mating two males to ONE female?

[boaccman]

mating two males to ONE female?

i read about this on this site on another forum.
has anyone any experience with a female who is realy sired by two males. and what will the hatclings think of their new half-bro's and half sisses?

:p

[gekko1]

i believe that when people breed two males to one female they just want to make sure their female is fertilized. i know breeders who do that. say i had 2.3 oketees, i'd have the two males hit up all three females to ensure fertilization.

[Axe]

There's some people I've heard of who "double clutch". Which, if I've read it right, is basically where they stick the female together with a male (whether same or different male) soon after dropping the first clutch so as to make her become gravid again before the season's over.

Personally, I wouldn't do this. I think it would just take too much out of the snake, and I'd really not buy from anybody who did double-clutch their females. It just gives the impression that they're more bothered about profit than the well-being of the animals they've an obligation to care for.

[Alicia]

In all fairness, some females will lay a second clutch whether they have been with a male or not:) And on the other side of that putting a female with a male after the first clutch will not guarentee a second clutch. If a female is of good size and weight and is likley to lay a second clutch then why not breed her? I would rather have a second clutch of fertile eggs then a bunch of slugs:D I just recently aquired a female that produced 2 clutches this year for her previous owner, she came to me in perfect shape. If the female is in good weight and health it won't hurt her to lay a second clutch, imho:)

[Axe]

Sure, if a female mates once and produces 2 clutches, that's nature, but attempting to force her to breed with another male, I wouldn't do it, and I'd keep a VERY close eye on the health & weight of a female naturally dropping 2 clutches.

Just the same as I'd very carefully watch a female beardy that had dropped 9 clutches of 25-30 eggs each in a season (which isn't impossible), or a single female that had dropped only 3 clutches of 70 eggs or more per clutch (also not impossible - our German Giant male's mother did that one year).

But if a female beardy had a norm of producing 3 clutches of 20 eggs per clutch from a single mating, I wouldn't put her together with another male to try and induce breeding again. If she stopped, it's for a reason and I don't like to tempt fate.

If somebody needs to produce that many (intentionally) from a comparatively fewer number of females then their goal is obviously money oriented - and not with the welfare of animals.

This may not be true of all breeders who intentionally double clutch, or attempt to force or induce another breeding session in the same season, but most of the ones I've spoken to (especially at shows) seem to be only in this for profit - not caring about the animals, or even giving correct care information to the purchasers of the hatchlings at the shows.

[bmm]

Some females double clutch on their own. Without human help. But on the other hand putting your female in with a male again is *not* a sin. It does not make you irresponsible. IF....and this is a big IF, if your female has kept up her weight. Many females can easily and safely double clutch. You just have to make sure the female hasn't lost her weight. I would suspect a person would *have* to have a scale and moniter the female close.

But I think your question was if you bred two males to a female, right after the other or so, and if the eggs can have two fathers in a single clutch. Honeslty, I am not 100% sure. But I think thats possible. Anyone know?

bmm

[Darin Chappell]

Yes, it is entirely possible to introduce two males to one female at breeding time, and she can (and most likely will) be fertilized by both of them. The eggs will be sired by two different males and will be half-siblings to each other. The trick is to do this with males that will either make no difference as to parentage, or males that will easily be identifiable as the sire from the eggs.

For example, if I have 2.3 okeetees, I can breed both males to all three females, and it does not matter at all which male sired which hatchling, because they are all okeetees. But what if I used one okeetee male and one amel male? If none of the females are het for amle, then all of the babies will look pretty much the same (some might have more okeetee looking characteristics than others, but I would suspect that it would be no more variation than could be found in any straight okeetee clutch), and there would be no way for them to be identified as being okeetee or okeetee het for amel.

However, I have a lavander female. Let's say that I will breed her to my lavander male AND to my motley snow corn. If the hatchlings come out lavs, I know who the sire was, and if they come out normals, I know their sire too. These normals will obviously be het for lav, amel, anery, AND motley, and I can sell them as guaranteed hets because I KNOW for a fact where they came from.

Exposing a female to two or more males is great for a couple of reasons. First, it allows for more diversity in your clutches ( I would definitely let the male you most want babies from have first crack at her, though); second, it encourages breeding activity because the scent of another male will enhance the need to breed in many males (competition, you know); third, it will increase the number of fertile eggs that your female will through. This is especially true if your male is young or a poor percentage breeder; fourth, it's just too fun to wait and see what comes out of those eggs after you've planned and charted all the possibilities!

By the way, as long as a female is in good flesh, there is absolutely no reason in the world to double clutch her. To say that going for a second clutch is money grubbing, but the first clutch isn't is a little dubious an argument, I would think. After all, unless you're building up your own personal collection with the hatchlings, don't we all intend to sell those babies? If a female takes a double clutch, fine; if not, fine. However, I've never had a problem doing this, and yes, I do sell those babies too. Am I selling those animals for a profit? Yes. Does that make me someone that is in it for the profit only? No.