another brumation / breeding question

[nat_the_brat]

I am wondering at what point past brumation do you start introducing the male and female together? Do you wait until they are eatting regularly and acting like them old selves? How many weeks after waking them up in general do you start to introduce them ?

thanks!

[Tattoo]

Some breeders don't feed at all before they breed ... others do limited food or whole hog. I think you should pm one of our breeding experts for full details (maybe Zach?).

[Hockeyrulz48]

Are you brumutating right now? Start to warm up the temps. Then after about two weeks after that you can introduce food. They might not take. At that point you can start to introduce them

[nat_the_brat]

they came out of brumation almost two weeks ago and I have been increasing the light on everyday up until this point. Both my male and female and now picking at food but not eatting regularly. Thanks for the insight!

[Blotch]

I'd introduce now then. if it's been 2 weeks they should be pretty much ready.

[Hockeyrulz48]

Ya introduce them, if they do not breed don't worry. They may do nothing. If nothing happen wait a day and they put them back together. You may have them together in little sessions everyday and then one out of now where they will decide to breed. They are funny animals. Some certain individuals and easy to breed than others.

[nat_the_brat]

I put them together tonight, following the method mentioned on the caresheet of this site. I don't actually know if they are 1.1 so this is to determine their sex as well as hopefully breed them. The one I think is female largely ignored the male. I now know he is a male because during the session he pooped, along with a sperm plug (and I saw his hemipenis). Anyways, the male bit the "female's" tail and followed her around the tank while she tried to get away. After about 15 of this I think the female had enough and lunged at the males face and they started fighting. I seperated them. I will see what happens tomarrow.

Hopefully I do have a 1.1... I think the male biting the tail is a good sign (though the two of them fighting head on isn't )

[Zach]

I normally do not feed, but they likely wouldn't eat anyway.

Check out a thread I posted titled something like "method for find female gender" -- should have some helpful clues for you...

[Hockeyrulz48]

From what you have described it sound like what my pair did. For two weeks my male did not try breed and my female bit him. Then I gave them a three day break and the after a half hour they breed. Since then they have been breeding fine. If they seem to ignore each other give them a break from each other.

[nat_the_brat]

yah I am going to try again tonight for 1/2 an hour (or less if the "female" isn't in the mood) and just go from there. I also tried roughing the female up a little as per the caresheet and she wanted nothing to do with me. My gut feeling (which is usuaully dead on) is that I have a difficult female ... hopefully in the next day or so I will see if my gut has been right all along!

[nat_the_brat]

and Zach, are you referring to the relatively new thread about finding a new clue for gender or is there an older one out ? I did a search but only found the thread about tapping their tails and grabbing them by the neck. Thanks!

[Hockeyrulz48]

I am pretty surre he is talking about the one you looked at. It does not always work though. Some female don't lift their tale like that.

[Blotch]

just keep trying!!! I'm keeping an eye on this to find out what happens. It's like a mini series!

[Leigh]

I'm not sure if they'd be ready yet, Canada is still rather cold,right? I dont know if you can force the natural instincts by warming them up too soon, my male's still brumating and its milder here.

[nat_the_brat]

I brought them out because they were rustling around constantly in their brumation boxes. My husband told me (since they were kept in his den) that every time he was up there the skinks were constantly scratching around and trying to get out. At first I just left them but after a couple of weeks of continual movement I decided to bring them out and put them back in their enclosures (since my house is still quite cool they can still brumate in the cool side of their tanks if they want). They have been hanging out under their basking lights for the majority of the day for the past several weeks and both have eaten a little so I figured that they wanted to come out of brumation. Ha ha trust me, if it was up to me I would of loved it if they decided to sleep a couple more weeks rather than put me through this during my midterms and exams! All of my lizards (tegus, skinks) have decided to wake up.. I think it has something to do with all the natural light flooding into the windows... it has been a very very mild feb up here (10 degrees 'C today!) and quite sunny to boot (if you live in B.C. you will know that sun is a rare thing in the middle of winter) so maybe that has something to do with it ?

either way, I will just watch them and see what happens and maybe try pairing them up again later just to guage reaction.