Tag: venomous reptiles

And so it begins! Welcome 2026 Gila monster breeding season!

by goatsby, posted in Heloderma, Gila monster, Breeding

It’s that time of year of year, time to wake up the monsters and kick off the 2026 Gila monster breeding season! The cages have been cleaned and are ready to go, welcoming back home the inhabitants that have been in quiet winter slumber since December. The rise in temperature takes place over several weeks and continues into March as the Gilas go from complete cold and darkness to daily life of regular light and temperature changes.

Wakey wakey, mice and eggy’s (or something like that..)

Last year was our best year not only in success of eggs hatched, but also producing some very uniquely patterned babies. Our hyper pink line produced one baby which is already showing its insanely pink coloration, the aberrant line is producing some amazingly interesting patterns.

So pink at only five months old! Photo by ST who is shaming me with these photos for selling this Gila:)

As with every season, hopes and dreams abound thinking of the pairings and who will produce what. Regardless it’s a win, just working with Gilas and producing babies is enough for me. I’ve already started reviewing my notes from previous years and re-reading my mentor Dr. Mark Seward’s “Gila Monster Propagation” and other books and articles to see if I can glean anything new (which I always do).

One of our 2025 aberrant baby Gilas.
Our 2024 holdback is getting more orange everyday!

One thing is for certain, it will be another amazing season so stay tuned for updates max we embark on a new adventure in Gila monster! The 2026 waitlist is getting pretty beefy, if you want to reserve a Gila do so now! This is especially true if you are looking for a hyper pink or “Gators” orange, or the very limited aberrant line!

Our Gilas bleed blue and orange FYI:) Go Gators!

2025 Gila monster Season update: Eggs a-comin’ and the long wait ahead

by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma, reptiles
Pairs are separated after ovulation.

The pairs have been paired and soon we get to see how things went. I’ve been doing this long enough not to expect miracles, but I must admit to being a little more than excited about having six females, including our axanthic, potentially laying eggs this year. It is always a bit like Christmas morning when you’re a kid waiting for Gila monster eggs, you’re not quite sure what you’re going to get, but you hope it will be everything you’ve dreamed of all year. All the planning, cooling, feeding, and pairing comes to fruition or failure now.

The Gilas get very close throughout the season.

Setting up the pairs in hopes of achieving specific traits such as high pink or orange, reduced or abnormal patterns, or axanthic, is meticulously planned based on babies that have been produced here. I am in touch with many of the folks that have purchased Gilas from us here at Goatsby’s Place and track how they grow to try and replicate these traits. The axanthic line, originally from Seward’s project, is very exciting and we hope to have some 100% hets this year from that pairing.

Smile you’re on Candid Camera! Pairs are watched and recorded throughout the day and night for mating activity.

After oviposition the long wait begins. It’s been common for eggs that will not make it to term to expire within the first 30 days after being laid, though they can go bad at any time really. Never count your Gilas before they hatch is a good analogy! There’s a lot of hurry up wait at this point but it’s all part of the process in breeding Gila monsters.

Winnie the axanthic Gila laying out of her shelter.

Every year starts out with hope and we are thankful that it has ended with baby Gila monsters for the past six years. Some eggs are not fertile or make it to full term, but as long a a baby Gila pips its head out of the egg in the fall it is all worth it!

2024 babies: which pattern do you prefer?

After a long winter slumber..

by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma, Uncategorized
Loading screen from The Bard’s Tale (one of the first computer RPG’s from 1985)

The Gila monsters at Goatsby’s Place are waking up after the long winter’s nap, officially kicking off the 2025 Gila monster breeding season!

One of our newer additions is waking up after being brumated since December. It takes them a week or so to really get moving again.

Every year starts off with a lot of hope, but this year is even more hopeful as we have a lot of exciting things going on this season. We have a pair of beautiful banded Gilas that are new to the mix, and two females that bred for the first time last year (one is Winnie the Seward axanthic Gila, the other is the stunning pink banded Gila Lucy), and our stalwart females Heather and Belle will be in the mix again this year as well. As the Gilas wakey wakey I will start ultrasounds this weekend and feeding begins next week. First will be small meals of single adult mice, and once they defecate regular feedings will begin.

Lucy was not bred last year to build her weight and strength to successfully breed this year.

Stay tuned for more updates and photos, and if you wish to get on our list for 2025 please do so earlier than later. We have a healthy list already (many are repeat customers which is amazing!) and as a smaller-scale breeder, babies will be limited!

Our holdback 2025 banded Gila!

