Fertile Vs Infertile. Egg Laying / Age. Which is safer. Interesting Question.

[Goldenarcher1328]

My question is, does producing an infertile clutch of eggs take a toll less than or equal to producing a fertile clutch of eggs.
Lets say the species is Chamaeleo calyptratus.

Now, in my mind, the logical answer is that it takes less of a toll on the body because the infertile eggs require less "material" then fertile eggs would.

The reason i'm asking this was because i was asked if when a chameleon is producing infertile clutches, should you go ahead and breed her at that point in time, because the eggs will be produced during the rest of her lifetime anyway.

The askers logic was that if she produces eggs now, you may as well have her produce fertile eggs.

My Logic was no, because it would require more nutrients and whatnot to produce a fertile, healthy baby then it would to produce an infertile egg.

However, i answered I do not know. simply because i have no real information to support my assumption. Anyone have any ideas??

 

[jannb]

From my experience I have found infertile eggs are smaller and easier for the female to lay. My females gained less weigh with infertile eggs. I would also think the infertile eggs would not draw as much calcium from the female as fertile eggs would. I didn't breed my veiled Camille until after she had laid her first infertile clutch at 14 months old. I breed her at 17 months old. I would not recommend breeding until one year old and a good size and weight.

 

[Goldenarcher1328]

Thats exactly what i was thinking and personally planning on doing, however i had found myself not knowing how to answer that question. It absolutely makes sense that a non fertile egg would take a lesser toll on the body. Thanks Jann