help! do not know what to do next

[Anakan2]

As i mentioned in a previous thread, my female has layed 2 infertile eggs in the past few weeks. (one at a time,not the normal 2 in a clutch).
As I know little about female reproduction, I need to know if it is okay to reintroduce her to her old 'husband' who together produce beautiful babies. I am beginning to think that her new husband is a dud.
They (she and the new beau) were introduced toward the very end of December (12-31-2009)and she laid her first infertile egg on 2-1-10 and her second infertile egg on 2-12-10. They were (are) both soft, yellow when candled, deflated and stinky. The male she mated with (or at least tried to mate with-don't know if she actually let him but he tried), never produced anything with his last girlfriend. Her eggs were always infertile, which leads me to think that he is a dud.
So, with all of the information, is it okay to reintroduce her with her first boy? I briefly put her in with him and as soon as he realized she was back in with him, he attacked her. I took her out almost immediately because it scared me. I know the mating ritual is violent but this was almost territorial in nature. I would think that there would be some sweet nothings and wine before he has his way with her! I think in time, they would remember how much in love they were.
Any advise is welcome and much needed.
Jenny

 

[Mel&Keith]

Just because the eggs are infertile doesn't necessarily mean that the male is a dud. Sometimes a breeding just wasn't successful. We had several proven males and females that never produced any fertile eggs last year and I have no idea why! You can put her in with the other male you just won't be 100% sure who the father unless you can tell by what morph that babies are.

 

[acpart]

I have been in your situation where a female laid dud eggs by one male (the male actually is a great breeder but the female isn't so hot as a breeder and has since been retired). In frustration, I put her in with another male and she did manage to produce 3 offspring which I am sure were the product of the second male (one of the offspring is a holdback and has bred back to the original male, a Tremper, and not produced tremper babies). I do think that the later sperm is usually the more viable. Interestingly, I put the female back with the original male the next season and got a grand total of 1 viable offspring. The second male may have been more aggressive because he smelled the other male on her, or else he was just overanxious.

Aliza

 

[Anakan2]

thank you to everyone for all of the great info. I have what is probably a stupid question(another one). if she successfully breeded with the boy she is living with now, is his sperm in there just waiting for the next ovum and if she mated with another boy, would she hold sperm from both? In other words would she have sperm from both that are waiting on deck for her ovulation? It was my understanding that a male and female only have to mate once for the female to produce viable clutches for the entire season.
????
Jen