"Dud" Male?

[Samantha12]

Last year, I lost my female to egg binding problems. She was unable to pass the eggs after several weeks and passed away after having surgery to remove the eggs. This year, I paired my male with a new female. I left them together overnight, but never saw them mate, and now the eggs appear to be growing extremely slowly. It's reminding me of last year with my female who passed away. They would have mated on March 9, so it's been four weeks today and the eggs look like they've stopped growing. Is it possible there's something wrong with my male?

 

[acpart]

I'm no expert at this, but it seems to me that if the male is infertile then there won't be any fertile eggs and if he's fertile then there will be. I can't imagine that there could be a characteristic of the male that would lead to an egg binding situation, but I'm willing to be corrected by someone more in the know.

Aliza

 

[Samantha12]

I've never heard of a male having 'deadly' sperm before, of course, but what happened to my female last year really tore me up and it could be that I'm just paranoid now. I just wanted to see if any breeders have had some type of experience with anything like this.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I had the same thing happen with one of my girls. I bred her about a month ago and she's been digging like crazy but still just has big ovulates in her belly that are not turning into eggs. I repaired her with the male last night and she was willing to mate again. I might suggest giving them another shot. I always breed my females at least twice, especially for first time breeders. I think there may be a learning curve to mating, storing and using sperm for them and if they're willing, a second breeding can't hurt.

 

[Samantha12]

I tried to put him in her tank for a "redo" today and she rattled her tail and then whacked him in the face with it. I'll try again tomorrow I guess

 

[tb144050]

I tried to put him in her tank for a "redo" today and she rattled her tail and then whacked him in the face with it. I'll try again tomorrow I guess

Just some amateur experience from me:

I've read before that "females are more receptive when the male is brought to the female's tank." This worked well for my first 2 females I mated. But my 3rd female I attempted, had ABSOLUTELY no intent to mate with him. (The one time he cornered her and took her neck, she POOPED on "him" when he "did the deed.".....so I consider that a rejection.)

After several failed attempts, I followed some other recent advice from another first-year breeder that he had read: "put female in male tank." I tried that a couple of times and she mated on the second try. I tried again later and she accepted him again.

I guess it depends on the temperament of the female. "Most of the time" will have exceptions to the rule. It's worth a shot??

 

[tb144050]

also, does she stay away from the warm hide? I believe the theory that "warmth = faster development of eggs." So if she is staying on the cool side, then I believe her whole body's functions are slower..??

 

[Samantha12]

The only time she leaves the warm side of the tank is to poop lol I'll just keep trying to pair them up again and hope her body gets the hang of what it's supposed to do

 

[tb144050]

The only time she leaves the warm side of the tank is to poop lol I'll just keep trying to pair them up again and hope her body gets the hang of what it's supposed to do

Try the male's tank and let me know if it works for you?

 

[Samantha12]

I put her with my male today and she was very responsive. He tried mating twice. It was really clumsy and awkward and I'm not 100% sure he was able to completely seal the deal, but I'll probably try again tomorrow night. Thanks!

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Mine let the male mate with her and then attacked him every time I reintroduced them for a month or so. She was in "egg limbo" so I decided to try again this week and she allowed him to mate again. I guess some are just more opinionated and finicky than others. I would just keep trying every few days until she starts showing obvious eggs or mates again.