Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My burm is now 4 years old. I bred her two years ago and she threw about 20 slugs, i didn't think much of it since she was a little young and it was her first breeding. she took last year off and this year she laid. I let her incubate and about 1 week into it, she pushed one egg out, so i took it and put it in my incubator as it still looked viable. I moved her today to check the eggs and they are slugs, there is 54 slugs she has been incubating for several weeks now? Has anyone else had their burm incubate slugs, and what are my chances of getting a viable clutch next year?

Thanks for any input!!

We haven't had much luck with our burms this year either. Our albino granite laid 18 slugs this year after laying 25 good eggs last year, but she was with a different male this year. Our albino green laid 57 slugs and was incubating them when I pulled her off. This was our first time breeding her and the first time for the male also.

Was your female with the same male both times you bred her? If so, I would try a different male next year. Is the one egg that you are incubating still good?

Some females will incubate slugs and others won't. Our albino granite spread her slugs all over the cage and our albino green had hers in a pile and was incubating them.
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Randy and Michelle
Art In Scales
(719) 439-4199
info@artinscales.com

Thanks for the reply. Yea, we had her with the same male twice. They are siblings, and she has a nice big stripe down her body,sowe were trying to see if it was genetic. We do plan to use a different male next year.

Jason

I'm not an expert breeder, far from it, I only have a few years experience in breeding but have done a lot of research on it and asked many questions.

I think Randy's point is correct. From what I've seen/read/heard, most infertility issues come down to the male. It could be the male's health at the point of breeding or could be an infertility issue with it itself.

Size and age is another factor, and I'd be willing to bet that was the problem with your first attempt at 2yrs of age. I most likely would forget about the first attempt and focus on this year's situation for an evaluation of possible causes.

Typical successful breeding size for burms: males - 8ft, females - 9ft.

Mental health (stress, etc...) is another factor.

Hang in there!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

One of my females laid a 60 egg clutch this year. The male I was using, I took away from her when I caught him hacking. I ended up having him put down and checked out. He had RI ( which I new ) plus other health problems that I did not know about. He was a rescue from a year ago. Over half the eggs were slugs and the rest of the eggs did not make it past the first month. Hope this may of helped.
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Education is Everything.......