Merauke, Halmahera, and Northern Breeding Thread

[Dakota]

No more. Tried this morning and Virginia flipped her *my stars! just seeing Hunter. He had nothing to do with her, anyways. As soon as I put him back into his enclosure, he dropped sperm plugs. Maxx arrived at his loanee's house to breed a female once out of QT. Will try when he gets back, and hope for a late season for the Halmaheras. If not, there is always next year.

[Richard.C]

Dakota,another thing i find,think i mentioned it in my northern breeding thread ,but often my makes sat there doing squat,then eventually cleared sperm plugs and were straught away ir very soon there after suddenly interested in females

Some females can act high and mighty if males not doing anything,when in the mood alot of females are more submissive

Cant see what your seeing though,so you may be spot on and shes shut up shop to,but thought worth mentioning regardless

[Dakota]

I figured I was giving Virginia enough attention, so I introduced Hunter to Xaunder. A whole lot of nothing for the first five minutes, then he finally went after her. Not the best mating, but it was definitely a nice lock. About 45 seconds long. I was going to record the clicking, but as soon as I put my camera down there, they were finished. Maybe next time. 3rd mating for the pair.

[Richard.C]

Haha,they have a habit of doing that when u want to record it

Nice one dakota

[Dakota]

Another mating.

[Richard.C]

One turns off and another one on,looks promising for your marooks this ssason

[Dakota]

I stuck him in there a few hours after this pairing, and he started tail wagging and shielding towards Xaunder. Xaunder would treaten to bite him (would have, but I separated them before she could). Be interesting to see if this is the end of her window, or if they just had enough of each other for the day. She was not aggressive at all when they mated. Picture is Hunter shielding at Xaunder.

[Richard.C]

Could be either of the 2,i usually just give them a day off if female carrys on,some of my males are fussed if female trys that thing on and will still have a crack regardless ,so yeah i give the lass a break and try again later or next day

[Dakota]

Gosh these guys keep you guessing.

I got another mating between Xaunder and Hunter. Lasted about 50 seconds.

[aaronhouts]

Congrats!
You can't be doing too badly.
Any luck with the Halmaheras?

[Dakota]

As bad as I hate to say it: I want breeding season for Meraukes to be over! I could stop introducing, but I want to get as many matings as possible.

Maxx went to Virginia (the state) on loan for a few months. Hopefully he will be ready to breed when he gets back after QT. Riley, my other male Halmahera has started dropping plugs, but he is on injections and not fit to mate until he is completely recovered. Rome, my last supposed male attacks anything and everything he sees. Halmahera season is not looking great, but I am still hopeful. Last season, Maxx went after Virginia (the skink) in February, so I think I still have a chance.

[aaronhouts]

That's great, Dakota!
I really hope something works out for you.
How old are your Halms and about how much are they weighing?
How's the extra yellow one you got at the show a little earlier?

[Dakota]

Alice is 17 months old, Amelia is 3 years old, Vera is 1 year old, Maxx is 28 months old, Riley is 22 months old, and Rome's age is unknown. I don't have a scale, but I am getting one soon. Last time I weighed Maxx, he was 450 g., and hasn't grown since then. Rome is the grey, extra-yellow one, and he is crazy! He is not a defensive skink, he is aggressive. He will come charging at me and the other skink; not a very nice skink.

[aaronhouts]

Thanks for taking the time to answer, Dakota.
Again, best of luck with those and keep us posted.
Maybe you'll be the one to crack the Halmahera code.

[Richard.C]

When codes not cracked experimentation and persistence is your best bet,so yeah,hang in there with the halms and dont give up on yellowy cranky pants either as when the timing is right,if all goes well even nutty ones demeaners change towards skinks they would otherwise get crabby at

[Dakota]

Just to keep this thread updated, Hunter has grown defensive towards the sight of Virginia and Xaunder. Both are looking fat already. I will update with gestation information if/when they have babies, pertaining to the Meraukes. Likely won't see any activities from the Halmaheras until February or March, if at all, but I'll post them here, as well.

[Dakota]

It appears Xaunder has slugged out. She went from colossal to skinny sometime last week, with the absence of any baby skinks running around. It is upsetting, because she was the most promising looking one, but it happens to the best of us, I guess. Virginia is still looking large, but I'm not placing any bets on her. I am changing out their substrate to towel at the end of this month in any case she is packing more bubs. I was expecting, if at all, she would give in February sometime.

[Susann]

Got any pictures of how Xaunder is looking these days?
They do keep us on our toes for sure, these gigas.

[Dakota]

Here is a crappy phone picture of her. You can see her spine a little bit now, plus being ultra skinny now.

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But here is Virginia, after taking a drink.

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Here Xaunder was not long ago..

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[skinks101]

Nice Meraukes