Mating

[yakface77]

Ok,
Im new to mating and am hoping for eggs this year. 2 major questions i need help with
1) Right, i have a nice community of hermanns as in my sig, how do i sort out the environment, shall i put the female 1-1 in seperate honeymoon enclosure for purposes of mating, keep a peek on them and then seperate and put back in group. My horny male is at it all the time and i dont want her to have too much dominance from him.

2) how do i know if the seed has been sown ??????? shall i look for fluid remaining on his tail, any other sign ?
Sorry im realy green at this. have to ask though.

[sandy]

Well I have my male and female iberas together most of the time. I do seperate them from
time to time on the hotter days of he Summer. To give the girls a rest.
As for whether the deed is done, only time will tell. My males are at it most of the time, but in
not so warmer days, they are less ardent.
As for egg laying again it has to be the right time for them, the right temps and soil they like.
Typical females will only play ball when it suits them<g>.

[terrypin]

hi i see in your sig you have your thb females well out numbered by males do you find the males fight or do some wait their turn.my ratio is a little different to yours i wish i had another good unrelated male but thats another story .i find that my hermans are no where near as aggressive sexually as the tgg and i understand ibera are even more so my hermans males seem to spend a lot of time with a favourite female although when it is very warm they dont seem so interested in mateing so most of this occurs spring and autumn.when your females have eggs they will very often become restless constantly paceing once warmed up and some climb the walls so they are standing upright this is one time when they will really test the perimeter because they are lookin for a suitable nest site some will try digging on concrete so be ready for this if i have a awkward one i will often section a part of the greenhouse so she can have some peace and quiet this often works but can take a couple of days also some become aggressive and start acting like males and mounting other tortoises.if you are attempting to persuade yours to breed ensure they have a good healthy diet with plenty calcium supplement as the females need for this will increase when eggs are forming.
terry

[yakface77]

Thanks Sandy and Terry

My males dont fight as they are generally seperated, but i find 2 females and 1 male in an enclosure is a peaceful ratio with them at the moment. I hate to think of the male persistently nagging at the females and upsetting them.
Im just wondering if the male is always on top, should i just give him an hour or so then seperate so it doesnt become stressful, all males do stop when in balanced groups.
thanks anyway

[egyptiandan64]

Hi Craig,
It depends on if you want to end up with unrelated offspring from your group that you definately know the parents of. My Hermanns males are pretty laid back, both subspecies. They will breed when they think they need to and most of the rest of the time they ignore the female.
I have my T.h.hercegovinensis, (2.2) set up as 2 pair, so I'm getting unrelated offspring. I'll be setting up my T.h.boettgeri the same way this year with the introduction of a new male, making my group 2.2.

Danny

[yakface77]

Originally Posted by egyptiandan64

Hi Craig,
It depends on if you want to end up with unrelated offspring from your group that you definately know the parents of. My Hermanns males are pretty laid back, both subspecies. They will breed when they think they need to and most of the rest of the time they ignore the female.
I have my T.h.hercegovinensis, (2.2) set up as 2 pair, so I'm getting unrelated offspring. I'll be setting up my T.h.boettgeri the same way this year with the introduction of a new male, making my group 2.2.

Danny

Thanks Danny, 2:2 sounds like a harmonious ratio. It is possible with mine for the THB, but im a female THH short. there will be size difference of a couple of inches. Anyway, as long as i supervise ill learn to adapt to ultimately give them their ideal group ratios. thanks again

[egyptiandan64]

It does if I was keeping the 2.2 together. I'll be setting them up as pairs as the male I have didn't get the job done with one of my females and all her eggs last year (8 eggs) were infertile. He was fertile with 6 out of 7 eggs with the other female.
With your T.h.hercegovinensis I'd set-up the largest male with the female for a breeding group and leave the other male in reserve. Might use him next year for semi-related offspring or wait for another female.

Danny

[yakface77]

Originally Posted by egyptiandan64

It does if I was keeping the 2.2 together. I'll be setting them up as pairs as the male I have didn't get the job done with one of my females and all her eggs last year (8 eggs) were infertile. He was fertile with 6 out of 7 eggs with the other female.
With your T.h.hercegovinensis I'd set-up the largest male with the female for a breeding group and leave the other male in reserve. Might use him next year for semi-related offspring or wait for another female.

Danny

Yes, will do.