2011 Hatchlings - Too young to breed?

I am waiting with Spot. Even though she is well over 1100 grams now at only a year old, I don't want to breed her until she is older. She is too valuable to risk.

Awesome! Good to hear.

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Originally Posted by loonunit

but if you wait, you'll have a HUGE female. She'll give you more eggs if you wait a year, and she'll always BE huge, and will probably give you larger clutches down the road.

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I wonder if this works in the wild for them. :confusd: Would this mean that a female in the wild that reaches sexual maturity at 18 months and 800-1000g will always stay small and have small clutches? or would she grow larger and lay larger clutches over time as she matures and grows? I'm not trying to say waiting is a bad thing, but I'm more curious about what happens in the wild since they don't have these "guidelines" that breeders have set up (many things being health/safety issues for the animals - that being a good thing).

what if you have an older female that doesn't get over 1000g? What about an older female under 1000g? or as the op said, a young female at or above the recommended weight? will she be "stunted" if bred early? I'm asking these question for the purpose of discussing and learning. thank you.

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Originally Posted by Ladydragon

I wonder if this works in the wild for them. :confusd: Would this mean that a female in the wild that reaches sexual maturity at 18 months and 800-1000g will always stay small and have small clutches? or would she grow larger and lay larger clutches over time as she matures and grows? I'm not trying to say waiting is a bad thing, but I'm more curious about what happens in the wild since they don't have these "guidelines" that breeders have set up (many things being health/safety issues for the animals - that being a good thing).

what if you have an older female that doesn't get over 1000g? What about an older female under 1000g? or as the op said, a young female at or above the recommended weight? will she be "stunted" if bred early? I'm asking these question for the purpose of discussing and learning. thank you.

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I bred a four year-old virgin female two seasons ago that was sitting steady at 1200g and got three eggs. By the time she finished putting her weight back on, she was over 1700g, so I don't buy into the theory that breeding at a smaller size has any impact on their size farther down the road, as long as they are given the time they need to recover after each laying. I also had a 2010 Lemonblast lay 7 perfect eggs for me this summer, that will be pipping in two weeks! She was 1600+g and 18 months old when I started pairing her (24mos when she dropped eggs).

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

I bred a four year-old virgin female two seasons ago that was sitting steady at 1200g and got three eggs. By the time she finished putting her weight back on, she was over 1700g, so I don't buy into the theory that breeding at a smaller size has any impact on their size farther down the road, as long as they are given the time they need to recover after each laying. I also had a 2010 Lemonblast lay 7 perfect eggs for me this summer, that will be pipping in two weeks! She was 1600+g and 18 months old when I started pairing her (24mos when she dropped eggs).

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Kewl.. good stuff to know and congrats on the clutch. This kinda confirms my idea on the subject. When they are ready they know it and are ready, young, older, at the recommended weight or under.. they know. breeders have the guide lines set up for good reasons but sometimes I guess we need to look beyond the box. ty for sharing. :D

My now 3 year old yb female that dropped eggs at 24 months old, is now around/over 2000 grams and doing awesome.
Breeding them young does not make them stay small, nor does it mean they won't ever produce large clutches.