MidnightIris
New member
Can anybody tell me what the adverage clutch size for a first time female bred to a first time male is? Also (and I know this can be unpredictable) what percent is usually fertile?
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Can Anybody Tell Me...
- Thread starter MidnightIris
- Start date
Darin Chappell
Very Senior Hillbilly
My experience shows an average female's first time clutch of being anywhere from 8-10 eggs. I have no real experience to site for first time males and their fertility rates. However, I have had a cumulative fertility rate of about 87%.
It has been my experience that younger, smaller males can be a real chancy situation as far as fertility is concerned. Maybe the first breeding will be OK, but don't count your chickens before they hatch, and don't try to stretch him out over multiple females. I have gotten bitten in the butt many a time for trying to do that. The problem is that usually the more interesting things I am working with are going to be the younger animals as the newer generations begin to come online for breeding. I try to increase my odds by making sure I have several genetically identical (for my purposes, anyway) males and breed ALL of them to each female.
As a general rule, I expect the older bigger males to be much more fertile as an average. And this may make a lot of sense from Mother Nature's point of view. The whole reason for an animal to breed is to try to perpetuate the species. So which male would be the one that would be the preferred mate for an eligible female? Some youngster whom has just reached maturity for the first time, probably just lucky to still be alive because he hasn't done anything stupid enough yet, or an older male that has been through the trials and tribulations of just surviving the environment and is a known and proven survivor? Is it only coincidence that I find that I have better 'first date' luck using big males instead of smaller males for breeders? Perhaps the females are hardwired to be more receptive to those larger males as well.
Of course this is all speculation, but sometimes it is interesting to just step back and think of 'why' things should work a certain way and then try them out. These critters have been crawling around doing their thing for along time before humans came onto the scene and started putting them into cages. So try to think about what they would do in the wild, why they would do it that way, and then try to accomodate whatever it is that should be natural to them.
As far as number of eggs for a first time female, there is no rule of thumb for that. I have had big females pop out only 2 or 3 eggs for their first time, and then on the other hand I recall this REAL LITTLE female Lavender that threw 22 slugs one year. I was certainly glad they were all slugs, because if they had been fertile, she probably would have split right down the middle. As it was she looked like a road kill even after laying the slugs. The only reason I even bred her was because she was in an absolute panic to be with a male and I was afraid she was going to wear herself to a frazzle unless I put a male in with her. BTW, snakes will tell you what they want if you pay attention to them enough.
Later.....
As a general rule, I expect the older bigger males to be much more fertile as an average. And this may make a lot of sense from Mother Nature's point of view. The whole reason for an animal to breed is to try to perpetuate the species. So which male would be the one that would be the preferred mate for an eligible female? Some youngster whom has just reached maturity for the first time, probably just lucky to still be alive because he hasn't done anything stupid enough yet, or an older male that has been through the trials and tribulations of just surviving the environment and is a known and proven survivor? Is it only coincidence that I find that I have better 'first date' luck using big males instead of smaller males for breeders? Perhaps the females are hardwired to be more receptive to those larger males as well.
Of course this is all speculation, but sometimes it is interesting to just step back and think of 'why' things should work a certain way and then try them out. These critters have been crawling around doing their thing for along time before humans came onto the scene and started putting them into cages. So try to think about what they would do in the wild, why they would do it that way, and then try to accomodate whatever it is that should be natural to them.
As far as number of eggs for a first time female, there is no rule of thumb for that. I have had big females pop out only 2 or 3 eggs for their first time, and then on the other hand I recall this REAL LITTLE female Lavender that threw 22 slugs one year. I was certainly glad they were all slugs, because if they had been fertile, she probably would have split right down the middle. As it was she looked like a road kill even after laying the slugs. The only reason I even bred her was because she was in an absolute panic to be with a male and I was afraid she was going to wear herself to a frazzle unless I put a male in with her. BTW, snakes will tell you what they want if you pay attention to them enough.
Later.....
MidnightIris
New member
Hehe...
I guess that I'm lucky that I'm not breeding for anything special this year (all babies should be normal), this is just a test run to see how I handle the whole breeding thing.
Thanks for the advice!
I guess that I'm lucky that I'm not breeding for anything special this year (all babies should be normal), this is just a test run to see how I handle the whole breeding thing.
Thanks for the advice!