Mary Jane and Troy's FAILURE

Ok so we put Troy in Mary Jane's tank last night to see if we could get some breeding going on.
Mary Jane started wagging her tail at the correct speed then Troy came over to check her out! He started rapidly wagging his tail then nipped at her tail. What happened next was a little confusing. Troy's all but 11 months 12 days old so he might be a little young. Anyway Troy then decided he wanted to "engage" Mary Jane so he tried andd then all of the sudden about 3 humps inhe walked off to the other side of the cage and didnt go back over to Mary Jane. What happened? Can anyone help me. Mary Jane = 64 grams Female. Troy = 57 grams Male.

All help is apreciated.

Maybe she isn't ovulating and isn't quite recptive yet or could be troy is just still t young and got frustraited. In my opinion they should both be over a year old as until then they are still sub adults and still growing, which could actually last a bit beyond a year, one of those points of contention no one can seem to agree on.

Personally I think you should be waiting a bit longer before you breed until you have a complete understanding of the process and everything involved. Do you have your incubator set up? Everything you'll need to care for the hatchlings etc...

What do you mean Mary Jane started wagging her tail at normal speed? A willing and waiting female won't wag her tail when a male approaches. A female wagging her tail is her saying "no" to the male, and often a male sees that and backs off.

Another explanation would be as Kermit suggested, she may not be ovulating. The male can sense that.

By the way you did say he got 3 humps in, were they copulated? Because if they were, that's about all it takes for him to finish it.

I have all of my incubators and baby leo tubs set up. Also i have the help of a very experienced breeder im just started by beeing a little "follower" or aprenctice. Anyway before troy came over mary jane put her tail up sand wagged slow like a deffensive decision then troy came over and wagged his tail fast she then got out of her deffensive state and started doing the same wagging as troy but a bit slower. Mary jane is 1 year 4 months old and troys about 1 year both over 50 grams. Is there a way i can tell if she is ovulating?

LeopardGex wrote:she then got out of her deffensive state and started doing the same wagging as troy but a bit slower.

That right there, meant she said no. The male did the right thing and backed off. If he didn't, she would've fought back. So give him a pat on his back, some males don't back off when told no and they end up tearing each other apart.

A willing and waiting female will have absolutely no tail wagging.

To tell whether a female is ovulating or not, check her stomach. You should see pink dots on the stomach which indicates egg follicles. A good pic can be seen on vmsherp website.

Honestly devin, and I'm saying this as nicely as I can, but if you can't tell if a leo is ovulating and have been apprenticing under an "experienced" breeder, you're not ready to breed. I'm sorry for being so blunt but this isn't something to take lightly hon, this is animals lives you're manipulating. By the way, I notice in your profile you say you only have 2 leos... what happened to traci?

I let Tracie go to my cousin for sort of cheap just because where really close and he thought she was pretty. I'l hold off on breeding if you really insist on it, but I think im on the right track.
BTW even though you recomend me not to breed am I doing gecko keeping correctly and responsibly and am I a good like keeper and do it right and stuff because all I want to do is learn.

Gex, if you post in the breeding section with your breeding set-ups, and how you plan to go about everything, we would be happy to tell you if you need to be steered in a different direction.

Thanks so much Kath i've already learned so much from you guys and it is so awsome. I am researching with almost all of my free time about leo breeding and things related to that.

Well devin theres a lot to know about breeding aside of insert peg a into slot b hon.morphology is a big part, knowing your leos ovulation cycle, which you won't know until she's had one or two. Actually seeing a breeding take place successfully or failed and knowing what the body language means before disaster strikes...how to suppliment your female thru an ovulation, theres lots to know hon. like I mentioned these are lives we take into our hands, the outcome could go terribly wrong very fast and before you know it all your animals could be beat up or dead or egg bound. You should have a savings in case an emergency vet visit is called for, plans for the babies, and a plan in case you have a deformed hatching that needs to be culled. Kathryn posted a good thread a while ago about questions to ask yourself to see if your ready to breed, maybe she can post a link for ya. I'm not saying don't, I'm saying be 100% sure your 100% prepared and have thought it fully thru.are you willing to possibly lose your female, see your male possibly beat up badly...all things to think about hon.