Breeding – Page 2 – Goatsby's Place

2024: What a year

October 21, 2024 by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma, Uncategorized

This is the third attempt to update everyone on what the haps be here at Goatsby’s Place and more importantly how the Gila monsters are doing. Every year of breeding Gila monsters brings new insights, challenges, and the understanding that my knowledge of these fascinating lizards is always less than I think. Emotions throughout the season range from hopeful and excited, to perplexed and frustrated. At the end of the day it’s a wholly humbling experience living with the world’s most intriguing reptile.

I love when we can start to see the coloring through the egg!

First thing, 2024’s Gila monster breeding season yielded four good eggs (out of 17 total laid) that are looking likely to hatch. With T-15 days to hatching I’m hopeful they’ll make it all the way. There are few things as exciting (to me, at least) as seeing baby Gilas emerge from the egg. I vividly remember reading Dr. Seward’s book and that iconic photo of a baby coming out of the egg dreaming one day this would be a reality. Six years into successfully breeding Gila monsters brings me no less joy!

The connected nest boxes, so the female can go in and out and dog around as she pleases.

This year we tried some new things to help increase viable eggs including connecting cages for paired males and females, nest boxes connected to the cage , and having monogamous pairs throughout the breeding season. We had a total of four pairs, two stalwart females and two first timers, and a male that just came to age and bred his first time. All were cooled last winter and testes and follicle growth was good.

But, all is not as it seemed under the ultrasound as three females produced, the first timer axanthic produced all slugs, and one female did not produce any eggs. It later turned out the the newbie male she was paired with had a shrunken testicle that was the start of a hemipenal impaction – didn’t see that coming. So, four eggs this year and I’m perfectly happy with that.

There’s more to cover for the season, but wanted to share this update for now as we count down the day to 2024 captive born baby Gila monster hatchlings! Thanks for stopping by Goausby Place!

Off to a good start!

April 14, 2024 by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma

As of today, only one pair of Gilas have been observed copulating. Mating activity usually picks up about now and lasts for 2-3 weeks, so more Gila monster love is sure to be seen. Though this is the only pair (Winston and Winifred) it is certainly the most exciting – if everything goes well and we get viable eggs from Winnie, it will be the first time that our axanthic line will have been produced.

Winnie was picked up in 2021 but had some health issues and the as held back for the first two years and allowed to focus on getting healthy, was off sync with follicle growth last year, and seems to be lined up this year. This axanthic project has been years in the making and I am certainly excited to see some babies come from this line! I’ll keep everyone posted on how the progress goes, I’m performing ultrasounds throughout the weeks and monitoring the pairs closely – fingers crossed for an amazing year!

2024 Gila monster Spring kick-off!

March 21, 2024March 21, 2024 by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Husbandry

While all was quiet on the blog and social media posts, we have been working diligently behind the scenes with our monsters, and are kicking off our 2024 Gila monster breeding season!

Misty, a high-orange female Gila monster produced here in 2019, will be bred with an unrelated bloodlines this year.

While every year is certainly exciting, 2024 is off the charts for us here at Goatsby’s Place! Besides the fact that our Seward-line axanthic female will be breeding for the first time, we also have two of our own Gilas also breeding for the first time! We will have a total of four females breeding this year, and four males to mate them with (a 1:1 ratio, which is preferred).

Winifred is our Seward-line axanthic female Gila monster.

As the season starts anew, it’s a time to reflect on past year’s successes and failures. I re-read my notes and chat with other breeders and try to see how we can do things better. This year’s focus will again be nesting in hopes of having more viable eggs laid on time. I’ve come up with a new nesting strategies and will be sure to share that here once we have it worked out. We’d also like to get more proficient with the ultrasound and be able to time ovulation and oviposition with greater accuracy this year.

We monitor growing follicles and testes on our Gila monster by ultrasound. This helps us to keep an eye on reproductive development and when the highest chance of successful pairings are.

Male testes also change throughout the year and need to be monitored.

Besides having the fortune to live with Gila monsters, its both profound and humbling to enter each year with these amazing reptiles and learn more about them. Having produced Gilas each year just feeds my love for them, and I’m sure this year will be no exception!

