LauRuffian
Perpetual Newbie
I decided not to breed my 13yro classic het amel Cleo this year for two reasons. One, well...she's 13, and two, I recognize what she produces isn't very marketable and it isn't fair to her offspring to continue to put them out there. I know this from horses--just because it has a uterus (or in this case, an oviduct) doesn't mean we should use it. 
Because my husband is a teacher, we have hundreds of interested buyers in the form of students and their families and haven't had trouble selling her two clutches, but still; it was time to move on.
Enter Kamalah, a 5yro lavender Aztec het hypo het stripe. I intended to breed her to Keegan, a hypo vanishing stripe het hypo, and enjoy the more diverse and valuable clutch. Plus, it's way more interesting (and flat out fun) for the students to calculate the possible genetic outcomes in the Punnett square. At least 8 possible phenotypes, by my count!
Well, every time I paired her with Keegan, he was all OH BABY!, and she was all NOPE. I never once witnessed a lock between the pair, so rather than put them together for 15-30min periods, we started leaving them together in the 55gal "honeymoon suite" for a few days at a time before separating them again. We did that at least three separate times, but never once observed a lock.
Fast forward to now. I have hope she's gravid, but no concrete proof since I didn't observe a lock. There are promising signs: she gained about 30g in just under 2 weeks and she refused the large adult mouse I offered her Sunday, and she's always been a good eater. She did readily take the weanling I offered her yesterday, though. She has gone blue, so I'm hoping (crossing fingers and toes) this is going to be her prenatal shed. I have the lay box already in her tank, her big water dish out, and my incubator stands at the ready. Since I don't know the exact date of any locks, I don't really know when she'd be ready to lay--so I'm going by her shed schedule.
I've been through a lot, a lot, in the last year, so this would mean a lot to me. I had to be medically retired after 17 years in the classroom following brain surgery in January, and after losing my horse to a nasty colic and then realizing I'm not in a place physically to ride or really even handle a 1000lb animal, my other pets are a source of comfort and hope. No pressure, Kamalah.
So...here's hoping all my eggs are in that one lavender basket.
Because my husband is a teacher, we have hundreds of interested buyers in the form of students and their families and haven't had trouble selling her two clutches, but still; it was time to move on.Enter Kamalah, a 5yro lavender Aztec het hypo het stripe. I intended to breed her to Keegan, a hypo vanishing stripe het hypo, and enjoy the more diverse and valuable clutch. Plus, it's way more interesting (and flat out fun) for the students to calculate the possible genetic outcomes in the Punnett square. At least 8 possible phenotypes, by my count!
Well, every time I paired her with Keegan, he was all OH BABY!, and she was all NOPE. I never once witnessed a lock between the pair, so rather than put them together for 15-30min periods, we started leaving them together in the 55gal "honeymoon suite" for a few days at a time before separating them again. We did that at least three separate times, but never once observed a lock.
Fast forward to now. I have hope she's gravid, but no concrete proof since I didn't observe a lock. There are promising signs: she gained about 30g in just under 2 weeks and she refused the large adult mouse I offered her Sunday, and she's always been a good eater. She did readily take the weanling I offered her yesterday, though. She has gone blue, so I'm hoping (crossing fingers and toes) this is going to be her prenatal shed. I have the lay box already in her tank, her big water dish out, and my incubator stands at the ready. Since I don't know the exact date of any locks, I don't really know when she'd be ready to lay--so I'm going by her shed schedule.
I've been through a lot, a lot, in the last year, so this would mean a lot to me. I had to be medically retired after 17 years in the classroom following brain surgery in January, and after losing my horse to a nasty colic and then realizing I'm not in a place physically to ride or really even handle a 1000lb animal, my other pets are a source of comfort and hope. No pressure, Kamalah.
So...here's hoping all my eggs are in that one lavender basket.
