Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been keeping alterna on a very small scale since about 2001 or so. I have successfully bred them about 3 times with good hatch rates. Within the past 6 years, however, I have been unable to get my alterna eggs to hatch. I have gotten several clutches that look good, and then they gradually rot away halfway into the incubation.

A well respected friend who is the alterna guru has given me a few hints but I wanted to see what others say. Can you successfully breed alterna by only offering a diet of mice to the adult breeders? If so, is calcium supplementation a viable replacement for lizard meals? An article I read suggested that a diet of lizards is higher in calcium and that offering calcium supplemented rodent meals is a viable alternative. Any thoughts? I have tried the usual, different males, cooler and longer brumations, different females, and I am getting the same results.

I can only speak for myself. I have never fed a single lizard to my adult alterna or added calcium suppliments to the rodents. I've had excellent hatch rates. Thats not to say it's a bad thing to do.
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Steve W.

Over what length of time have you been able to continually get good eggs out of a single female?

My oldest female still producing eggs was caught as an adult in 1993.
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Steve W.

You might want to look at other variables; are the eggs fertile? incubation techniques etc.... How many females are you working with? Hibernation techniques.... Lots to consider....