Stay tuned for some exciting things happening at Goatsby’s Place this year, new videos, lots of photos, and of course more Gila monsters! If you’re interested in getting on our rapidly growing waitlist please email us today. And if you have any questions or there is something you’d like to see on an upcoming video please let us know. Thanks for stoping by!

2022 Gila monster season: Engage!

February 16, 2022February 19, 2022 by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma, Husbandry, reptiles

Winnie the monochromatic (axanthic) Gila monster wasn’t quite ready for the 2022 breeding season despite being six years old but we look forward to her joining the group in 2023.

Our 2022 Gila monster breeding season is about to kick into high gear. Our group (or lounge of Gilas as it’s known) of adults will be coming out of brumation soon and the captive breeding season begins. But all’s not been quite as our monsters sleep here at Goatsby’s Place, quite to the contrary as we’ve worked hard to prepare for this season and improve on what we’ve learned over the past year’s successes and failures.

Our 2020 holdbacks aren’t ready to breed so do not get brumated during the winter until they are a few years old.

Our primary goal this year (other than to have fun and raise amazing baby Gila monsters!) to increase our hatch rate to 80% or better. Over the past few seasons are hatch rate has been 50% or less which is disappointing to say the least but I have some ideas as to why our success has been limited. This year will be the first time we can test these theories and prove them out. Last year‘s phorid fly attack and the fact that only one male was cooled certainly contributed to the lack of success. This year on the other hand we have equal ratio adult pairs and are working with our own ultrasound to closely follow the inner workings of the male and female reproductive systems.

Ultrasounding a very patient Gila monster. Photo by J. Brueggen

On a technological front we are migrating to a fully web-based system to monitor and adjust things as the season progresses. We’ve purchased and implemented the über-cool Spyder Robotics Herpstat SpyderWeb proportional thermostats to control the heat, and importantly, set up a nighttime temperature drop for the Gilas. We continue to use the SensorPush system to monitor ambient temperature and relative humidity, and added night vision cameras to monitor copulation and activity between paired Gilas. Having all this work with Alexa is just a geeky bonus, but fun nonetheless.

Herpstat 2 SpyderWeb proportional thermostat is a web-based unit that can be checked and adjusted from anywhere!

And last but certainly not least, keep an eye out on our YouTube channel as we begin a series of videos documenting the full reproductive season of our Gila monsters, from pairing, to copulation, to egg-laying and incubation, and if all goes well, hatching. My goal is to produce informative and fun videos to help increase our understanding of the amazing Gila monster. The good news is you get to see lots of beautiful Gila monsters, the bad news is you’ll get to see my ugly face from time to time:)

hatchin’ ain’t easy

November 7, 2021 by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma, reptiles

Here are some highlight of our baby Gila monsters hatching this year. Eggs incubated 142 days at 80.5°F.

2021 baby Gila monsters!

November 6, 2021 by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma, reptiles

The 2021 baby Gila monsters are all out and settling in here at Goatsby’s Place! We are very proud of our beautiful baby monsters, and feel blessed to have been successful again this year. While most are spoken for, we may have a few available for new homes. Please email us if interested, or to get on the list for 2022.

Anything can happen on Halloween

October 31, 2021November 6, 2021 by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma

Trick or treat! Baby Gila monster emerging from its egg.

I have always loved Halloween, but for the past two years our Gila monsters have been hatching on this magical day which delights me too no small end. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

For those who know, know. Thank you, Tim Curry.

The Honeymoon Suite

March 28, 2020 by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma, reptiles

Which one is the boy and which is the girl? Guess first, then answer below.

