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incubation temps?

teaspoon Feb 17, 2008 07:41 AM

so, this is my second year trying to breed beardies, but I have a different male this year, maybe it will work out better, because last year, all I got was 2 infertile eggs. So, I'm expecting eggs in about a month. Is there a temperature that they can be incubated at that will give me all females? mostly females? all males? about how long do they take to incubate at each of these temperatures? thanks for any input!
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My menagerie
2.1 Ball Pythons
1.0 Amazon Tree Boa
1.0 Corn Snake
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
1.2 Bearded Dragons
2.1 Crested Geckos
2.1 Sudan Plated Lizards
0.0.5 Eastern Painted Turtles
1.1.5 Eastern Box Turtles
1.1 Eastern Red-spotted Newts
1.0 Northern Mockingbird
0.3 Chickens
2.0 Cats
1.1 Ferrets
2.4 mice
0.0.35 some kind of goldfish

Replies (7)

RMCADguy Feb 17, 2008 08:33 AM

I have heard of temps being able to give you more of one or the other, but never all of one or the other sex. I always just incubate at 85-86 for a healthy mix, I get about 50/50.

I seem to remember reading that if you incubate lower you get mostly girls and higher for more boys. Not certain though.

Good luck
PHil

BDlvr Feb 17, 2008 10:30 AM

TDSD - Temperature dependant sex determination. It works with some reptiles. Higher incubation temperatures produce more females.

Now the bad news. Beardies sex is determined genetically. Tests have been done with Beardies incubated at high temps. and some genetic males showed female physical tendancies. The eggs were incubated in the high 90's which is a temperature that at which egg failure and birth defects are common.

I incubate at 85 and roll the dice.

PHLdyPayne Feb 17, 2008 03:43 PM

I have not heard of any conclusive results from bearded dragon sexes being determined by incubation temperatures. Its genetically determined so its best to incubate at around 85-86F to get the best hatch rate.

Problems with egg fertility varies...low sperm count, improper diets, health of male and female, incubation temperatures and humidity, and genetic issues, can all affect how many eggs are produced and how many hatch successfully. Age of both the male and female also can have an effect.

Knowing more information about your breeding pair, such as age, weight, size, husbandry, health, etc. as well as what sort of egg laying bin you provide your female to lay her eggs in, how often you introduce the male to the female,(or if you just keep them together all the time) if you brumate before breeding, witnessed copulation, and what sort of incubation medium you use, how its prepared and what sort of incubator you are using, including temperatures you set it at and what you use to control the temperature. These details will make it easier to know where things need to be changed or could be wrong.

If you have more than one female paired off with the male, how are their clutch size/fertility? Have you tried with other males on the these same females?
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PHLdyPayne

teaspoon Feb 18, 2008 02:46 PM

I found one site that had some experiments with incubation temperature. At different temps the the mid to high 90s they got all boys and all girls, but like over half of the eggs died. I'm suprised that any of them made it! Don't worry, I'm not going to try it.
Though it would be cool if i got baby beardies, I'm not putting a ton of effert into the mating part of it, I'm really busy right now with school and baby turtles. Although I didn't brumate them very long, I did see them mating. I might get babies, might not, might only get a few, any way is fine with me.
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My menagerie
2.1 Ball Pythons
1.0 Amazon Tree Boa
1.0 Corn Snake
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
1.2 Bearded Dragons
2.1 Crested Geckos
2.1 Sudan Plated Lizards
0.0.5 Eastern Painted Turtles
1.1.5 Eastern Box Turtles
1.1 Eastern Red-spotted Newts
1.0 Northern Mockingbird
0.3 Chickens
2.0 Cats
1.1 Ferrets
2.4 mice
0.0.35 some kind of goldfish

PHLdyPayne Feb 18, 2008 07:42 PM

if your bearded dragons mated, then you will get eggs. They can produce fertile eggs without brumating. In fact females can produce eggs even without breeding but they would be infertile eggs.

Best to prepare a nesting box and give your females access to it when she stops eating and starts digging around the cage.
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PHLdyPayne

teaspoon Feb 19, 2008 02:15 PM

Really? cool. last year I got two infertile eggs but my guess is that its because the male was kinda old and had never bred before. I saw them mateing atleast once, maybe more. They'll make beautiful babies!
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My menagerie
2.1 Ball Pythons
1.0 Amazon Tree Boa
1.0 Corn Snake
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
1.2 Bearded Dragons
2.1 Crested Geckos
2.1 Sudan Plated Lizards
0.0.5 Eastern Painted Turtles
1.1.5 Eastern Box Turtles
1.1 Eastern Red-spotted Newts
1.0 Northern Mockingbird
0.3 Chickens
2.0 Cats
1.1 Ferrets
2.4 mice
0.0.35 some kind of goldfish

PHLdyPayne Feb 21, 2008 03:43 PM

well, if the male is sterile, you won't get fertile eggs either.
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PHLdyPayne

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