Reptile & Amphibian Forums

anybody know about ornates breeding habits?... if a female is alredy pregnant w/eggs then would a male still try to mate her? 2day was the 4th tym i saw them gettn "jiggy." it always happens after i feed them. i put their food in the pen then i leve them 4 about 45mins-1hour, then wen i get back to empty their food tray theyre gettn freaky. im really not sure if he actually "in there," but wen hes mounted her, her head points upward and twitches a lil. im not really sure what 2 do.should i seperate them?. id hate 2 do so if i didnt have 2.but they seem 2 do very well 2gether. their enclosure is big enough so that thet arnt ovr crowded. in fact my male runs away from my female @feeding time

Wow, that sounds exactly like my ornates and deserts. The males are wimps at feeding time, and seem to take the opportunity to pounce upon the full and complacent females.

My males mate almost daily with the females. It's no problem. The females will store sperm from the successful copulations for fertilizing future eggs.

Egg laying in ornates can be difficult to predict. They seem to lay at any time of the day, but early morning is most common for mine. The problem is, they often nest in strange and unpredictable places. They are more sneaky about it than Easterns. And, they are fast. Keep a close watch.

wheew! mahalo plenty for the info. i was gettin kinda worried.what kind of substrate do you keep them in?where do they seeem to favor laying their eggs?(shady areas, shrubby areas, sunny areas etc... and wat kinna subatrate-potting soil, orchid bark etc...

Mine are kept outdoors on hard, red clay that has been ammended with sand, topsoil, and crushed limestone for improved drainage. By far, they prefer to nest within the tunnels that are provided in open, sunny areas. I have a picture of a female buried up to her neck in a tunnel digging a nest. I'll try to load it sometime within the week. I actually have a lot of pictures to post.

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sounds great. cant w8 2 see em.mahalo for the info