Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, I thought I was doing things right. I wanted to use single male for breeding my greybands (3) this season. I staggered bringing females out of brumation so as to give male week or so off between breedings. Female #1 bred 4/10, had pre egg shed yesterday. female #2 bred 4/18 and is in blue. female #3 never had post brumation shed, but I introduced male 4/26 and witnessed copulation. She shed several days after and this past week has been cruising cage constantly. last nite I found 2 eggs in cage, 1 nice looking one and 1 rubbery slug im guessing. Immediately gave her nesting box, and now have 4 more very rubbery eggs. Now, publications I have read say eggs can come 30 days after breeding, but my history shows that hasn't been the case. Im guessing all eggs duds, but will incubate until im sure. Anyone have any thoughts on my situation or have experienced anything similar? Dave.

hopefully only the one, but my bet is all of them were off and running. And it was not based on YOU.

The sequence, They form ovum in the ovaries. That ovum drops and migrates into the oviducts. There is fertilized and shelled.

THe slugs you mentioned are OVUM not eggs, they have not been fertilized or shelled(soft rubbery).

What happened is, they were well into their reproductive cycle, before you placed a male in with the females. Or at least that one female. Hopefully you caught the others in time.

If you learn how to palpate for ovum, very easy to do, you will know what stage they are in. Or if you leave the males with females, you do not have to know how to tell what stage they are in.

As you found out, its not based on what you think, its based on what stage they are IN.

Females are receptive about a week before the ovum drops to about a week to 10 days after the string of pearls is palpable .

Also, a healthy male can successfully breed several females a day, you do not need to wait. Also if you leave the males in with the females, you do not have to base your success on LUCK. If you do not know what stage they are in, you have to get lucky.

I wish you luck and hope the other two are successful.

thanks Frank. That makes sense. She was just ready to breed sooner than I expected. Perhaps I will get her back up to weight and house her with male for a possible viable 2nd clutch. dave

Just buy an ultrasound machine like the ball python guys .
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"the fact of the matter is if folks want "pure" types they should go snake hunting. or at least do some research on potential breeding stock and not just pick anything up anywhere show/petshop"

Thomas Davis

maybe if my ordinary greybands were super caramel albino piebald mojave pastel yellow belly fire bumblebee clowns I would...