Not sure the answer to your question but I can state what has happened to me this season and last. Last year I had a higher number of slugs but no absorption of follicles. I had at least one slug in every clutch and a couple of clutches with only one good egg. This year I have not had any slugs but more then ten of my females have absorbed their folicles, despite numerous copulations and large folicle development.
The only differences from last year and this year are... Last year in Texas we had an extremely wet rainy year, and this year extreme drought and over 100 degrees for weeks in a row. This year I used an ultrasound and waited till I saw folicles in my females before introducing my males, and last year I just bred the males and palpated folicles. I think this is the main problem and believe that early breeding is a key factor in female developing folicles(more so then weather patterns). My cooling process and room temps are the same everyh year. My belly heat and night drop is the same year after year.
I have talked with other breeders in Texas that are experiencing the same thing this year.....
Matt---MKHerps
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