at least every other day. You do not need to force them to drink. They will take water if they need it. If not, give them a day or two. Temperatures should be the same for hatchlings as for adults. Just ensure they have room to get away from the heat source as needed. Their smaller body mass means they heat up and cool down much more quickly than adults.

Returning to the wild:

With numbers decreasing every year, mostly due to development, many people have a genuine concern for the plight of HLs. This spurs many to consider breeding them for release to the wild. However, most states have laws that prohibit the release of captive specimens. This may be largely based on issues that have resulted with release of captive, desert tortoise near wild populations; a respiratory illness has been passed to them with devastating results. Some studies show that transplanted animals have a dismal success rate with a nearly total loss. The release of captive populations may one day be a viable conservation method, but for now there are many factors to consider and many details to be worked out.