Kingsnake.com - Herpforum - RE: Breeding underweight females?

Posted by: Rextiles at Thu Mar 22 15:40:44 2012 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Rextiles ]

I wouldn't even call 100 grams underweight, those are underage! Seriously, I would not recommend attempting to breed any female under 200 grams because the risk of eggbinding is far too great. Even 200 grams can be too small depending on the strength of the female and the size of her eggs. Not all eggs come out the same size, some animals are prone to laying very large eggs and until you breed them, you won't know what they might genetically be predisposed to offer in terms of egg size. For example, we had a 325 gram female lay 16 typical sized eggs. Then I had a 250 gram female lay 4 eggs that were twice as big until she finally became eggbound with the remaining 3 because they were such a strain on her to pass. I had to perform a paracentesis (sticking a hypodermic through the abdomen into the egg and sucking the yolk out) so that I could reduce the size of the eggs for her to pass. It's a risky procedure if not done correctly but gladly, this particular female (Twix, our Superconda) recovered fully and actually is in the process of double clutching on me as I type this.

Bottom line is, be patient and let the snakes become large enough before attempting to breed them. It's far more rewarding successfully hatching out babies from a healthy female than having eggbound females die which also sets back your timetable drastically.
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Troy Rexroth
Rextiles