Couple o' Blotchies

[Ophidiophile]

Decided to take my two Blotched Blue Tongues' photo together for the first time -- Female (above) is a KL 2013; Male (below) is a 2010 KL x Gurgui.

Moments after snapping the photo, she began waggling her tail, he grabbed her by the shoulder and began trying to mate. Fortunately he let go after a few seconds and I popped them back into their respective cages. I can't wait til later this year and apparently, they can't either!

HeShe5-22-2014.jpg

[Bluish]

Nice!!
I may be in the market for a couple of blotchies this year.

[BlueTonguesOfSA]

Consider me always in the market for some Blotchies!

Beautiful blueys, David!

[donkeybuff]

I love how much orange they have! It's great that the few blotchies we do have are so colorful.

[Scotts1au]

Great lookers, fingers crossed.

[Richard.C]

Dave,ive found with blotchies if males are trying to get it on with females,generally the females good to go then and there,and if shes not cycling shes totally ignored and may as well not be there,thats just me though personally

Have u considered seeing what happens if u leave them to it?they are one of the latest to breed of all tiliqua,normally well after even easterns that live in same area

[Ophidiophile]

Have u considered seeing what happens if u leave them to it?

I hadn't considered leaving them together because of her age as well as the fact that they weren't cooled. But now that you mention it...hmmm...

[Scotts1au]

Females can breed in the first year, depending on size. They can breed with only a relatively short period of cooling, sometimes simply having no heat supply at night could be enough to get them to cycle depends how low it got during that time. There are a lot of variables. You might want to put one of Kim's jackets on her though. :-)

[Richard.C]

Haha,jackets

Theres also belief that some bluies will breed in first year without cooling them,ive seen a similar thing with bearded dragons to

But main thing is male tried to,which is a good sign,as males for me only ever show signs when females are cycling or a short period before and after that,mind u group keeping may cause rhem to be more patient

[Ophidiophile]

Tossed em together for a bit this morning. A lot of tail waggling by her and neck grabbing by him. But no successful breeding. Will likely try, try again...

[Jeff]

Those are great looking blotchies. It's surprising as Kim ' s animals are usually so ugly.


What you describe about their behavior sounds exactly like what I saw from mine this year. My feeling is that mine just need another year to mature before they will be ready to get the job done. I was working with 3.1 -2012 skinks, plus one older male with questions about his physical ability to mate. I have seen similar behavior from first time northern breeders, but they usually figure it out eventually before the season is over. My blotched .just never quite figured it out this year. With that being said, the female has gained over 200 grams in the last month while eating next to nothing. I did leave her alone with each of the males at times hoping that they might figure it out if I wasn't watching. I'm not expecting anything from her this year, but because I wasn't watching every minute there is always a chance.

[Heracles]

A blotchie breeder in the U.S.?

I'll keep this in mind if I can change my mother's decision. I think I may be slowly chipping away at her defenses.

[Richard.C]

When u see the grabbing,do they just sit there holding the female?

[Ophidiophile]

When u see the grabbing,do they just sit there holding the female?

So far one time he just held her and did nothing. Yesterday was really weird - he didn't even grab her at all but lined up next to her and scratched along her back and tail with his back leg as they do just prior to mating. She didn't lift her tail though but just wiggled it back and forth. I really think she's not quite ready yet but hopefully after a proper brumation next winter, she will be.

[Richard.C]

Hmm,interesting,sometimes before females are ready my younger males often just chase and grab,annoying the females without trying anything,mind u they even grab at other young males to,usually that stops as soon as the big males sense females are ready and the grabbers stay clear

You could be right dave,female may not be readu yet,when they are readu males are quite persistant,unlike northerns that can struggle going twice a day,ive seen a male blotchy go 5 times in the space of 4 hours one afternoon,with lots of chasing and checking females inbetween actual attempts

[Richard.C]

One thing of note as well,may not relate to you dave if you put them together to try but maybe jeff who left them together at times unsupervised,often after a males done mating a female he will sit there hanging on to her,her tail wriggling and sometimes her trying to bite back,its like hes saying just wait here lovey,i think i can go again,lol,but usually he eventually lets her go as female often starts struggling to get free

[Scotts1au]

I find with these New South Wales alpines that the females are ready well after the males are, up to a month from the time that males become active. At first the males don't engage properly, but if showing mating interest then good chance that they sense the right hormones so I would recommend not giving up yet.

[Richard.C]

Good point scott.i see that with all blotchies ,males always interested long before females,they have big windows compared to females,better breeder males tend to hold out till females are ready for me,so could still be worth intros,as they are a natural late mater,mine mated last season almost a month after my northerns had dropped babies for instance