determing the sex for some Blotched BT's

[Katrina]

Nice! Great ratio! I am surprised #2 is the male, but I didn't guess because I know nothing about blotchies and sexing. Thanks for letting us know the results and congrats on the 1.3.

[El Lobo]

The only one I had real conviction over was #2 as a female.

So it turns out to be the only male!

Looks like Jeff and I will both have to enrol in ML's school of sexing.

[kl]

One thing I have noticed is that the females have much thicker tails.

KL

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

Looks like Jeff and I will both have to enrol in ML's school of sexing.

16,000 dollar tuition

It's worth it if you want to be like me

...

[Richard.C]

haha el lobo,i was most convinced number 2 was a definate lass to,looked the most girly of the lot of them,lol

[Scotts1au]

Kim can you elaborate on your sexing?

[kl]

I started introducing them for breeding and that's how I was able to confirm all 4 of them.

Kim

[El Lobo]

One thing I have noticed is that the females have much thicker tails.

KL

Tail pics of two of mine, both are 4 years old.
Male

DSCF2415CR.jpg

Female

DSCF2412CR.jpg

[Richard.C]

nice one kim,before u put them together what were your thoughts on there sexes

[kl]

A long time breeder here gave me his opinions. I went along with him on the male and just took a chance he was right on the rest being females.


Kim

[Richard.C]

did he see them in person or go off those pics

[Scotts1au]

I'm glad the ratios worked out well for you. Though I have had a couple of blueys that I thought were female actively bite and chase other blueys in Spring, only to have them actually turn out to be females in the next year. There are some complicated hormonal things going on with them at that age - in their first year or two, I believe that some of them just want to establish some space and get narky also some of the males attack each other ie. dominant one may attack less dominant ones in a manner that looks for all the world like mating behaviour- mainly cos the less dominant ones run away. Some males, mating behaviour and hormones take a couple of years to kick in before they are competent breeders. I normally allow 3 to 4 years from birth although may have a try in the first or second year will generally run away in the presence of an older male. Sometimes the younger ones will have a go at mating but generally not sucessful. Have you seen plugs? Also I've found that males in an indoor enclosure typically produce them out of season by a couple of months but I've never seen them during the mating season. Just thought I'd throw that in cos sometimes what you see may not be what you get, especially when they are young.

[Richard.C]

ive had the odd young male be a good breeder,even in the presence of alot of old males whom are dominant breeders,one male was pushing 30 cm total length,and yes it was a succsessful mating

most are like u mention though scott,they show interst early when females arent ready,then stop when the females are ready as thats when the big boys take over,the youngens stay out of there way

ive never witnessed males trying to mate a male,though have seen them chase and grab males,but usually it turns into a bite back and another chase,male aggression,which ive mostly seen with lowlands,but occaisionally in the alpines to,think the youngens know not to mess with the big alpine male,plus hes generally one of the first to show mating interest

[Scotts1au]

Hey Richard sorry I wasn't clear but meant on casual observation the chasing and biting male on male could be construed as mating behaviour but yeh haven't seen them male on male actual mating attempts.

Have seen the girls chase and bite also in the mating season but just cos they want to have their own space, probably when not ready to mate.

[Kurt]

those are awesome!

[Richard.C]

ahhh,get ya now scott,my females only bite when harrassed,the blue mountains lass i got off you has had her first litter,4 so far,havnt had a chance to weed so could be more,they are sizable bubs though