Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My female laid 16 eggs this year and only 3 look fertile. Is there something I'm doing wrong? Does this happen to anyone else? Last year she laid 15 and only 3 were fertile and the year before she laid 15 and only 4 were fertile. This is so frustrating!

Welcome to the world of breeding cyclura ! They ain't no colbrids. For breeders in colder climates, what you are experincing is very common. Some things that might help:

1. As much as possible avoid using heat pads during warmer months -- eggs can get cooked before they are layed.
2. Extreme healthy diet. Use a high quality dry food supplement( like Marions). Soak some and mix it into your salad. It will round out something that might be missing. Use a high calcium varied diet -- ie avoid just sprinkling calcium powder on a salad. Use high calcium foods and avoid foods that could inhibit calcium absorption (carrots, spinich) -- research green iguana websites for right foods.
3. After the 2 week window of breeding is over(typically in June for rhinos) remove the male, he just adds stress to an already stressed out female.
4. Suitable nesting site: A sunny location with damp sand. A 4x4 area of cement blocks packed solid with sand with a couple thick pieces of plywood over the top has worked for me. During the nesting time, the females nose is like a thermometer, and it will seek out an area of 86 degree. Provide that in the nest box and she should lay there.
5. Hydration: Probably one of the few times you will see her drink from a bowl. Clean fresh water is crutial during the gravid months. She will be especially thirsty right after she layed eggs.
6. Maintain a consistent environment(same cage, breeding partner, and nest site) and keep records. If the weather is consistent, she will lay dam near the same day every year.
If you follow the above, you should expect a larger more fertile clutch of eggs next year....unlike the ones below.
Good Luck.

Thanks I did just about every thing you wrote down except seperate my male from her. I always have to seperate them after she lays her eggs but never thought to do it after copulation. I'll try this next year along with a little prayer to the cyclura gods.

I also told her to try and do better.

She doesn't like being told what to do.

While I have NO experience in colder climates I have LOTS of it in Florida. I bred my first Cyclura in the middle 1970's and have bred 4 species successfully. I KEEP MY BREEDING PAIRS TOGETHER ALL YEAR. I have had on 3 occasions early in my breeding career found that introducing females to breed sometimes ends in severe injury or death to the female. My lizards reproduce annually and I think leaving them together is crucial as these compatible lizards like each other and do NOT want to be apart. It is a HUGE mistake to mix and match during times when spermatogenesis is happening in the males. I believe you are in Florida and keep your lizards outside thru personal p.m.'s from you. DO NOT SEPERATE THESE LIZARDS AND YOUR SUCCESS WILL BE WONDERFUL AS LONG AS EVERYTHING ELSE [DIET ETC] IS CORRECT. In nature these animals live in colonies and the same male breeds the same females every year unless a bigger male makes him move. Courtship occurs on a year round basis and I think some pair bonding may occur similar to birds. I know of one male and a few females that I watched east of Gonaieve in the Artibiniti for several years all still living in the same side of the mountain for several years and for all I know still there....
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

Thanks Tom. I only seperate my female because she becomes very aggressive toward my male protecting her nest site. Last year she ran him all over the exhibit and he ran into the cage walls so hard even though they were rubber coated he ended up smashing up his nose pretty good. The rest of the year I keep them together all the time. I know if I had a larger cage with a lot more hide spots and visual barriers I would feel a lot more confident that I could leave them together after she lays her eggs with no problems.

When you've breed these guys have you had a high percentage hatch out or have you had the same problem I am having. I just need to hatch out as many as I can so I make an awesome trade for one of those albino green gems.

Chasing the male is normal behaviour but my enclosures are so large with layered shelves it's no problem for me. A small cage could be problamatical. I have a very high almost 100% hatch rate on mine. This year out of 46 eggs I've only had two infertiles BUT I've been doing this a LONG time and you get better with practice. I always listen to the Lizards which may sound strange but I mean I react according to how they look, behave, etc....thanks
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

Thanks I guess time will tell if I'm going to get better at this. I only get one chance a year so it gets a little frustrating when things don't go well. I do have a bunch of milk snake eggs in the incubator that are all doing well. I got to stay positive.

While I have no experience in Florida, I have networked off the internet since it’s infancy. Most cyclura breeders keep their long term established pairs together year around. As was mentioned in this thread, you need to“ Listening to the Lizards.“ Based on what you have described, Taking the male out of the picture after the mating falls into that category. Eventually when your pair has become more comfortable together, that should change. In Arizona, there is a long term breeding pair that are separated frequently due to the aggressive nature of the male -- cornuta tend to be less predicable than other species.

My first successful reproduction of cycluras was with two breeder loans in 1998. At the time, The experts warned of incidents of females getting injured/killed. Early introduction ,a female of equal size, a large enclosure with lots of furniture and close monitoring are important if one is to consider breeder loans. It is a HUGE mistake to mix and match during times when spermatogenesis is happening in the males -- introductions should be done months before the breeding season.

In general, the warmer the climate, the more likely a female will lay eggs annually. There is a Florida colony that the same pairs of males and females breed together annually. For the few years I had a colony in NY, It was noted that one female only breed with one male, while others breed with multiple. Tom Wiewant film documented the lives of Mona Iguanas -- he sells a video. It is worth seeing. An edited version called Devil Island is available on Amazon. It may be cruel to separate long term establish mating pairs, but as seen in the video, when the females are nesting, the males are not around....It is important to listen to the lizards.

I got 20 great looking eggs this years, and after two weeks, they all ended up going bad. I really didn't care though, because rhino babies, even though they are selling for so cheap, are hard to get rid of these days, and that means having to feed and house these lizards longer than normal.

I never have trouble selling mine.Last year I sold over 30 in less than 7 weeks and the cheapest was $185 ea to a guy who bought 3...
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

Thats good.