Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My red tegus are the same age, but the female is about half the size of the male. She hates mice, and it takes a lot of crickets to fill her up. She is about 17-18 inches and he is 29 inches.

The problem is that today I saw the male following her around and sniffing at her and trying to crawl on top of her, 'huffing' as if he were smelling her for breeding.

I'm concerned about the difference in size if he should try to breed her. Should I separate them? They get along fine otherwise, basking together and not fighting over food. I'm concerned that if I do separate them, I might have problems re-introducing them.

Any thoughts on how best to handle this. The good thing is that nowq I'm pretty sure I have a pair!

Leslie

This is the wrong time of year for breeding to the best of my knowledge. They should be getting ready for hibernation right now. Also if you are wanting to breed your reds they will have to hibernate every year including the year they were born. I have chatted with many breeders and they say that if they miss even one hibernation that they will not breed any more for them. What you may be seeing is a sort of dominance display since she is smaller than he is. He might just be trying to show her he is the king in that castle so to speak.
Also if she will not eat mice have you tried her with the SDZ diet? That gives them the same nutrition as mice and was developed by the San Diego zoo. The recipe has been posted on here many times if you search old threads you are sure to see it. I would not worry about seperating them unless he becomes aggressive towards her. I wish you the best of luck with them I would keep an eye on them just to be sure. Good luck
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Beau W.

"There are no athiests in foxholes. It is not an argument against athiesm but rather one against foxholes." James Morrow

please go down to the string on ornate tegu breeding and read those posts. I was not correct in my thinking that they had to hibernate before breeding. I am sorry for the post above where I said they did.
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Beau W.

"There are no athiests in foxholes. It is not an argument against athiesm but rather one against foxholes." James Morrow

No problem; after all, that's what we come here for - to learn. I'm just concerned that he will hurt her, being so much bigger than she is.

Leslie

I am not sure since males are normally a little larger than females anyway. Unless there is someone out there that has had any experience with the larger male to smaller female, I would have to say trust your judgment. I would have to say if you think he will hurt her then move her. Tegus are normally very social so there should not be a prob putting them back together again. You may just want to watch them when you do just to be safe. Good luck
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Beau W.

"There are no athiests in foxholes. It is not an argument against athiesm but rather one against foxholes." James Morrow

That's funny, I'm worried about the exact opposite things right now. Both my female red and male blue get along great, but Stewy just shows no sexual interest in Martha whatsoever. Right now Martha is 3 feet long and Stewy is about 2.5, and she is much larger being a red... I think he might be intimidated by her size, and she is the dominant one in the relationship.

Is it normal for the female in a breeding pair to be dominant during non-breading seasons, and will stewart being smaller than her make breeding a problem?