Do They Get Too Old to Be Fertile??

[burnt toast]

I have a group of old Hermans. Got them from a Breeder who has sold lots of babies & I do know a lot of people who bought babies from them. Anyway I put the first few years down to settling in period but now its the 3rd summer & I feel they are settled. So I want to know why all the eggs that the females carefully bury are never fertile? I see the male mate with them & sure enough the females produce eggs & nest them properly.

The male is not aggressive, its as if he gets a sudden urge & just jumps on & mounts them, never bites or butts ( but his ex owner said he's always been the same " a gentle lover" lol) Hes believed to be around the 75 year mark. The breeder did however sell another male a few years before I had these & im wondering now if the other male was the "daddy!"

I have got another THB male but hes only about 400 grams max. I keep him in with the smaller females as im a bit worried about loosing or steping on him if I let him in with the big ones as their area is very overgrown & ruggid. The females range from 1.6kg smallest to 2.5kg.. do you think he might be able to do the job, with these much bigger females? (that is if you think its due to the male) (don't really want to get another male because of somewhere to quarantine him)

[egyptiandan64]

It's most definately the male Lynn Like you thought he may have never been the father of any of the prior hatchlings as it's usually the aggressive males that get the job done.
It can't hurt to try your small male with the females or look for a bigger male. There are plenty of male Hermanns out there

Danny

[Suze65]

Do you want to borrow Sammy, he might be old and doddery, but he's still got lead in his pencil

[burnt toast]

Originally Posted by mediterraneansuze

Do you want to borrow Sammy, he might be old and doddery, but he's still got lead in his pencil

Ha ha thanks for the offer Suze. Well I put Hector my young male in with them this afternoon & I think he thought he had died & gone to heaven!! He was soo excited sniffing a leg & biting it all twitchy like a clock work toy. ( I have weighed him too hes a shade under 500 grams)

Mind you I went up to check on them & Hector passed me on the path quicker than Linford Christie being followed by Herbie the old male, who although he wont bite or butt females wont allow other whiper snappers near his hareem & doesn't mind biting or butting males! So we shall have to see how that goes as Herbie is big @ 1.8kg's ( mind you he likes human company so I could keep him occupied for an hour while Hector plays with the females!!)

[Suze65]

Originally Posted by burnt toast

Ha ha thanks for the offer Suze. Well I put Hector my young male in with them this afternoon & I think he thought he had died & gone to heaven!! He was soo excited sniffing a leg & biting it all twitchy like a clock work toy. ( I have weighed him too hes a shade under 500 grams)

Mind you I went up to check on them & Hector passed me on the path quicker than Linford Christie being followed by Herbie the old male, who although he wont bite or butt females wont allow other whiper snappers near his hareem & doesn't mind biting or butting males! So we shall have to see how that goes as Herbie is big @ 1.8kg's ( mind you he likes human company so I could keep him occupied for an hour while Hector plays with the females!!)

I've got a picture of all this going on, sounds like Herbie wants his cake but won't eat it lol .

[emma_mcraf]

That made me giggle. I can just imagine the excited behaviour of Hector. I think he may well have a bit of fun with your ladies, Lynn.

[sandy]

Originally Posted by burnt toast

Ha ha thanks for the offer Suze. Well I put Hector my young male in with them this afternoon & I think he thought he had died & gone to heaven!! He was soo excited sniffing a leg & biting it all twitchy like a clock work toy. ( I have weighed him too hes a shade under 500 grams)

Mind you I went up to check on them & Hector passed me on the path quicker than Linford Christie being followed by Herbie the old male, who although he wont bite or butt females wont allow other whiper snappers near his hareem & doesn't mind biting or butting males! So we shall have to see how that goes as Herbie is big @ 1.8kg's ( mind you he likes human company so I could keep him occupied for an hour while Hector plays with the females!!)

You never know, the young one might get the older ones juices going:0)
Just be careful of them fighting, as they can do some nasty nips, especially on the face:0)