hey all, my male lepard tort is all of a sudden realising he is male! he has tried to mate my females quite a few times over the last week and is constantly on the prowl. He seems to be getting it more right than last year, as then he would regularly mount the side of her shell or even the front
he is at least getting the right end every time now! at what size do the males start to produce sperm? he is about 10" scl and weighs almost 2kg, and the females are all bigger than him. I know that atleast one of the females has produced fertile eggs in the past with another male. Do leopard females lay eggs regardless of fertility or mating? its a quite sketchy subject and whilest i have seen a few articles on leopard breeding they are patchy and not very detailed. SO all info appreciated.

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hi my male is 11inches and became active sexually last summer my cb female laid eggs in october and i now have 2 hatchlings from them i hope to see more from him next season as he has shown interest in my other females and has become aggressive towards my other males. luckily i have a large enclosure and this wasn't a problem last year and i was able to keep all my adults together.

terry

thanks for that terry. I have just the one large male and soon will have three females to keep him company (just waiting for one to pass her quarantine). I have purposefully left it just one male as i understand they can put alot of stress on a single female. I wouldnt want any of my females to be unduly stressed by his attentions! I was thinking of seperating him from the group occasionaly if he persists, just to give HIM a break more than anything. He cant even mount my largest female so i think she may be secretly laughing at him! he is such a personality but at the moment he is like a hormonal teenager. he doesnt know what to de next.

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I have a 10" male and a smaller female - he wouldn't leave her alone and initially like Tinkerbruce's male he would try and mount her from all angles !!! I was advised that if I got another one it would take the pressure of her.

So I got a 12" female and he was in his element for a few days but alas she was a mountain to high for him to climb !!!

He has not bothered her since and only occasionally bothers the smaller one so I think the plan worked.

However I am worried about my females and whether they would be fertile. They live indoors and I no many people disapprove but mine are free roaming so they would not even be able to settle anywhere to lay them.

Are there any signs if they have eggs ???

I know you were looking into getting an outdoor enclosure wherent you? did you have any success? I believe that they need a deep soiled area to lay in , bigger than a litter tray and obviously deeper too! I have no idea about "warning signs" that they may be gravid except that some females become very restless and pace alot looking for a place to lay! but i imagine terry would be a better source of info on that than me, i am still new to this whole breeding idea.

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hi leopard tortoise females should be provided with a nesting area particularly if they have been with a male as they will retain the eggs in a lot of cases and this can be expensive if you need inducement and possibly even fatal if not addressed. i would be careful with your male as my little guy actually managed it with my 18 inch 40lb female last summer and he is only just 11 inches himself.i have photographic evidence and i will include a couple shots of their main enclosure LOL.




terry

Gosh what a photo - food for thought I feel!!!!!

Yes I am definately getting a outside enclosure very soon - I spoke to a guy today who is happy to build in brick, wood whatever so I will be putting my thinking head on - he is an electrician by trade so he can do the whole thing.

Oh and Terry just an observation wheh he gets ontop his "little man" doesn't actually come out - do you think that is because it is a new thing for him - we only found out he had one a few weeks ago - was told he was a girl before !!!! In just under 2 years I had never seen it until then.

I dont think I am ready for the incubating bit yet - only just getting my head round the basics still !!!!!!

hi you dont normmally see his( little man)unless he falls off normally he will be connected before it engorges .what sort of outside house are you thinking of for them i use an insulated heated shed all year and during the day mine are allowed outside once they have been warmed up under their heatlamps for about 3 hours even in the winter they go out if only for a short time most days.



terry

Terry will pm you area that I have to work with

I know these aren't leopards but thought I would share something that I still to this day find funny, this is Tommy and Yanni, he is much smaller than her and managed to mount her
YouTube - Tommy and Yanni