Is It Worth It?

[mwolf]

Hi everyone. I have the opportunity to borrow a proven banana male between now and early November. I have 3 females that I'd really like to pair him to. I assume I'd be able to get him to lock to each female only 2 or 3 times between now and then…would that be enough to possibly get a clutch? Or do you think I'd still have to pair the females to one of my other males after I no longer have the banana in order to help ensure they lay?

Basically, since I'd only have access to the banana for 2 months, is it even worth pairing him to my females?

[Bigfish1975]

You can try it. Its better to get more locks to ensure the female has the best opportunity to become gravid. Technically speaking though, it only takes one time to get pregnant

[aLittleLessButter]

Depends on where those females are follicle development wise. Like said above it only takes one lock but the best time to pair is when the female is already building which can take quite some time. Those are the locks that count though breeding generally is a good way to get a female to start the building process. You could definitely get her done in that time if she is building (or hope she retains the sperm until she does decided to build) but also consider you will still need to quarantine the male or risk your collection.
Quick example of a timeline for one of my females this year:
started pairing in March. No visual lock til May
May through July- paired biweekly (locks every time)
2nd week of August- cool seeking + building
while she is building I've been pairing every week and male locks her up for 2-3 days at a time. She will be ovulating any day now.

[mwolf]

Thanks for the responses.

So I understand that if I start pairing them now then the females might start to build. But is it probable that they will then use his (retained) sperm for fertilization if they don't have good sized follicles until well after he's gone? Or would I still have to introduce another male to them after they have started developing follicles? Because if it's unlikely for the banana to sire any of the clutches then I will just pair them to the males that I can use all season long.

[aLittleLessButter]

She could very well retain the sperm to use once she does build but 1: it would be a gamble and 2: if you really want him to be the sire then you cannot pair her with another male. I think it would drive me crazy to see a female build and not pair her though because she could still reabsorb. You should pair him up with your girls as much as possible (after QT of course) then when they builds, pair her with your own males just so that you at least get a clutch from her. If the babies come out to be bananas or duel sired then it's a bonus but don't waste your female

[dr del]

Since I haven't seen anyone mention it in a quick skim.

Quarantine.

You should be placing any females he meets in quarantine with him at the very least. No mixing them back with the rest of your collection for 2-3 months.

In an ideal world he would be in QT for 3 months before he meets any of your existing collection.

[mwolf]

Ok thanks guys.

I figure I don't have much to lose by giving it a try now. Worst case scenario, the males that I planned on using anyway will sire the clutches.

[bcr229]

Since I haven't seen anyone mention it in a quick skim.

Quarantine.

You should be placing any females he meets in quarantine with him at the very least. No mixing them back with the rest of your collection for 2-3 months.

In an ideal world he would be in QT for 3 months before he meets any of your existing collection.

This. If you bring the male home today then the soonest he should be put with your females is 12/6 or so, assuming he doesn't pop up sick between now and then. Once he's cleared QT you spend a few months pairing them, and after he goes home your females live in isolation for another 90 days.

Also bear in mind that you can find male banana BP's in PetSmart now, someone on Facebook posted a picture of one on sale for $299 (the morph was actually marked correctly, go figure). Personally I wouldn't bother with borrowing any BP that is showing up in the big box stores since by the time they get it, it's been over-produced.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Not worth it you won't have time to do anything with him.

Personally I would never start pairing an animal unless it had been in quarantine for 3 months (does not matter who the animal come from)

When/if you get animal on a trade you are looking into at least a year to see any type of results, if you see any, sometimes the animal takes longer to acclimate to it's new environment, won't eat won't breed and we are talking having the animal 2 seasons in a row.

So not worth it especially considering that you can find a proven Male CG or Banana that will be YOURS for $350/$400

[Jcash34]

At the small local reptile show you can pick up bananas for 200 and pastel bananas for 250. I think I would just shell out the 200 bucks and save yourself the headache and risk.