How can you tell when a female veiled is ready to mate?

[BocaJan]

Does a female veiled turn colors when she is receptive? How can I tell? My juvenile won't be ready for a couple of months yet (she is only 3 months) but I want to be prepared. I will have a pot of vermiculite ready and a warm place to put the pot when she lays the eggs. They don't have to stay in the same cage with the mother, do they? I was told to remove them so you can incubate them in a quiet, warm spot. Does the vermiculite have to be kept moist?

Thanks! This will be my first batch. I know I will be lucky if I get any babies...my expectations are low, but the lady and fella are both healthy so if there is a chance, perhaps.

Boca Jan

 

[Adman]

When a female veiled is ready to mate she'll usually turn a very light lime green all over with clear, bright flecks of yellow/orange along with flecks of turquoise. Chances are that by the time she's ready to mate and is showing these colours she'll already be holding eggs so she'll be quite swollen.

 

[JoshCrane1]

she will display robin's egg blue spots. hard to miss cuz she wont ever have em before. i saw my old female show em at about 7 mo.

 

[kinyonga]

Vermiculite is for incubating the eggs in not for her to lay them in. You need a washed playsand or such for her to lay them in.

I don't recommend breeding a veiled female until she is at least a year old. Depending on your husbandry she may produce infertile eggs before that. I recommend having a suitable egglaying site in the cage from the time a veiled female is 5 months old on. Failure to provide a place for her to lay the eggs could lead to eggbinding and eventually, death.

Since you are asking about how to incubate the eggs I'm assuming you have a male too? If you do have a male..when your female is old enough that you want to breed her, show her to the male by holding her outside his cage...and watch for the reactions. (I don't recommend showing her to the male before she is the age you want to breed her at.) If she rocks, hisses, lunges, her background color turns dark..she is not receptive and they should not be mated at this time. If she remains green (with blue dots,etc.) and maybe walks slowly away from the male and holds her body close to the branch, etc. then she is receptive and may be placed in his cage. I continue to watch for a few minutes once they are together to make sure things go well....and I check on them every little while after that too. When the female starts to repel the male (hisses, etc.), then she should be removed from the cage.

I don't recommend incubating the eggs where they were laid. They should be incubated outside the cage in a suitable place. Ask more about this when your female is getting close to the time where she will lay the eggs (about a month after the mating).

 

[BocaJan]

Thank you. Good information. I guess it will be a long time before it is time. In the meantime I will do some reading up on it a bit more.