A few questions

[Barbel]

Hey there. This is my first season breeding and I have a few questions.

1. I have three females that haven't started ovulating yet. Is this unusual so
far into February? Some people already have hatchlings! Is it possible for
them to start late in the season?

2. Will a male only attempt to mate a female that is ovulating? I placed a
female who was obviously ovulating in with him and they mated instantly.
Since then I have placed two females with him that were questionable and
he showed no interest in them.

3. I have a female Mack Snow that I am dying to breed to my male Mack
Snow, but she is just now 46 grams. I was planning on waiting until my
females were a minimum of 50 grams, but would prefer 55. I was curious
as to what is the smallest size you would breed a female?

Thanks for any and all advice!

 

[jakemyster44]

1- It is very possible that they may start ovulating llater in the season. Just be patient, I know its hard!

2- I introduced a non-ovulating female into the males cage (breifly, to try and 'coax' her into ovulating) and he imediatly tried to breed, the female gave him "the look" though, and he left her alone.

3- It's pretty debatable, and you will probably get a bunch of opinions on this topic. if you can get her up to 50g (only 4g more... shouldnt be a problem, right?) then you should be fine. I'd be concerned to breed her, not beacuse of her current size, but if she isn't gaining weight. So, yes, I think it would be fine to breed her, as long as she s still growing steadily.

 

[Barbel]

I'd be concerned to breed her, not beacuse of her current size, but if she isn't gaining weight. So, yes, I think it would be fine to breed her, as long as she s still growing steadily.

Thank you for resonding.
She has been growing at a steady pace. She was around 30 grams when I bought her back in November. I hadn't weighed her in a while and was pleasently surprised at her size. I started checking her for ovulation, but as far as I can tell she isn't yet!

My male just doesn't seem interested in the other females... I don't know why? I thought maybe it might be because they aren't ovulating, but I guess not. Any suggestions???

 

[acpart]

Sometimes males can seem not to be interested, but they get their in their own time. I have a male I have never seen breed or rattle his tail, yet the 2 females he was with last year had a good number of live hatches. I haven't seen anything from him this year, but one of the females he's in with has some marks on her tail which would indicate he's been "busy". Maybe if you just leave them together for awhile it will happen "magically"

ALiza