How many times can a leo breed?

[Rorschach]

I am wondering how many times per year and how many times over a life time a leo can breed? How old would you recommend retiring breeders?I would like to know for both males and females.

I started out with snakes as pets, got my wife Roger the female leo for Christmas and just fell in love with them. If I was to build a bigger collection of any reptile it would be leos, not only because they are beautiful and enjoyable, but it's something the wife would enjoy as well.

It got me wondering because I have a book on leos and it doesn't give that information and I see a lot of people selling their breeders that are only a couple years old or less online.

Thanks for your replies!

[Ga_herps]

quite honestly a female leo if bred more then once can lay between 8 and 10 eggs on average. I have given up on breeding my females more then once. I get an average of 4 to 6 eggs and my females do not lose but maybe a few grams. I only breed my females once for mostly personal preference and the fact that there is no need for me to make 10 plus of one morph.

My wife and I run a reptile business, and enjoy the smaller amount of leos we produce every year over the fluctuated amount we used to produce. Trust me taking care of 500 plus babies is no fun and really puts a damper on your vacation time. If you keep it small and select you can keep it more enjoyable for you and your wife.

Now for age this is a bit tricky when breeding is involved. If you buy adults from a breeder that is putting into a full blown program each year then a 5 to 7 year old lizard can be pretty much burned out if its female. Take the same aged lizard from someone that barely breeds it or breeds it every other year then you can expect to breed it for many years to come.

A buddy of mine has three females that are well over 20 years of age and bred well past 15 years. I cannot say that this is common in every situation, but it is possible to get an older breeder that is not "burnt out" at age 5 or 6 that can still be viable be it male or female.

Sorry for the long post. If you need any other info please feel free to PM or email me.
Michael