Awkward

[OrangeJuice]

So I introduced my new female, Ashi, to Yoyo (male). Yoyo INSTANTLY ran over and started doing her. I just wanted to let him see her but he jumped off my hand to go see her. Little horny toad. I figured he was too young at 5 1/2 months to breed. I'm keeping them in separate cages and I moved her out of sight since he really wants to see her again. Any thoughts on this? Is Yoyo too young? Is it a good thing to let him see a female every so often. I'm not sure on this :s

 

[Andee]

How old is Ashi? that's who I would be more worried about. Yoyo is definitely old enough to inseminate

 

[OrangeJuice]

Oh okay. Ashi is a year and a half. She's did this after they mated for awhile so I took him off.

 

[Andee]

Then you better prepare for eggs, looks like she is now gravid

 

[OrangeJuice]

Is it really that simple? I have a laying bin in her cage, and some of the weird stuff to incubate eggs but... that's seriously all it takes? I figured it would take a few tries

 

[Andee]

No, she was displaying receptive colors, he apparently hooked his hemipenes up right, honestly as long as they are both fertile and he gets in right and she accepts him etc, that's honestly all it takes... veileds and panthers are usually easy peasy. But now you gotta find good homes. And honestly veileds will not make you money based on the amount of work you put into them. And you should look for a minimum of 50 homes now.

 

[OrangeJuice]

I planned on giving a good amount of eggs to Primeval, where I got her. A bunch of friends would like to have some, and of course I'm gonna keep some babies. My best friend and I really love the guys, so we're okay with keeping a lot until they find the right homes. I pre made a bunch of screen cages in case there's a lot

 

[Andee]

ok good ^^, if you aren't breeding insects yet I strongly recommend starting at least 3 colonies of different types. Is Primeval a member? Or a middle-man seller? Make sure to provide her with plenty of supplements but go easy on feeders, until like I think the last week?

@kinyonga @jannb

might have a better time frame for when to increase feedings for a gravid female. You want to not overfeed her for most of her gravid months from what I remember because of reducing egg numbers. But the numbers of feeders from what I remember is usually a bit different?

 

[OrangeJuice]

Primeval is a wonderful exotic pet store about an hour from where I live. I always buy from there because they take excellent care of their animals. As for colonies, I currently only have a dubia colony. I usually just buy crickets because they're so cheap(they're very stinky), and I order soldier fly larvae online. I also get hornworms and such. As for babies, I'm guessing I should stick with soft bodied insects? Fruit flies and such. I have some idea on supplements but I'm gonna triple check my notes to make sure, and certainly ask those you recommended as well. Thank you for your help! I'm very excited.

 

[Virgil1972]

I have 3 kids, yes it is that easy. I would make sure you have the supplements down for a gravid female as egg development takes a good amount of resources from female. I would also make sure you research how much to feed her to make sure she does't develop a 100 eggs. Don't be afraid to ask some of the experienced keepers on here.

 

[Andee]

Fruit flies people usually don't start until they are like a month or so away from egg laying, and ordering a colony starter online is easy. Your babies need pin head crickets and they will go through a LOT every day. Black soldier fly larvae would likely not be taken by most babies. Hornworms may? They aren't always. I would recommend maybe doing another roach colony. Or stick insects... or maybe doing super worms and start all those now.

 

[Virgil1972]

Fruit flies people usually don't start until they are like a month or so away from egg laying, and ordering a colony starter online is easy. Your babies need pin head crickets and they will go through a LOT every day. Black soldier fly larvae would likely not be taken by most babies. Hornworms may? They aren't always. I would recommend maybe doing another roach colony. Or stick insects... or maybe doing super worms and start all those now.

What about dubia nymphs that are just a few days old? Would they be small enough?

 

[OrangeJuice]

Are superworms easy to breed? They don't stink from what I've exprinced. My mom refused to let me breed crickets because of their smell. (I'm only 17 lol) but I have an entire room to myself specifically for my reptiles and breeding insects that aren't gross. Breeding them really would let me save a lot of money, haha. I could put a LOT more into the emergency fund hehe

 

[Andee]

Dubia nymphs are totally small enough, but I believe even babies should have at least three feeders.

 

[Andee]

Super worms in my opinion are easy to breed... But my version. Of easy is different from most

 

[Virgil1972]

Dubia nymphs are totally small enough, but I believe even babies should have at least three feeders.

The more the better.

 

[etclement]

You could try pallid roaches for little chams. Pretty soft exoskeleton, the nymphs are tiny, and pallids reproduce like crazy.

 

[kinyonga]

When the female us gravid/producing eggs...and your female is now according to her coloration..it's not the time to cut back the food. You want her to be fed well enough that she produces good healthy eggs/hatchlings.the number of eggs is more or less already set already at her age for the next clutch IMHO.

 

[OrangeJuice]

When the female us gravid/producing eggs...and your female is now according to her coloration..it's not the time to cut back the food. You want her to be fed well enough that she produces good healthy eggs/hatchlings.the number of eggs is more or less already set already at her age for the next clutch IMHO.

Sounds good. She hasn't ate yet, I'm offering her hornworms and dubias. Is that normal? I did just get her after all

 

[kinyonga]

You should have quarantined her for a few months before putting them together to make sure she wasn't sick with something she could pass on to your male...but it's a little late now.

Under the circumstances she may lay the eggs sooner than the normal 30 days from the mating...I didn t realize she was already producing eggs when you got her.
Make sure you get a laying bin in her cage ASAP.