Breeding intervals and male stress

[Zach Valois]

Hey guys,

I am sure this has been discussed a number of times, but I didn't find much in a forum search.

In chameleons, (Panther's in this case), how many times do you breed a given male with a particular female? When bred once, do you consider this sufficient, or will you put a particular pair together more than once? This goes without saying to obviously heed signs of a female who cares to not breed any more.

Also, there are many posts in regards to breeding related physiological stress and health considerations in females, but what are concerns to be aware of with males?

I have bred Panther's a few times successfully, but have many pairs to put together for their first breeding within the next couple months and males that are tad small (75-85 grams, 8-12 months) are beginning to pace their enclosures quite dramatically. I have put together a select few, but don't want to push males too much. I am confident on the reproductive status and health of my given females, but am not sure on what might be of concern with males.

I have bred many snakes, and know that overbreeding a male or breeding a young male can cause a host of issues. Such being male weight dropping too low due to decreased feeding through the breeding season (and all the issues associated with that), and hemipene infections.

Some of my male Panthers have the occasional piece of dried sperm around their cloaca that is easily removed, but should I be concerned about expending too much energy from males in general, or hemipene damage/infection?

I assume most individuals breeding are putting one male to two, sometimes three females?

 

[pssh]

I don't know about how many females people usually put to males as I have only done one male to two females personally, but keep in mind that young males don't always know how to "get the job done." So even though they may bob at the female and mount, they may not actually get it in there and fertilize her. I know a lot of people don't recommend breeding a female with a male more than once a year or so to try and prevent her laying eggs non-stop. Females lay 1-3 clutches of eggs from retained sperm anyways, and the second clutch (the first clutch of retained sperm) seems to be fairly fertile from my limited experience and reading about others' experiences.

 

[Zach Valois]

Thanks for the input.

I got some interesting responses when contacting some establish breeders..

These males are breeding dramatically well. They are not overly aggressive with the females. They typically breed for about 15-20 minutes with each hemipene.