Female stopped eating after being paired twice

[rufretic]

Great post Deb!

Thanks, that helps me. I have one 2018 female that is not quite to size that is already cool seeking and bowl wrapping. We will see how she progresses as she need to put on more weight, but I was surprised to see her already displaying building behavior.

Imo, this is a sign to me that she is ready. So if she has a good build/body condition, I would pair her if she was mine regardless of weight but I would continue to feed as long as possible. If she is on the lighter side to begin with, I would only continue to pair if she continues to feed, from my experience the lighter females eat like crazy through the breeding process and can gain a ton of weight by the time they ovulate. I've started pairing females as light as 1100-1200 grams but would only continue to pair if they stay onfood which mine have. In the end, all the females I've bred that started this light laid healthy 5-8 egg clutches and were heavier even after laying than they were at the start of the breeding process.