My female and breeding

[bradley]

I have a female ambilobe who is currently showing receptive colours. I do not know her exact age but I and a few breeders estimated she was four months when I got her. She is now supposedly about nine months old coming up to 9 months. A few people and breeders have said I could breed her as she is a good size and weight. I have her on a controlled diet and temps.

I am slightly worried seeing as I lost my fe ale at two years old due to laying problems. She however was over fed and didn't revieve the amount of calcium share should for a young age.

What are other people's thoughts. If she isn't bred is it very likely she will lay infertiles any way? She is a bright peach pink colour ate the moment and last time she was weighed she was around 65g
Here she is. Sorry for the overly large pictures

 

[jannb]

Hi Bradley, Very beautiful girl! She's pretty chunky right now and looks to me like she might already be carrying eggs.

 

[bradley]

When shown the male she does not hiss or change to gravid colouration. I have felt her belly and cannot feel anything either. With her size I'm thinking she may be older than I think.

 

[panther67]

I do not think those are receptive colors. My females show to those colors when they are gravid.

 

[shaunaroxanne]

Those are for sure not receptive colors, they are gravid colors.

 

[pohchunyee]

When i started breeding Panther, I waited for the female to reach about 1 years old before i breed them. That is my personal preference. Maybe you can use 1-2 months to make sure she is getting enough nutrition and calcium before starting to mate her. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[panther67]

Those are for sure not receptive colors, they are gravid colors.

LOL Was trying to be soft with my reply, I agree 100%

 

[bradley]

Thankyou everyone for your comments. I am going to try and contact the breeder again today to see if they can give me a better idea of her age.

She gets her calcium everyday and all the correct supplements. The first picture was her a bit annoyed at her picture being taken. The second is more her resting colours where she is a little brighter. The phone camera really does not show her true colours.

I just hate to think she could potentially lay a clutch for nothing really but I suppose infertiles take less out of them.

I have been told by a large respected breeder to go for it and also another home keeper who has bred at the same age.

Just want whats best for her really.

 

[jannb]

I definitely wouldn't try to breed right now. IMO it's best to allow them to lay an infertile clutch first to see how they do with the smaller eggs before breeding and of course breeding and egg laying shortens the females life.

 

[bradley]

I am leaning towards leaving her and seeing if she does lay infertiles or not. She has had a laying bin in with her for the past 5 months or so. I am still trying to contact the breeder to find out an exact age for her.

I weighed her and she is 80g. I did show her the male briefly and she displayed darker banding but there was no gaping or hissing at all. The male certainly would breed!
Here is another picture from a moment ago

 

[bradley]

She is now pacing the cage trying to get to the males enclosure. I am hoping the breeder does get back to me.

 

[bradley]

Also interested on how I can get more calcium into her as she gets calcium on every feed she gets.

 

[thephotoprincess]

Also interested on how I can get more calcium into her as she gets calcium on every feed she gets.

why would you need to get more calcium in her? Seems like she is getting enough. You could give her liquid calcium if you wanted.

 

[bradley]

why would you need to get more calcium in her? Seems like she is getting enough. You could give her liquid calcium if you wanted.

This was just the general advice from most people, not that they knew my dusting schedule. My female veiled who died after four clutches never received proper calcium supplementation which I think counted towards her premature death. This is why I am a bit more apprehensive about this breeding.

 

[bradley]

Another picture of her. A few breeders have said she may be infact older than i thought. Im hoping though that if I do not breed her and she has seen the male she wont lay infertiles

 

[sandrachameleon]

I would wait. There is no harm in waiting until you are 100% positive she is fully grown and over 1 year old. She doesn't really look receptive too me anyways.

Female panthers do not necessarily have to start laying eggs, if you keep her at the correct temps and do not overfeed and don't show males to her.

 

[shaunaroxanne]

She's probably not pacing the cage to get to the male, but to get away from him if she can see him. I have never seen a female go after a male to breed. They don't aggressively seek to breed as males do, rather, they passively accept it. When they are receptive they don't look like that, they are a more uniform "peachy" color.

 

[bradley]

I think I may wait for a few more months. My thinking is I only want to mate her once a year. If she lays infertiles this time I wouldn't want to mate her until around February next year.

She has seen the male and the peachy coloration you describe was shown. How likely do you think she is to lay infertiles? Her basking temp is max 84f and she gets about four to six adult crickets every other day or the equivalent in dubias or locast etc