Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what are the known reasons for slugs?
what are some theories on why they are produced?
anything that can be done to reduce the amount of them?
this is my first year with any real amount of slugs. out of 2 clutches i have 4 good eggs and 8 slugs. one female proven the other a first timer. multiple males with one. specific male with other.
just want to know what i can do to reduce my chances for slugs next year.
adam jeffery
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" a.k.a. farfrumugen "
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.

Bad Breeder Luck

Yup!!! I've experienced the highs and lows of breeder luck. And slugs are just part of the deal and always will be......

Always gotta be a few thrown in every season..

There's really no way to really prevent slugs but to help your chances make sure all the females are up to weight and have good size make sure they males are good and healthy slugs are just unfertilized eggs good luck

Both are correct! Unfertilized ovum! Can't control that, just make sure they're in optimum health!

I like to pour salt on Slugs.

You should see what happens when I get near ants with a magnifying glass!

The one year I had a bunch of slug was an unusually hot year here. I am pretty sure either the higher temperature during the year or during one significant part of the egg production was the cause of my slugs. Several So. Cal. breeders had an issue with slugs the same year.

I think breeding the same female year after year with no break might cause the female to lay slugs too, but I have no real knowlege or proof.

I rotate the male through several times more than I used to, I think that helps NOT get slugs.

Dave

Hi Adam,

The usual suspected cause for slugs is not allowing the males to get cool enough. Sperm deforms or dies when temps get consistantly too high. I very rarely get slugs with any of my kings or pythons, but I allow mine to get much cooler than many keepers, if the animals choose. At night in my herp building, my surface temps can get to the high fifties on really cold nights. While the balls always have the option to get much warmer, they often choose cooler temps. I've shot several with a temp gun that were sitting comfortably in the mid-60s at night. So far, this year these include two females that delivered 100% fertile clutches that hatched, a couple that ovulated this week, and a few that have bred multiple times and are growing big follicles now.

Cool with warm options will not hurt them, warm without cool options can definately be harmful.

Will

PS - did you have a question about the pastel sire of Lyn's dinkers?

i think this pretty much hit the nail on the head, i heat my room. so they dont get really get a hot spot but instead get consistent low-mid 80s. with a drop to high 70s or low 80s at night, i have never had problems with slugs, maybe 2-3 at most each season, if even that many.
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In my experience there are slugs and there is unfertilized eggs. An unfertilized egg will look like a normal good egg but have no veins in it when candled. This is caused from the male.
I rarely get unfertilized eggs.

A slug is a immature ovum. They are small and yellowish looking. There is a number of causes for slugs. One is your female is over weight. Follicles don't all mature at the same rate. When one reaches maturity it then waits for the others. If your female is to fat her body will tell her to ovulate because there is no room for all her follicles to mature.

I got a female in 04 that was way over fed. In 05 she was over 4000 grams. She produced 9 slugs and 2 eggs that year. I fed her only 1 large rat that following year. In 06 she produced 6 eggs and 5 slugs. I again only fed her 1 large rat that following year. In 07 she produced 12 good eggs. She was 3200 grams that year. The following year I fed her until she was 3200 grams and then just maintenance fed her. I now know her optimum weight and she gives me good clutches every year.

A female that is under weight will ovulate to early because she does not have enough fat storage to grow all her follicles and care for the eggs.

Also stress can cause your female to ovulate early. Its not a good idea to check your female 10 times a day to see if she is ovulating yet.

What works best for me is to keep good records. This way I know what the optimum weight for all my females is. If I have a young female I don't breed her until she is over the weight she was the year before. If I have an Adult female I don't breed her until she is at her optimum weight. If she skips a year I just maintenace feed her to keep her weight up. Since doing this I rarely get slugs.

I keep my heat tape the same all year around 88-90 degrees. I drop the temp in my room to 75 degrees in Oct - Dec, 70 degrees from Jan - March. The rest of the year I keep the low at 80 degrees.

Doug Day