Breeding age/weight

[Clear]

Whats the breeding age or weight for IJ's and Coastals?

[bhmorrill]

For both the earliest I have heard of males going is around 18 months, and they are usually pretty easy to get to go at this age as long as they have had decent feeding throughout their lives. Females on the other hand are difficult to get to breed at 18 months. Does happen every once in a while, but not often. Most will be ready to go at 2.5 yrs with decent feeding.

As for weights, here are weights I would shoot for, although I do know some have gone at lower weights, but these are what I would hope for:

Coastals, males 800g, females 2000g
Irians, males 700g, females 1500g

I think I remember reading about an IJ male going at less than 500g, but that is a rarity. All the coastal males i have bred have been well over 1000g, so I don't really know a low end on them. And you can try females at weights lower than these...but in my experience they usually don't do anything or slug out.

GOOD LUCK!

[Brandon Osborne]

I bred my IJ female last season at 800-900 grams. She produced a fertile clutch of 7 eggs and has never looked back.

[mainbutter]

hey bhmorrill, how do you weigh your carpets when they get above 700 or 800 grams or so? After trying to weigh a 300 gram carpet (and havent weighed her since), I can only imagine how much more difficult they get as they grow.

[Clear]

1500g seems like a big IJ.

Thanks for the info. I will plan for the 3 year mark or greater.

[Colin Vestrand]

I will plan for the 3 year mark or greater.

for myself and everyone else i've talked to, 3 or 4 years is really the way to go... better for the females, and better clutches for you.