Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[royy]

Hi.

I'm keeping a pair of V. tristis orientalis and in recent times I've seen the male trying to mate with the female and chasing her about. The female seems reluctant and backs away or blocks. Is this normal breeding behavior, will she accept him in time or is it possible that they wont breed this season?

They've layed eggs at their previous owner.
I have plenty hollow "logs" but none that are big enough for them to mate in, could it therefore be that she doesn't feel safe mating in the open or under the loose cork bark? She is often laying inside the nesting box, but I haven't seen her digging though. She's also started basking during the night from time to time.

/Royy
_________________
Aussie geckos and monitors

[signchris]

Hi,
I had the behaviour with my timorensis pair.Although my male is 1 year older than my femme and much smaller.I have never seen them mating but only my male trying to.Then i realize that my femme was gaining weight but still i wasn't sure if she was gravid.The strange thing i noticed was my male hiding/sleeping away from my femme.Then i put her in a nesting cage and wait to see what would happened.After a couple of weeks she started digging in one of the nest boxes and basking a lot.Before 3 days i collect her eggs(10) in that nest box.The nest box was heated by a heat pad and was very humid...

Hope this helps!

Christos

[royy]

5 egg layed this morning. Although 2 of them probably won't make it, the third is fine but its "glued" together with one of the bad ones. The remaining 2 look just fine.

I call the other eggs bad because they are more soft and cave in more easily. I reckon this is a sign of infertility, or at least that they wont last long?






_________________
Aussie geckos and monitors

[johne.ev]

Good luck with the eggs royy. i have also seen my male v.auffenbergii trying to mate with the female, who also seems to be reluctant. what type & size nest box did you use & what substrate?

regards.

[royy]

Think I've read somewhere that in many captive pairs the male forces himself on the female. And if you want a good "working" pair many prefer to raise them in unrelated pairs from the time they are juveniles.

I guess the difference in pairs like mine and what they called working pairs would be that the female would be more receptive, and the stress on her would be somewhat less. Sadly, finding several individuals of certain monitor species can be really hard and really expensive.

The nesting box is 50cm*45cm*25cm l*w*h.
I've filled it up almost to the top, left enough space for her to burrow and move around. The substrate I use is a mix of soil, sand and vermiculite, with the majority being soil. The box I've used is a regular "Smartbox", plastic type.
_________________
Aussie geckos and monitors

[royy]

Pics makes it so much easier
If you look at the lid I've made a small hole for entrance, on the other nesting box I've used a hole in the side but this was rarely used. The new one worked better, obviously.
_________________
Aussie geckos and monitors

[johne.ev]

Cheers royy, best of luck.

[royy]

Thanks, same to you Keep us posted on the auffenbergiis
_________________
Aussie geckos and monitors

[christophermchale]

congrats on the eggs.

they are a great species!
_________________
cardboard city.