Posted by:
Gregg_M_Madden
at Fri Mar 23 12:23:29 2012 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Gregg_M_Madden ]
I would like to add my 2 cents.
Egg binding is generally not actually associated with the actual size of the snake. Egg binding can affect any snake at any size. It has more to do with dehydration, lack of exercise, and vitamin and mineral deficiency. My last concern about breeding smaller females is the risk of egg binding. You have to figure, in the wild, reptiles reach sexual maturity at a small size. In the wild, a 2 to 3 year old female hognose may only be 100 to 150 grams. They will not pass up the chance to pass on their genetics once the reach sexual maturity provided they are in good health. Last year I picked up a 125 gram female. She was 125 grams and gravid. Eggs were infertile but she passed them just fine. However, she almost did not recover from the ordeal. I actually need to force feed her (for me this is a last resort step before euthanization) for a couple of months.
With that being said, there are other things to worry about like what I mentioned about recovery. The egging process is very taxing on reptiles. It takes a lot of vitamin, mineral, calcium, and fat stores.
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RE: Breeding underweight females? - Gregg_M_Madden, Fri Mar 23 12:23:29 2012