Bad season!

[bpbuk]

Hi everyone, new to the forum so hope this hasn't been covered too extensively..
I had a terrible season last winter because two of my males showed zero interest in breeding - despite weight/age being adequate by most people's standards (900-1050g/22-24months). They may need another year to get into it, who knows! My husbandry is pretty typical, and has worked for me for 22yrs (good seasonally adjusted feeding, zero RIs etc.).

Just to rub it in, my other male was all-systems go, but not in my plans!

Makes me think my collection is too small to get a clutch each year, with only 3 pairs of breeding age snakes.

Just wondered if everyone gets good years and bad years? And what is the minimum number of males and females you consider adequate to (probably) get a clutch every year?

[Lord Sorril]

Just wondered if everyone gets good years and bad years? And what is the minimum number of males and females you consider adequate to (probably) get a clutch every year?

I wouldn't call them 'bad' years...I get years where I am disappointed that a particular male did not want to breed. This year my 2 year old Banana Lesser male refused to mate with any female. It happens every now and then--usually they grow out of it...

If you want 1 clutch/year and you aren't picky about the genetics (which I am): You could assume that if you mate two males/female (all mature-of course) that one of the males would get the job done. Then it would be a reasonable expectation that if you have 1 female and she lays eggs in a particular year that she may not lay the next year...so that would be a minimum of 2 females. Now, if you are talking females that are unproven I would plan on an extra female just in case.
Final score: 2 Males: 3 Females for a reliable 1 clutch each year. The problem is: Project goals. Many times you will have only 1 mature male and female that can push your project forward as you would like.

In my experience females easily reach breeding weight, but, don't reach maturity until their 3rd winter. Some males can be ready to breed at a ridiculously young age/size. I'm always optimistic that a large female @2 years of age will lay eggs, but, so far I haven't had any luck.

[bpbuk]

Hey, thanks for taking the time to answer!

I'm hoping my two disinterested males will grow out of it for this coming winter. As you say, project goals made things more complicated for me! My male that always wants to breed is a Pewter, but I really want to move forward with projects involving other genes instead. In fact, I'd rather just go without breeding than produce a clutch for the sake of it.

It's interesting what you say about females at 2 yrs of age... Some people swear to me that all their males breed at 500g and all their females at 1500 without fail - I suspect they are exaggerating a tad!!

Recently someone even claimed they had an 1100g female go one to lay 11 eggs... Again, made me slightly suspicious lol

[Lord Sorril]

You are welcome!

It is nice to hear that you aren't just producing 'whatever' for morphs.

As for a 1100 gram female laying 11 eggs--I would believe it, but, I would expect at least half of those eggs to be no good...