My 2020 Gila monster season is off and running. After reviewing my data and re-reading my Gila books, I was going to wait until after April 1 this year to pair the Gilas as that is when the magic happened (and seems to be for others as well). With the Shelter-in-Place order in full effect I got bored and but them together last weekend, and guess what? No activity yet. What I have found interesting is that the Gilas seem to remember each other from last year and there was no fighting between the pairs (females bit males for being too pushy). This year they are much more chill, and are spending time together the hide boxes. I have been checking in at night to see what is going on and while both Gilas are active, copulation has not yet been observed. Being a Nervous Nelly, I am concerned that they will not breed this year but will hold my real worry for late April

Belle & Pink Floyd (banded Gila monsters) resting sweetly in their hide cave

To me, the real question is could Gila monsters mate for life? I’ve read that in the wild males go back to the same shelters where they have previously copulated and in my observations females certainly do prefer some males over others. The way they rest together and spend time with each other makes this is an interesting avenue to explore. Some breeders swap different females in male cages and have great success, but I am going to try leaving known pairs together to see how things go. I can see why having one pair of Gilas could be difficult to breed and that groups (3.3 or greater) are suggested.

Winston & Heather (reticulated Gila monsters) snooze the day away

As with all things, time will tell. New observations, and hopefully some activity, will be reported here. Stay tuned..

Answer: Male on left, female on right:)

Day 153: It happens! Gila monster hatching success!

November 18, 2019 by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma, reptiles

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So, almost after all hope was lost on Day 153 the first Gila monster egg pipped from its leathery shell! Egg 02 at first cut a small slit and then a few more and over the next two days began to emerge from the egg. At first the baby Gila stuck its nose out, then it’s head, then half its body, and finally the entire body. It appears that hatching is a labor-intensive process as there are long pauses between progressive stages and also seems to be a good way of ensuring all the contents of the egg are consumed before leaving the egg. Over the ensuing days this process was (and currently is for two more lizards) repeated over and over, with Gilas emerging from their shell about two or so full days from pip to full emergence. Once the contents are completely devoured the neonate Gila monster leaves its shell and begins to wander the egg box. I witnessed one Gila that was out actually eating the egg yolk of another just coming out of its shell! Greedy bastard.

Once fully emerged and climbing around, the little monsters are pulled from the egg box, photographed, weighed, and set up solo in an 18 quart Sterelite box with paper towels as bedding and small water dish. The paper towel bedding serves as a clean substrate while the umbilical wound heals and the first few meals are eaten and passed through to make sure everything is going well. I will attempt the first feeding next week after the yolk has been fully digested and look forward to raising the babies from there!

I will be posting updates on the neonates growth, as well as some thoughts and insights on my first season captive breeding Gila monsters. Some reviews of the equipment I used is also likely in order as these items played an important role in my success. Whew, what an amazing season! The process has been fun, though frustrating and worrisome at times, and I look forward to greater success next year with these amazing reptiles!

Day 152: A watched egg never hatches

November 9, 2019 by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma, reptiles

A Gila monster near hatch date Patience. Patience is what those in the know say. Sure, I am checking the incubator at least ten times a day for any action and patience is not my virtue, but I am old enough to know when to listen. A couple a the eggs dented in over two weeks ago, the two others are starting to dimple (not dent) and in all honesty I would be surprised if any of them hatch at this point. If they do not hatch my biggest concern is figuring out where my failure was. Is it the incubator? No, the Grumbach’s are renowned for their reliability. Is it the S.I.M. egg container? No, these have been used successfully with Gila monsters before. My temperature, though low, should not be the issue and my humidity is spot on, so it shouldn’t be that. We just started having cold fronts move through and temps have fallen so that may have a slight play into it (I have ordered a space heater to remedy this issue). At this point my guess is that since the fan in the Grumbach is unplugged that there may not be enough airflow which may be an issue, or the fact that the Pangea Hatch medium has started to grow mold adds to this theory. I do open the incubator to allow fresh air to enter but it may not be enough. Whatever the case, I will hold on hope until the last egg turns yellow and starts to sweat. If they all die I will carefully review my protocols and notes and seek the advise of successful breeders to plan for a better year next season!

On another note, I have stopped feeding my adults and am turning off the lights and under-cage heating in preparation of hibernation, which will begin after Thanksgiving. I have an old refrigerator that is hooked up to a Ranco thermostat for the cool down. Would be great if I could cool them in their cages but we do not see steady enough low temps here in northern Florida to ensure the Gila will reach and stay at 53°F for the three months of brumation.