Male & Female Litter Ratio

[Danounet]

So my first time weaning ASFs from a 1.2 group. I though they were very male heavy, so I left them all in one tub till they were a little older so I could tell easily males from females.

Turns out they are even more male heavy than I though. They are showing their testicles now and I split them up last saturday, but I was very surpriced!

out of 17 weaned, 3 are females, the rest are males, so 14.

out of 2 females, one self and one pied. ALL 3 females are from the self, seems the pied had all males. Im still in awe...

Is this normal?!?

Also another question, the self has another litter now, it's about 2 weeks old. But the pied seems to have skipped a litter cycle? she never showed any signs of being pregnant. they are both pregnant again. I found that weird too... Any help would help.

Thanks
-Danny

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Connie has a 10 page scientific answer to this one... Don't know where it is, or fully understand it either. It basically says feed, protein, ect, all have impacts on sex ratios.

That said, I wouldn't change a thing! You always want as many males as possible. I say this because the males get to size much faster then the females. So don't fix it, it ain't broke!

[Danounet]

Lol thanks, I was thinking the same thing. I was just double checking if it was normal. I dont wanna be exploiting the little critters if something is wrong.

Also I was curious I like biology and all that sort of stuff, cant help it.

For the record, I feed them rat blocks. Sometimes carrots and oatmeal. And rarely a Milkbone from our dog.

I did see a feed store pretty close to where I live, so I'll look if they sell that hog feed tomorrow. What sex ratios do you get with the hog fed?

[matt71915]

i feed mine hog feed and i get pretty male heavy ratios too. I would guess about 3/4 of a litter is male

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Honestly don't know. I don't have time to keep track of that any more. I just feed all the females off young to the snakes that require smaller feeders.

[Corvid]

I also use hog feed and have a very heavy male over female ratio.
I don't complain, I just go with it.
Mike, if you dig up that report I would love to read it.

I've also notice that there seems to be 1 or 2 alpha males, they grow the biggest, the fastest. I grow them for a certain amount of time and feed them off when I can to promote the others growing.
I once focused on 2 brothers from the same exact litter when I was weaning them. I put one in a group with 3 females (to grow into an eventual breeding colony) and the other went into a weaner tub with other males.
After a couple of weeks I looked at them and the growth was incredible. The male with the females was twice as large as the male in the weaner tub. Unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures.
That being said,I try to have a few different male weaning tubs to promote bigger growth, less competition.

Incredible animals, aren't they?

[Turbo Serpent]

I feed a dog food that has the same protein and fat content with no additives and my litters are very male heavy as well. I went to sell a colony to a local herp enthusiast and realized that my weaner tank has a ton of males and very few females.

I have 9 colonies and each has between 2 - 5 females, I just started cycling my breeders (feeding off retired breeders) and might have to quit feeding off the females so I can replace the old colonies easier.

[Danounet]

Very good observation too! . Two or 3 of the males seem kinda "chubby" compared to their 11-12 brothers.

But now I have more questions left un-answered!! LOL!

I also use hog feed and have a very heavy male over female ratio.
I don't complain, I just go with it.
Mike, if you dig up that report I would love to read it.

I've also notice that there seems to be 1 or 2 alpha males, they grow the biggest, the fastest. I grow them for a certain amount of time and feed them off when I can to promote the others growing.
I once focused on 2 brothers from the same exact litter when I was weaning them. I put one in a group with 3 females (to grow into an eventual breeding colony) and the other went into a weaner tub with other males.
After a couple of weeks I looked at them and the growth was incredible. The male with the females was twice as large as the male in the weaner tub. Unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures.
That being said,I try to have a few different male weaning tubs to promote bigger growth, less competition.

Incredible animals, aren't they?

[Corvid]

You can really learn a lot by watching them!!
Whenever I hear a 'scuffle' in the male weaners I run over and watch them. A lot more talk than action. I usually see the underdog standing on his hind legs with his front paws out and screaming. I've seen new females do that when placed in with a male when setting up breeding colonies.
It took me 9 months to get a female muted baby (tan and white), every single mute I produced was a male, and there were TONS. Needless to say I'm holding her back as a breeder!

Keep everyone posted on your findings! The more we learn about them the better care we can give them!

[Haydenphoto]

Im about 50/50 male and female ratio. I have 8 sets of breeders most are 1.3 and i have one set that is 1.8 and there all doing pretty good the 1.8 is doing a lot better then i thought they would i just have to make sure and take the weaners out right way so they don't push the new baby's to the bottom