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Pairing Question

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 12:19 pm
by Ellie_A
I have what I believe to be a male and a female Irian Jaya, they were cooled for the winter and have just gotten back up to normal temperatures. I tried introducing them to each other expecting to see either mating or fighting but they didn't care about each other at all. They both wandered around a little, walked right past each other and then laid down and ignored each other. Does this mean that I don't have a male and a female?
Yoshi, the suspected male, has been wandering around his cage constantly, I assumed that this was him looking for a female. They have both eaten small meals since waking up but their appetites are not back to what they usually are. I'm going to try introducing them again in a couple of days and see what happens again.

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 2:15 pm
by Richard.C
Depending on conditions they wont always mate straight after wake up,females also have a small window,and she may not be ready yet,not giving off phermones telling male its time ,try putting them together every couple of days like u mentioned,and keep a close eye on them just in case.

Any pics of them both together to base sex off?

Dont rule out them being a pair from behaviour so far,dont rule out them being same sex either though,but if 2 males ,that are put together after wake up there would be a very strong instinct to fight or try to dominate each other,but again not always,some dont follow the usual rules

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 3:15 pm
by Ellie_A
I will try them together again tonight and see how it goes. I will also try to get some pictures of them tonight.

Should I be putting them into her cage? His cage? Last time I had them out in the open so that we could intervene quickly if needed, I also didn't want them on substrate just in case it irritated his hemipenes. Is there a way to tell when she is ready? Neither of them have shed since waking up.

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 3:35 pm
by Richard.C
Some types dont need to shed first,im not sure about ij,s though,well any non aussie types,lol

Best way to tell when shes ready is male will not leave her be,though some males have a go regardless,woth all mine its 99 per ent of the time when females are ready,then nothing the rest of the time,the males behaviour changes alot

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 3:42 pm
by Richard.C
I normally put females in the males cage,his territory,but it probably doesnt matter,when timings right they will mate anywhere

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 7:31 pm
by Vegasarah
I got the same thing with my two Northerns this week! The only odd behavior I saw was a little bit of tail wiggling and snaking the tail from side to side from the male when the female walked past. (I thought that was a female thing to do?) I was also expecting fighting or mating or something, but they just kind of did their own thing like Ellie said.

Richard- would you recommend that they be on the hotter side or cooler side when introduced? When I tried both times they had not been basking so where already a little sluggish. Should I try warming them up more? Would the higher activity promote breeding?

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:06 pm
by Spindown
Thats good to know richard, about the males behavior changing...so far my male just wants to snuggle X_X

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:06 pm
by Ellie_A
Woohoo! Our second introduction was a success!

Yoshi took a little while but eventually approached her and did his thing. I was surprised by how gentle he was, I was expecting a lot of aggression.

So now that they have bred once, when should I introduce them again?

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:24 pm
by Spindown
Congrats! I hope it happens soon for mine! I would go for as many locks as possible, since 1 time is not always enough.

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:35 pm
by Ellie_A
Here's some pictures of them.
Jaya:
Image
Yoshi
Image
Both:
Image

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:56 pm
by StaceyLeigh
Beautiful pair! I just went through all this back in December. I had introduced my pair back last Spring om several occasions, and all they did was crawl over each other, or ignore each other. Then in December I had them both out at the same time, and the male be-lined for the female and grabbed hold. I was shocked! They had a total of 4 copulation's(in December) and then I stopped putting them together because the female was resisting more, and getting injured on her shoulder. She also tried to bite him the last go round, and since she outweighed the male by almost 600g, I didn't want my male to get injured! I put mine together once a day, until it no longer was working out. We are hoping for babies early April, we will see. Good luck with your mating project!

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 9:10 pm
by Richard.C
nice looking skinks ellie,gentle is good,though it can get rougher,some just know what they are doing better perhaps,lol

maybe do a daily intro andsee how they go,some types only mate once per day,and they have spent there energy,other types will afew times per day,so could be worth experimenting,as im not sure on ij,s

vegasarah:if introed when they have warmed up it could help more,i did both with mine this season,but it was still cool at cool end during breeding and sometimes male gave up and basked for a while before having another go


main thing is they wont mate till they are ready,so early on no interest is common,when they are ready they generally get straight into it


keep us posted on how they are all going,good luck with them

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 10:44 am
by Ellie_A
Thanks Richard, I will pair them again tonight and see what happens.

If this is successful and she becomes gravid should I just stick to her normal diet (as per the food chart) with calcium at each feeding? With D3 or without? Are there food items that I should increase or decrease while she is gravid? The idea of live birth is so much more scary than egg laying!

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 12:34 pm
by Ellie_A
We have now had 2 locks and 2 introductions where he didn't make it. Seems like he will only try to position himself once and if she wiggles out of the way then he won't try again. When he has given up she has walked in circles around him rubbing against him and wiggling her tail, I assume that she is trying to entice him but it hasn't worked for her yet. We are going to continue pairing them until they show no interest, I'm still hoping for at least a couple more locks.

Can anyone answer my feeding question from above?

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 4:43 pm
by Jeff
Your male just isn't completely ready yet. When he is, he will attack the female as soon as she hits the floor.

I feed gravid females normally. Only once a week unless a particular animal "looks" hungry. I add calcium w/D3 to every meal. Most of them will fast for 3-4 weeks at some point during the pregnancy. That is nothing to worry about.

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 6:57 pm
by Spindown
Ellie, thats what my male did today X_X Gave it a half-hearted try and then gave up lol...silly timid males. I tend to amuse myself when my animals interact by giving them dialogue. Today was "Her: Hey, last night was fun, I'm down to do that again!" "Him: Do you still like me?" LOL

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 7:56 pm
by Ellie_A
Well it looks like we may be done pairing for the year. We have had about 8 locks that looked successful and tonight when I put them together the female immediately attacked the male. I will try again tomorrow to see if she was just grumpy tonight but I think that she has probably had enough. I'm hoping that this means that I have baby skinks on the way!

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:05 am
by Spindown
WOW! 8!! I got 3 successful ones, and 1 that he missed :P
She started getting aggressive towards him and he had no interest left, so I've been done for a while...I'll cross my fingers for you if you cross yours for me :) Come ooooon BABIES!

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 8:15 am
by Ellie_A
I'm trying not to get too excited but it is looking like Jaya is pregnant! She's getting very fat and she's grumpy; she has always been very good about being handled but recently she has been huffing at me more and even bit me! She has also been basking more so hopefully these are good signs!

Re: Pairing Question

Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 10:53 am
by Richard.C
sounds promising