Hey Gregg
Sorry for the late reply, Ive been on the road dealing with work. Anyway yes I agree with you for the most part. Egg binding in captivity is usually caused by improper husbandry. But that encompasses many things, temps, diet, stress, improper nesting sites etc. I dont know if you are familiar with indigo's, but they are one of the most common snakes in captivity to suffer from egg binding (I have several huge females that the previous owners said suffered from egg binding in the past). In the wild their main staple is other snakes. I include snakes in all my drymarchon diets and have never had an issue with it. Usually with them it is caused by lack of a varied diet, and there is evidence to support that.
In all colubrids (hogs included) though size does play a factor. I think for the most part the 150 gram-250gram thing is what some hobbyists in the past came up with, and since they were successful I believe we stuck to that as dogma. I dont believe in a set size for breeding, but with my experience I can usually tell when a female is ready to breed (as Im sure you can as well), but that comes from experience. I think we have stuck to the 250 gram mark for new hobbyists because they dont have that same ability.
I believe for the most part you are correct. When you breed a small female, it is everything after egg laying that matters as far as getting the female back up to a healthy weight, and making sure she is well hydrated. If you say this to a new hobbyist though, I feel as if it gives them the wrong impression and usually think we condone them to do the same thing as advanced hobbyists with minimal risk. I do not consider a 150 gram female to be fully developed. She might have everything needed to breed, but that doesnt necessarily mean her body is ready. Its like the 12 year old girl that has her period, and then is able to get pregnant. Just because she has the proper tools, doesnt mean her body is truly ready to have a

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Hide Replies ]