Has desert female breeding got anywhere?

[Rallisonreptiles]

I'm gonna try adding calcium to the rats that I feed. Mine and see if it's a vitamin dif problem I mean can't hurt. To try it

[h00blah]

I'm gonna try adding calcium to the rats that I feed. Mine and see if it's a vitamin dif problem I mean can't hurt. To try it

Umm... Yes it can. Your desert female can die. That might not hurt YOU, but I have a feeling that the snake might not be too happy about that..

[kdreptiles]

I'm gonna try adding calcium to the rats that I feed. Mine and see if it's a vitamin dif problem I mean can't hurt. To try it

Calcium wouldn't be the vitamin it lacks, if they lack any at all. Their prey has a lot of calcium... you know, with the bone and all. A snake of any mutation is built to digest bone. If metabolizing calcium were an issue, I'd think we'd be seeing bone fragments, or in the vey least, white (that isn't urate) in their poo. No, I'd go with something more along the lines of a general multivitamin... but seeing as we don't really know what amounts of which vitamins snakes need, it is probably not the best idea. Especially since vitamins like A and D are fat soluble and can be OD'd on.

[WingedWolfPsion]

For those who are thinking of 'trying' things to get their female deserts to breed:

The risk of death is VERY VERY HIGH. The reports are STILL coming in, one after another, of females dead of egg binding.

It is a miserable death due to necrosis in some cases, though some have died apparently of an embolism after a retained egg caused internal hemorraging.

There is no known vitamin deficiency I am aware of that would cause the combination of sterility and inability to pass the infertile eggs. Are you aware of one? Because if you are not, then your experiment has no basis, and risks the animal's life without justification.

This is the point at which people should, ethically, STOP. There is not going to be a magic bullet or technique that suddenly makes desert females fertile. There is no precedent for one, there absolutely no reason to believe there is one, and there is absolutely no scientific basis for one. The females ARE dying in these attempts. Continuing is heartless and wrong.

You can take this or leave it, but that's my opinion. Desert is a really pretty gene. Stick to breeding only the males.

[dreese88]

I'd take it one step further WWP and say to stop breeding them in general when statistically, 1/4 of offspring will be desert females.

I'd put my money on it being a hormonal issue, not a vitamin deficiency and according to people more knowledgable than myself, there are no full hormonal assays available for normal bp's, much less deserts

[dreese88]

just wanted to add this...an independent study done by a vet

http://www.reptileradio.net/reptiler...gnostics/page2

[Coleslaw007]

Surgery on a desert female!
Someone on a group I'm in on FB posted this.
http://www.reptileradio.net/reptiler...095#post769095