Last spring and summer my female green really started pounding meals compared to previous years. She consumed frequent large meals in June, July, and August and then slowed down some. I took this as a sign that she might be going into her first breeding cycle. Her last significant meal was 10/26. I contacted my friends that have a nice male and we introduced the male just after her last large meal. He immediately attempted to court her but she wasn’t receptive. I continued to remove and reintroduce the male throughout November and into December. The little guy worked his tail off, but she was not impressed. In mid December she shed and I believe I caught them locked up for the first time. She had one more small meal on 12/19. Around 12/23 she seemed larger than what I would have expected considering her small meal (6 pound pig). The male continued to court her and she finally was letting her guard down on a regular basis. In mid January the breeding continued and she seemed darker than normal. On January 18 it appeared that she might be ovulating. At this point the male was no longer interested in her. On January 28 and 29th I caught her laying on her side (Photo 1). She looked incredibly uncomfortable. This seemed usual since I thought she ovulated 10 days earlier. I still don’t know what exactly happened, but things seem to be progressing nicely. Photo 2 was taken towards the end of March. She spends most of her time on the heat tape, but still wants to go in her soaking tub that is separate from her cage. I’ve rotating her between the cage and the tub every couple of days and have had no issues. The last photo is from last week. She continues to work the heat tape, but doesn’t spend as much time on it as she did earlier. I caught her laying on her side a few time this week.
This process has been very exciting and interesting, but I have to say I’m starting to get overly anxious. The best case scenario is that she will deliver a nice batch of greens between now and early July, but this waiting is absolutely driving me nuts. There still are so many things that could go wrong. I tip my hat to all of you that have successfully bred greens in the past. I don’t know if I’ll be able to relax enough between now and when she pops to enjoy the ride. I’ll try. Who knows if I’ll ever get lucky enough to get this close again
