Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so im trying to figure out what happened this year. i have had a huge issue with slugs this year. i have had 3 full clutches of slugs and a couple clutches with half or more slugs.
now i did change some stuff around this year and i am trying to figure out what exactly may be my issue.
all the problems seem to be with my normal girls. many proven and a couple were virgins till this year. i bred them all to my bee, lesser and a small enchi that wasnt up to snuff and was pulled early on.
ive hatched lessers already but not a single spider or pastel combo. the bee is new and im wondering if he was sterile or mostly sterile. i have 1 egg that he is most likely the father of(unless sperm was retained)as he was the only male with her this year. but only 1 egg was good in the clutch of 8.

also this year i was forced into having to rearrange the snake room in the middle of breeding season. as well i decided to increase the heat in the room from 80 to 85 this year in hopes to aid in growth and feeding rates.
so was it the moving of racks? a possible sterile male? increase in heat?
all girls in question were of good weight and are good eaters.
any insight to help would be appreciated and maybe next year will be different for me. either way this bee is going bye bye as a pet.
adam jeffery
btw i have had good clutches from females this year that did not breed the male in question
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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.

Hi Adam,

Sorry to hear of your bad luck. When you say that you raised the temps from 80F to 85F, are you refering to ambient air temps or your basking temps? I personally keep my air temps much cooler during the winter season, almost 20F cooler, as I have a variety of species in my buiding, and offer high basking temps to offset the cool air temps. While I would point to those warm temps as the culprit, the fact that you've received good clutches from other sires tells me that it wasn't too warm for the males to produce swimmers and certainly not too warm for the girls to grow follicles. Before you send him off to pet land, you might consider giving him another try next year with sustained cool options. I have always been kind of "if it works for one, it oughta work for all" type of dude, but the whole female desert infertility thing got me thinking that some of these morphs have individuals that may just benefit from broader temperature choices to get them past these hurdles and allow them to successfully reproduce. I don't know buddy, but I'd give the bee another shot, just cool his arse down more. Good luck.

Will

PS - missed you at the May show, it was a ball vendor's dream.

i will email you tonight after work.
i didnt make the may show at all. not enough to sell and to much to do at home. first show ive missed in years
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.

Alot of people keep theirs to warm..So come breeding season they either have to drop temps and risk RI,or get infertiles and slugs.

Personally i keep ambients at in home temperatures,with enough heat from the tape they will be fine.This way they recognize the change in season by the subtle room changes as fall to winter progresses.

I would say take your time adjusting them all down to room temp in time for next season..Don't want to make any of them sick while fixing things.
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Charles Glaspie
picasaweb.google.com/coldthumb

Another question that may help you solve your issue is...were these females or male nearest to the heating source? You stated you moved your room around...where were they then? If ambient of course.

I have my room setup at 84 degrees year round but turn it down 4-8 degrees during the winter season. I do not have all animals on heat tape though. I have found heat tape or not, you can still produce adequate eggs. I have yet to throw any slugs in the 5 years of getting eggs.

I have read a few books and attended a few symposiums and the general idea I got from them on slugs are that they are an issue with the female. From what I understand Slugs are immature ova that have for one reason or the other (overweight female, temperature inconsistencies, hormonal imbalance, sickness, stress...ect.) have been ovulated before they are mature and ready for fertilization. So the are in the ova-ducts and get shelled like the mature ova but don't get fertilized.

In addition it is my understanding that fully mature infertile eggs are a problem with the male. (sperm is unavailable to fertilize eggs for a variety of reasons.)

Hope some one can either confirm, clarify or correct my understanding of the slug, infertile egg issue.

stuff happens...

done...

temps...85 too hot?...yea...Africa never sees temps that high......

?????.

...stuff happens...really...you used 3 males...new females...blame the males?...no...blame timing (you ) or the females....

BEE didn't work...?....check it...make sure he's a he...

and dds happen....breed all females all winter...you'll do fine...(Oct to April )...

....good luck...have fun....
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........JY

Sometimes I will get one or two slugs in a season. They are most often small and obvious, I toss them before setting up eggs. I think that consistent, weekly feedings from June through October are important for females, especially those who have laid eggs during the current season. My ambient room temps are 82-84 from March to September and all cages have heat tape. Starting about mid-Sept. I start lowering temps, two or three degrees a week until I reach 74-75 degrees. I used to go lower but I experienced several URI problems. The 75 degree mark works great for me. I do not turn off any of the heat tape.
You do have to continue to pair, unpair, feed & clean, pair and unpair....etc. It's lots of work, but I am usually successful with most females producing viable clutches.
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Susan Sentman
SSNAKES Reptiles
susan@ssnakes.com