Hi, everyone. First off, while I am a newbie breeder, I am not so much a novice in keeping Western hognoses--I have had at least one happily in my house for the last 10 years. However, last year I decided to try my hand at breeding them, so I got a 2 year old normal female, and a 1 year old red phase male. I have been fattening them both up, and successfully brumated both of them (in Nor Cal, at temps in the mid 50's to low 60's from November (when the female went down on her own) and October for the male (he had gone off his feed and was being cranky). They both came out of brumation in late March, and the female ate immediately while the male refused to eat (remember, he hadn't eaten since October). He did seem to be searching for something, so I took a chance and popped him into the female's tank. Within 5 minutes (I am not kidding!!!) they were locked up, and I felt like I was watching snake porn. It was awesome!!! I left him in with her for a week, separated them for 2 weeks, and then put him back in (he looked like he was searching for a female again). She has been eating non-stop since then, and he has eaten twice.



She recently looked quite a bit plumper, and then she shed a week and a half ago. Then, 3 days ago, she started to lay obvious slugs. Small, misshapen, creamed-honey-colored, hard eggs that had no veins, and were the size of a dime. She has laid 11 so far, and I keep checking the moist hide for more on a daily basis. She has thinned out tremendously, but is still eating like a pig. (Yesterday she downed 3 full grown mice.)



My question is this: as far as the slugs go, is there a greater chance that they are slugs because it is her/the male's first breeding, or because there is a normal x red phase trying to occur? I am totally novice at breeding, and I don't know much about the male other than he is about 3, and is definitely a red phase.



While I am not holding out much hope, I suppose there is a possibility of getting fertile eggs out of this clutch, and then a fair chance of a second clutch in a while. I guess another question would be whether or not I should let her rest and see what happens in a few weeks, or if I should continue to bulk her back up and reintroduce the male in a while.



Thanks in advance for the help, and please, only constructive replies/posts. If there is something else you need to know to help answer my questions, please ask. And please remember, I have fully admitted to being a newbie--everyone starts out with inexperience in breeding.

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