Breeding Inconsistencies

[manog]

Last year my female layed her first ever clutch. She gave me 10 beautiful white, plump, and healthy eggs. All 10 when full term to hatch.

This year i bred her with the same male and witnessed a hook-up on feb. 1st. THey had been brumated the same amount of time as last year as well. At hook up her weight was at 310 grams. After hook up her weight dropped (as expected due to her not feeding) however she never quite plumped up like she had the previous year. Yesterday i weighed her at 300 grams even. Today she dropped the eggs. 9 total with one obvious slug. Some are deformed- all are skinny and yellowed but viable at this point.

What would cause such a different result- all things in both cases being equal except for the outcome????

 

[MegF.]

Did you only breed her to him once each time? There can be various reasons for not as many good eggs this year. She might not have recovered fully from last year. I choose not to breed my females every year to allow them time to fully recover from laying the year before, especially if they had a hard time recovering. 310 is right at where you need them to be to lay, and as you can see, they lose quite a bit after laying. I'd give the female next year off and see if she produces a more healthy clutch then. That being said...nature is nature and you can't expect the exact same thing every time. The males sperm may be slightly weaker this time, temps different, her body is different. It's all a crap shoot sometimes!