Merauke, Halmahera, and Northern Breeding Thread

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

Good luck this time!

[aaronhouts]

Sorry about that, Dakota.

Still rooting for you on the Halmaheras though. Any news on them?

Did you ever get that gram scale?
If so, do you have recent weights on your adult Halms?
Ours just weighed in at 466 and 436.
At what age did you start seeing sperm plugs?
Sorry for all the questions. Thanks in advance for any answers you want to share.

[Dakota]

Thanks, all!

I'm getting my main breeder male Halmahera back sometime this month or the next. I will introduce after quarantine. I doubt I will get anything, but I'll still try. From the experience of people trying right now, the Halmaheras seem to breed later than the other gigas subspecies/forms. Which is odd. My male on loan still has not got a confirmed lock with the female he is with, and they were both raised from tiny neonates. However, I have noticed a temperament change with my yellowish-silver Halmahera. He is not trying to kill the others now. I suspected he (still not 100% on sex) may be cycled to the Southern Hemisphere, but I don't know.

All my gigas began dropping plugs at 6-8 months of ago. Their hemipenes swell massively during this puberty stage — is it hard to miss.

I have still not weighed mine. But my adults range from under 17" to a little over 22". Their size range is impressive!

[Dakota]

A little update. I still have not got Maxx back. Weather is too dangerous to ship, so I won't get him until February or March sometime, unless we can catch a warm front.

However, an unexpected loan has arose this last weekend. Someone is dropping off their female to do a breeding loan with one of my Northerns, Van. I chose Van, because he looks almost identical to the female. Van has not brumated at all, nor have I seen plugs (never even seen the old guy poo, lol), so fingers crossed he knows what to do. I may consider Skull as backup, but I'd rather stick with Van. Arrangements have already been made, and will introduce after a QT. I will not likely update this thread with breeding photos, but I will update the original post of breeding dates and times. Here is the female:

received_1278698848811346.jpeg

My male, Van:

FB_IMG_1453871213203.jpg

Here is Virginia, at (at most) 160 days:

KIMG3449.JPG

Bad pic, I know. But I thought she looked rather big. She's been doing gulp breathing for a few weeks now. She was fed 5 days before this photo, so she has an empty stomach in this photo.

[tcopitho]

Thats great Dakota. Fingers crossed for your Merauke girl, she looks and sounds promising.

I love the female norther, a great match for Van.

looking forward to updates!

[aaronhouts]

Wow!
Virginia looks huge!
Good luck!

[Dakota]

Thought I'd update this thread.

As per postings, both of the female Meraukes have given birth. Virginia — 7; Xaunder — 2.

The Northern is not due until May sometime. I have not been keeping track of her weight, but she does not look noticeably different.

I also did a breeding loan with the Halmaheras, and thought it was a no-go. I was told Maxx tried to mount Spice (the female), but was not successful. However, apparently Spice is starting to gain some size. The hypothetical mating date is December 02, 2015. Apparently Maxx was cloaca to cloaca with her, but it was only a few seconds before the female slipped out. Still unsure if it was a successful mating, but June is her due date (mid-June marks 200 days). If no babies entering into July, she isn't gravid (220+ days from only suspected mating). I plan to keep my share of the babies, if any.

This probably would have been a good year for my Halmahera project if I kept Maxx, since I have two females ready — but, we planned this loan a year in advance; it'd be poor form if I cancelled it IMO. Wasn't expecting much being only one female Halmahera, but it'll be cool if she really does give birth! The female has a red coloration, similar to "Vera".