Breeding Breaks

[HerpAddict]

I've talked to a few other crested breeders about their opinions on this topic, but was just curious to get a few more opinions/experiences.

What do you think about when, if, how or how long you should give females a break from breeding?

My thoughts were that a 4 month break without laying is not unreasonable each winter. By this I mean separate the males and females, and then wait a minimum of four monthes from the laying of the last clutch before introducing a male again. Generally because it's their winter when they break, I would imagine that the best time would be sept-january, or somewhere in that range.

I have yet to have a winter with a breeding female, and was planning on doing it this way, but the female decided to do things her own way. She laid clutches in march, april, may, june and then stopped. She was actually gaining in average weight at the time, so I highly doubt that she stopped because of a nutrient problem. I decided to leave her in the cage with the same male, just incase she changed her mind, and he's not agressive at all, she's actually more agressive, and so I figured no harm would be done. Come the end of October, she hadn't laid for 4 months, so I decided I would see if a new male would spark her interest, so I moved her in with a new guy. Sure enough, 3 weeks later (two days ago), I caught her laying a set of eggs.

Now that she's starting at a strange time of the year, I'm thinking that I'll just keep track of how many sets she lays (and her health primarily), and then remove her after 5-6 clutches.

Any ideas or input on this would be cool, or if you have your own methods or experiences that you would like to share, then I'd be happy to hear them! Most of you out there have more experience with cresteds, so I'm always happy to learn!

[newticus]

yeah this is one of the things i don't really understand either. If you want her to have a breeding rest for 4 months but females can lay eggs without a male for up to four clutches (4 months) so in total they'd be separated for 8 months and only be together for 4 months of the year. But then if you only want her to have 4-5 clutches before a break then you have to separate them after a month or two
so what is it,, just a break from the male for 4 months regardless of laying or for 8 months?

[DragnDrop]

I keep all my crested and gargoyle pairs together all year long. BUT they do get only the natural light cycle (no other lights on the enclosures) and ambient room temperature is lower during the winter months. The females stop laying even though the male is present. The girls get their rest and there's no sign of them even thinking of mating until late February at the earliest, most likely early March - about the time that daylight is noticeably increased. At this time the temperature is still regulated by the furnace, not much different than it's been since October - ranges from 65-72F over winter. All told, they get about 5-6 months of rest each year using this method.

If you use the artificial light cycle, try adjusting the lights to only on for 10 hrs. per day starting in the fall - say shorten it half an hour or so a week from late September. One you notice daylight increasing, increase the lights-on hours as well. They should slow down on their own that way, no eggs even if a male is present.

Since they're captives kept in captive conditions, there's no 'real' breeding season going by sun light and temperature outside. They go by what the weather is like in their enclosure. If it's warm enough even if the heat comes from an artificial sun and there's enough food, then it's time to propagate the species. Cresties can lay eggs all year long if the conditions are right. Not cycling the females has led to many of them laying themselves to death. If you can adjust the light and let the temperature cool just a few degrees (like it would with furnace heating), that should be enough to get the girls to rest, no need to remove the male. If you can't change the light and heat, then remove the male - Rhacs seem to need to mate to produce eggs (exceptions apply here but not many females lay if unmated).

[Betty Miskie]

I actually keep my girls separate from the males until the fall. Just last week I put which girls I wanted with which males and put the males in with the female groups. I find that some breed right away and some take a month or two to adjust. By January every one of my girls are laying eggs and then I remove the males. With this method, I find that the females lay around 4 to 6 clutches but I have had females lay up to 8 clutches. With this method I do find that the last clutch might/might not be fertile.
I find with this method that the males tend to stay with the maximum weights and the females are not overly stressed.
Just another way of doing it so whatever works for you, is the way to go as these guys breed quite readily either method.
Betty