Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello!
Weigh-in day here and my pair of Albino tri-color Hondos (born Sept 2011) have grown to 84g (female) & 90grams (male). Both are excellent eaters and thriving. I don't plan to breed until they are over 2 yrs old(following brumation in 2013) but should I put them through a winter cycle this season?

IMHO I would not brumate them. I have several Hondos that are the same age as yours and weigh around 200g. I plan to feed mine through this winter and next summer to assure they are ready for the 2013 breeding season.

typo on my part

Agreed, classic brumation is not required actually at all.

I wait until my females are 3 years old and over 400 grams before I consider breeding.

I've tried breeding 2 year olds and it's just not worth it in my opinion.

I keep my Hondos up, warm with artificial light until the winter before the spring I plan to breed them.

If they are going to breed the following spring, I turn off the artificial lights, keep them warm, and continue to feed them about half as much thru the winter.

Once Feb hits, the lights come back on and normal feeding resumes.

It's worked really well, for me over the years.

-Rusty

>>Weigh-in day here and my pair of Albino tri-color Hondos (born Sept 2011) have grown to 84g (female) & 90grams (male). Both are excellent eaters and thriving.

I don't think your hondos are eating and thriving as much as you might think. It wouldn't be at all uncommon for them to weigh twice what yours do--or more--a year after they'd hatched. You might up the food offerings.

As for the winter strategy, Rusty's will work fine. Alternately, you could keep feeding them and only if they stop eating or slow way down, cool them for the balance of the winter. (I often bred two-year-olds and did quite well. I had 300 grams as a minimum for them, coming out of brumation, and animals that met that criterion usually were 400-500 grams by the onset of breeding activity.