what is good?

[JimiSnakes]

How many is a good litter? I have a hooded female that produced 13 on her first shot last night, and she isn't even full size yet. Is that good? I know that mostly the first litter is the smallest, right?

[monkeywrench133]

Sounds good to me, my first litters were 9, 9, and 3. Three of the females I brought home were pregnant when I got them, out of the 21 total pups, 13 have made it so far.

[JimiSnakes]

Oh, I've only had three litters now. Big Mama (my daughter names EVERYTHING) had two now-the first being 7, and the second being 11 ( I think ). The Hooded just had her first one and I think there is actually 14 in there, but I can't move her yet. I know that there is at least 12 though.

[JimiSnakes]

Yup 14 now.

[Bdadawg]

I think the average is 12 live. Can be up to 20 something. Mine normally have 11-12 that live (I see stillborns or crushed in some litters). Normally young (underage) ones produce small litters with undersized pups.


One of my 10 weeks old old dropped 8 live last weeek. And 2 of them dropped 12 live 3 weeks ago ( I bought up all the remaining stock from a pet store that was closing, to vary bloodlines).

Basically diet, age, and genetics are going to determine the number & health of the litters.

First time mothers are a bit difficult to work with ... they are either really protective (try to bite you when you reach in) or look for any excuse to ignore the babies ... after the 2nd or 3rd litter they normally turn into good mothers.

As they start to "wear out" as a breeder their litter numbers will drop, usually this is 6-12 months of breeding depending on their rate of pregnancy (every 3 weeks will wear them out faster then every 4-5 weeks).

Bryan

[JimiSnakes]

Hey, thanks man. That was really good. I appreciate it.