How will I know? (breeding questions)

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devsharkey

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So, I caught my Greeks mating. Not sure if they were done or not, cause as soon as they saw my shadow, my male clammed up and fell off.

1. How will I know if my female is gravid?

2. What's the best thing to be feeding her while she is preg?

3. When is the right time for Greeks to be breeding?

4. How long will it be before she lays her eggs?




I'M SO NEW AT THIS IT HURTS </3
 

biochemnerd808

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These are good questions! :)
If you weigh your female NOW, you might see her put on some weight as the eggs grow inside her. Also, she would start pacing the enclosure, possibly digging some test holes, and she might refuse food.

Feed her the usual good healthy mix of dark leafy greens, and focus on ones with high calcium (plantain weed, collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion e.g.). You may choose to dust with calcium during this time if you don't otherwise... this will help the egg shells to be strong. If you have a cuttlebone in the enclosure, you might scrape a little of that off onto the food.

In captivity, Greeks really can breed any time. In fact, you may find that it will become necessary to separate the male and female, since the male may begin to mate the female non-stop... since males often bite the females during foreplay, keep a keen eye on them. If the female is being mated more than once a day, starts hiding a lot, or is getting wounded, it is likely a good time to separate them for a while. My RT male spent a good part of the winter in 'time out' because he was acting like a little #$&#^ towards the female. Now with 3 females, the attention gets divided a little, and he has overall calmed down a lot.

Oh, and it usually takes about a month or so from the time of fertilization before the eggs are laid.

devsharkey said:
So, I caught my Greeks mating. Not sure if they were done or not, cause as soon as they saw my shadow, my male clammed up and fell off.

1. How will I know if my female is gravid?

2. What's the best thing to be feeding her while she is preg?

3. When is the right time for Greeks to be breeding?

4. How long will it be before she lays her eggs?




I'M SO NEW AT THIS IT HURTS </3
 

devsharkey

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Location (City and/or State)
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You are a godsend. Thank you so much!


biochemnerd808 said:
These are good questions! :)
If you weigh your female NOW, you might see her put on some weight as the eggs grow inside her. Also, she would start pacing the enclosure, possibly digging some test holes, and she might refuse food.

Feed her the usual good healthy mix of dark leafy greens, and focus on ones with high calcium (plantain weed, collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion e.g.). You may choose to dust with calcium during this time if you don't otherwise... this will help the egg shells to be strong. If you have a cuttlebone in the enclosure, you might scrape a little of that off onto the food.

In captivity, Greeks really can breed any time. In fact, you may find that it will become necessary to separate the male and female, since the male may begin to mate the female non-stop... since males often bite the females during foreplay, keep a keen eye on them. If the female is being mated more than once a day, starts hiding a lot, or is getting wounded, it is likely a good time to separate them for a while. My RT male spent a good part of the winter in 'time out' because he was acting like a little #$&#^ towards the female. Now with 3 females, the attention gets divided a little, and he has overall calmed down a lot.

Oh, and it usually takes about a month or so from the time of fertilization before the eggs are laid.

devsharkey said:
So, I caught my Greeks mating. Not sure if they were done or not, cause as soon as they saw my shadow, my male clammed up and fell off.

1. How will I know if my female is gravid?

2. What's the best thing to be feeding her while she is preg?

3. When is the right time for Greeks to be breeding?

4. How long will it be before she lays her eggs?




I'M SO NEW AT THIS IT HURTS </3
 

james1974

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Sounds like you might have a new mother laying eggs soon.Lots of greens and calcium...
 

sibi

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Better start reading up on what to do after she lays her eggs. Talk to some of the experts who have successfully hatched some babies. What incubator will you use? How long, and at what temps/humidity? etc.
 

devsharkey

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sibi said:
Better start reading up on what to do after she lays her eggs. Talk to some of the experts who have successfully hatched some babies. What incubator will you use? How long, and at what temps/humidity? etc.

Yep! I have a Hovabator. I'm just gunna keep it at 85, and I've read up on how to use it, thought people are saying they keep a bowl of water inside? The Hovabator has little grooves below the element for water (so the instructions say) so I was just wondering if the grooves were enough or if it's wise to our a bowl of water in there as well?
 

biochemnerd808

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The water in the grooves evaporates pretty quickly - not a problem if you're incubating chicken eggs for 28 days and have to refill 3x during that time (or more often), but if you are incubating for 80-100 days, opening the incubator to refill would cause temps to go all over the place, and might damage the eggs. Placing 2 bowls of water in there helps keep humidity up, and also helps keep the temperature steady! :)

I just ran our incubator for 3 days, just to play with the thermostat and make sure it was at the right setting. Not sure what kind you have, but it took some playing with that little dial to get the temps I wanted. When it's heating up, you don't want it ever to go above 91 degrees - check on the max/min thermometer. :) I finally got it to where it was mostly around 87-89 degrees, and would heat up to 90.5 every now and then.

Now all I need is eggs to put in it...

devsharkey said:
sibi said:
Better start reading up on what to do after she lays her eggs. Talk to some of the experts who have successfully hatched some babies. What incubator will you use? How long, and at what temps/humidity? etc.

Yep! I have a Hovabator. I'm just gunna keep it at 85, and I've read up on how to use it, thought people are saying they keep a bowl of water inside? The Hovabator has little grooves below the element for water (so the instructions say) so I was just wondering if the grooves were enough or if it's wise to our a bowl of water in there as well?
 
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