AT WHAT SIZE...

[yagyujubei]

At what minimum size do most male leopards sucessfully breed? I believe that next year, before they're three, that one of my male p.pardalis could quite possibly step up to the plate, so to speak. What's your take on this? I think that they will certainly be big enough.

 

[Neal]

An average number I would say would be around 8 - 10inches. Really it all depends on the size of the female too. Males are ready to breed a relatively young age, but if they can't "connect" with the female, obviously, they can't reproduce. If you've ever seed the male penis in tortoises...it's huge, so even a smaller male has a good chance with a larger female.

I think you have a chance at this point, but it is probably just a slight chance.

 

[yagyujubei]

Hrothgar, my largest male, currently is 9 3/4", Oma, my female is 16 3/4' I am sure that he will be at least 12" this time next year.

An average number I would say would be around 8 - 10inches. Really it all depends on the size of the female too. Males are ready to breed a relatively young age, but if they can't "connect" with the female, obviously, they can't reproduce. If you've ever seed the male penis in tortoises...it's huge, so even a smaller male has a good chance with a larger female.

I think you have a chance at this point, but it is probably just a slight chance.

 

[Neal]

Hrothgar, my largest male, currently is 9 3/4", Oma, my female is 16 3/4' I am sure that he will be at least 12" this time next year.

An average number I would say would be around 8 - 10inches. Really it all depends on the size of the female too. Males are ready to breed a relatively young age, but if they can't "connect" with the female, obviously, they can't reproduce. If you've ever seed the male penis in tortoises...it's huge, so even a smaller male has a good chance with a larger female.

I think you have a chance at this point, but it is probably just a slight chance.

OK, maybe you have a better chance then. 9 and 3/4" is a pretty good sized male. Do you ever see them mate?

 

[yagyujubei]

NO, he really doesn't seem interested at this point.

Hrothgar, my largest male, currently is 9 3/4", Oma, my female is 16 3/4' I am sure that he will be at least 12" this time next year.

An average number I would say would be around 8 - 10inches. Really it all depends on the size of the female too. Males are ready to breed a relatively young age, but if they can't "connect" with the female, obviously, they can't reproduce. If you've ever seed the male penis in tortoises...it's huge, so even a smaller male has a good chance with a larger female.

I think you have a chance at this point, but it is probably just a slight chance.

OK, maybe you have a better chance then. 9 and 3/4" is a pretty good sized male. Do you ever see them mate?

 

[Tom]

The breeder says that his breed as early as six or seven years old, but we are raising them quite a bit differently, and growing them faster and smoother than he does.

This makes me wonder if it is NOT strictly a size thing, and age is still a factor. Maybe there is a typical age for breeding, but they still can't or won't breed until a certain size is reached, or vice versa. With our improved methods of raising them, I wonder what we will learn about age and size in relation to breeding...

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

The breeder says that his breed as early as six or seven years old, but we are raising them quite a bit differently, and growing them faster and smoother than he does.

This makes me wonder if it is NOT strictly a size thing, and age is still a factor. Maybe there is a typical age for breeding, but they still can't or won't breed until a certain size is reached, or vice versa. With our improved methods of raising them, I wonder what we will learn about age and size in relation to breeding...

I think age is a factor, just not as big a factor as size because if its not big enough it just wont be able to successfully breed. The tortoise needs its time to mature because there is a BIG difference between a two year old sulcata at 12 inches than a ten year old sulcata at 12 inches. The older one has much more defined sexual characteristics, while the smaller male wont have much characteristics showing he is a male. Which in turn helps the older one mate because he has a very concave plastron while the younger one will have a relatively flat plastron which will kill his chances at breeding with a female thats at least 15 inches. We will all learn a great deal about this subject in at least the next 3 years because of the GPP.