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How long does the second clutch take?

B

BoidKeeper

New member
When double clutching how long does it take for the second clutch to be laid? When my female was bred for her second clutch she had the same weight maybe better then she did for her first clutch. This is her third year producing according to her previous owner. Last year she laid 19 good eggs. This year I fed her rat fuzzies after brumation leading up to her matting and they put the weight on her but of the 22 eggs she laid only 10 were good. It was the same male as last year so I've been scratching my head trying to figure out why she did not produce a good clutch. The only thing that was different other then a new home was the rat diet instead of mice. Since she has laid I've feed her only 40g retired breeder mice that have been dipped in rep-cal calcium. So after all this rambling here are my two questions, 1. How long after matting until she lays her second clutch? 2. Do you think the rats may have contributed to the high infertility rate in her first clutch?
Thanks,
Trevor
 
Usually my second clutches are laid about the same time the first ones are hatching. So its around 2 months. As far as the low fertility, I take a close look at what was done differently with the male. Or perhaps you didn't put them together as often as the previous owner? I'd just ask him what he did to see if there is any differences. Did you use this male on any other females?
 
Second clutches are laid at the same duration after mating as first clutches, averaging about 5 weeks after mating. When the female mates after her first clutch can vary, depending upon the same variables as first clutches. I have noticed that a female will mate sooner after her shed than she did for her first clutch, but this isn't a constant norm and does vary.

Just because a female had a large fertile clutch one year doesn't guarantee the same every year, even if using the same male. Fertilization rates and clutch size is influenced by many factors, many uncontrollable by us. Most are controlled by Lady Luck and Murphy's Law. I feed both mice and rats and haven't noticed any correlation with prey species, clutch size and fertility. I've gotten good and bad clutches from all females over the years, no matter what they are fed.
 
carol, the male was only mated to my corn. According to the person who had her during the breeding everything was done the same as last year. They witnessed copulation on at least three ocasions. Thank you both for the great replies.
Cheers,
Trevor
 
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