Breeding Guides

[SnakeWrangler]

Hey,

First up I hope no one will take offence to what I am saying in this thread, I am sure I can speak for everyone here when I say that we all greatly appreciate it when those more experienced keepers take the time to try and help us less experienced keepers out.

I tend to find that when someone asks about breeding any particular animal those that have all the required knowledge are usually willing to help, but they tend to take for granted their own knowledge. What I mean by this is that when describing how an animal should be bred they usually give a sentence or two that they feel covers the basics, the problem is that usually those few sentences require some background knowledge to be able to interpret them properly. The person offering their advice has this knowledge in the back of their mind when typing a reply and does not realise that they are giving a reply that is dependant upon that background knowledge, this means that when people who have no idea at all about breeding read those replies, they feel a bit like this: .

What I am hoping is that some of you truly wonderful, magnificant and generous breeders would be willing to write detailed step by step guides as to how you breed a particular species of reptile.

I will give an example of what I think would be a good guide, hopefully if each experienced breeder gives a guide for one particular species then maybe we will end up with one for most common species, of course feel free to do none or as many as you like.

A good guide in my opinion would be best broken into sections like this:

Pre-Cooling
A description of how the animals should be maintained prior to cooling. Females will most likely need extra food to prepare for their job, but how much? Do males require the same or are the kept on the same feeding schedule. Should health checks be performed before cooling, what would they be and how are they best carried out, health checks are probably more general across most species so that might be a good topic for a seperate guide.

Cooling
When should the last feed be given and how slow or fast should the temps be changed.

Mating
From what I can tell this can be somewhat combined with the cooling process, if so how? If not how should the animals be brought out of cooling. Should the animals be put together and left until the female is gravid or should they seperated periodically? What should the temps be at all stages of mating? What about ovulation, where does that come into it, is there anything special that should be considered?

Post-Mating
When should the male be removed? What conditions should the female be kept in? How much food if any and how often? Does the male just resume normal life after this with heat and feeding? How do you tell if and when the female is gravid?

Laying
How long until the eggs are laid? What should be provided for the eggs to be laid in? When should the eggs be removed once they are laid? Is there any special treatment that the eggs should be given to ensure that they are not killed during removal?

Incubation
Obviously all eggs will be incubated (incubators are another good topic for a seperate guide on construction, maintenance and materials), but what temps should the eggs of the given species be kept at? Anything else that should be considered?

I know this is probably a lot of work, but imagine how many times you would respond to breeding questions in the forums, I know there are some care sheets that are general, but they rarely cover the specifics. There is one that has a lot of info for diamond pythons, but what about others and lizards and turtles.

Anyway, if no-one is keen to do it fair enough, but hopefully someone will see the benefits and give it a go. It will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

[nightowl]

Excellent idea!

I've been searching the net lately for breeding info and detailed info is hard to find. Surely there are some experienced breeders willing to share their knowledge and assist noobs to help them avoid mistakes that could result in the death of neonates or loss of clutches?

If we get the input of some experienced breeders perhaps we could make this a sticky thread?

Shane

[MrBredli]

Check out the last few issues of Reptiles Australia magazine, i believe there was an article on breeding python spread over the last few issues. I haven't read it myself.. I'm guessing the author is Doc Roc, if this is the case then you will find part 1 of the series on his website.

[hugsta]

It is a great idea SW, but I think you will find one of the problems is that some of the bigger breeders will not give specifics on temps and cooling periods etc. and also the fact that there is more than one way to breed a reptile. What temps I use and what enclosures I have may be different to you and also your locality plays a big part. A keeper in FNQ will have to have different methods to someone down is Melbourne. The idea is a great one though.

[SnakeWrangler]

I guess you are right hugsta, no one wants to do it... :roll:

I understand the methods would be different depending on location and setup, but I am sure if a complete guide was provided it could be adapted, I mean the same conditions need to be met no matter where you are, the only real difference is how you bring those conditions about.

[Sdaji]

Originally Posted by africancichlidau

Wrangler it is a good idea but most breeders have busy and quiet periods through the year, these sorts of idea usually come up in the busy periods when no-one has time to scratch their bum let alone sit down and write guides. I know, at the moment, I haven't got the time or the inclination to spend an hour or two on something for someone else when I don't have the time to do the things I have to do for myself. This might sound a bit harsh mate but it is a fact of life.

Just make sure you don't stop finding time within your busy schedule to submit 20 odd meaningless posts on APS each day and of course, there's always time to whinge about your lack of time :roll:

[SnakeWrangler]

That is understandable afro, I am not attemping to breed anything this year and was motivated out of interest and the recent breeding questions asked. The goal of this was to reduce the amount of time busy breeders may spend answering questions about breeding. :roll:

Sdaji does make an excellent point though, while the posts may not be strictly meaningless, a lot of breeders do still find the time to come on here for an hour or so, usually to help rather than be helped so using that time to write a guide would be far more productive in the sense of helping others. :idea:

I don't mind if people are not interested in writing these guides, I was just thinking about how useful they would be. I guess we will have to teach ourselves and then write the guides ourselves...

[Sdaji]

Not meaningless? Do a search of all of his posts and have a read

I tried writing articles on a couple of species which I was frequently being asked about, so I could refer people them rather than answer the same questions countless times. Although I received positive feedback, the questions I received online via email/forums/etc didn't slow down at all, so I had them hosted online, so that at least all online questions could be dealt with by saying "click on this link, the article has everything I know in it", but almost everyone was too lazy to read one or two pages of article or care sheet, prefering instead to pester me until I answered their specific question in one or two sentences I suppose you just have to accept that that's just the way people are If you're serious about learning, buy books and other material in print. Anyone can post online on a forum and the forums do play an important role, but a higher proportion of what goes to print is worth reading and more comprehensive material just doesn't seem to do as well online. The forums are great places to get answers to specific questions in a small amount of time, but probably their biggest value is social. Let's face it, when people put up a post which is more than two or three paragraphs in length (or one big paragraph - this post is getting to the size where few will read it), people will often not only ignore it, but complain!

[nvenm8]

http://www.vpi.com/Default.htm

Any amount of books are available to those who want to make the effort. The above site (albeit American) can be a great source of info as well.(when its not down).

[SnakeWrangler]

Originally Posted by Sdaji

Not meaningless? Do a search of all of his posts and have a read

I tried writing articles on a couple of species which I was frequently being asked about, so I could refer people them rather than answer the same questions countless times. Although I received positive feedback, the questions I received online via email/forums/etc didn't slow down at all, so I had them hosted online, so that at least all online questions could be dealt with by saying "click on this link, the article has everything I know in it", but almost everyone was too lazy to read one or two pages of article or care sheet, prefering instead to pester me until I answered their specific question in one or two sentences I suppose you just have to accept that that's just the way people are If you're serious about learning, buy books and other material in print. Anyone can post online on a forum and the forums do play an important role, but a higher proportion of what goes to print is worth reading and more comprehensive material just doesn't seem to do as well online. The forums are great places to get answers to specific questions in a small amount of time, but probably their biggest value is social. Let's face it, when people put up a post which is more than two or three paragraphs in length (or one big paragraph - this post is getting to the size where few will read it), people will often not only ignore it, but complain!

I guess I had better read that long winded post then . Nah, I know what your saying, cheers mate.

Hey nvenm8, thanks for the link. I will have to check it out.

[AGAMIDAE]

yo will find that alot of breeders will not share there knowlege because of the fear of not controlling the market, but if i breed it I am happy to share and help where I can, as for the herp lingo thats not understood, well question should be asked when they dont understanding, sometimes its difficult to start when you dont know the level that they are...