Last one out’s a rotten egg!

by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster

The last of our 2024 Gila monster egg is hatching as I write this. Looks to be another stunning banded Gila! The baby Gilas take a few days to come out of the egg, and it seems to take every ounce of newborn energy to do so. It’s also amazing to see as the size of the baby defies the space in the egg. All the trials and tribulations throughout the year just melt away when that little Gila pokes its nose through the egg.

All that in there? How?!
I think we all wish we can get back in the egg sometimes..

Our 2024 Gilas are sold out, and 2025 is filling up fast. If you are interested in getting one of our Gilas please reach out now to get on the waiting list.

2024: What a year

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.

Snuggle time, Gila style

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.

Female buried in the new nest box

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!

Any day now…

2022 Gila monster breeding season update

by goatsby, posted in Gila monster, Heloderma

Hey Monster Squad! It’s been way too long since I last sent an update out which is disappointing as so much has happened since the last post. As with all Gila monster breeding seasons, this one was full of surprises and a lot of lessons to be learned.

Caught in the act.
Well, we know what this is..
Locked up at night.

First, during pairing and copulating we attempted a 1.1 ratio for breeding pairs which we hoped would increase success. Two of our previously bred females were seen copulating at least five times, but the new girl we got last year was only seen once. Eggs seem to be maturing well as monitored on ultrasound, except for the new female which only had two eggs (the other two females had greater than five eggs from what we could see). By the time egg laying came about in June this is where things change and deficiencies in our program were found. our two long-term females produce 13 eggs between the two of them, and the new girl produced two.

Egg forming from follicle as seen by ultrasound.
Egg at a later stage, the shell now visible on ultrasound.
Momma monster made a nest for her tightly buried eggs and guarded the nest for over two weeks!

Unfortunately only four of the 15 eggs survived of the whole group to date. One was actually eaten by it mother! This was a severe disappointment but valuable lessons were learned. First, the new female was under condition and not ready to be bred but she had enough weight and we thought she would be ready, she was not. Second our egg-laying protocol needs to be revised as it appears our girls are not comfortable laying eggs in their current egg boxes, which at this time are the entire cage turned into an egg laying nest with dark tint over the glass to provide privacy. Unfortunately this is not enough and we are going to try something entirely new next year fingers crossed!

Inside the nest above, six Gila monster eggs!
Bad eggs and good eggs, wish I had Willy Wonka’s machine to save some time.

As we approach the end of October we have four eggs still in the running. Four out of 15 is not a good ratio but some success is certainly better than none at all! It’s interesting that most eggs go bad within the first 30 days of laying, which says to me that our incubation protocol technique is working. Of course mid and late term and losses have happened but generally most eggs even fertile they are doomed will go bad within the first 30 days. These days I’m checking the incubator daily opening to egg boxes for fresh air as the humidity and temperature continue to remain stable throughout the week incubation period. We are super excited for the birth of our baby Gila monsters – each time I truly feel like a kid during Christmas opening the big gift center left under the tree! As soon as the babies are out we will post pictures and contact those on the waitlist in the order that they joined (Allen you’re up first!).

Late-season candling of a viable egg showing nicely growing veins.

So as we wrap up our 2022 Gila monster breeding season and get our monsters ready for the Big Chill (hibernation, not the movie), we look forward to an amazing 2023 breeding season. One of our 2019 females produced here is growing follicles as shown by ultrasound and will be attempted to be bred next year. We are also very excited to have our axanthic Gila monster Winnie up to condition and ready to breed next year. This is a very, very exciting project for us as few of these morph are being bred throughout the world. We are also excited to put into motion the lessons we learned in this and past seasons to improve our success and to see more amazing baby Gila monsters born into this world, because what world isn’t better with more Gila monsters in it?

Winnie, our axthanic Gila, looking to be in good condition

2021 baby Gila monsters!

by goatsby, posted in Breeding, Gila monster, Heloderma, reptiles
The last three Gilas hatch!

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.

2020 Gila monster breeding season begins!

by goatsby, posted in Gila monster, Heloderma, reptiles

With the babies I’ve held back are growing like weeds and coloring up beautifully, I’ve taken the adults out of brumation and am warming them up and will be feeding them their first meal soon. I’m both excited and nervous as to how this season will turn out. Will all the eggs paid be fertile? Will all the fertile eggs go to term? An educated guess says no to both but if improvements are made I am moving in the right direction.

I’ll be doing some new things this year. First, I’ll be pairing straight reticulated with reticulated, and banded with banded. Also, instead of leaving switching males between cages I will keep one male with one female for the duration of the breeding season. The females do seem to have preferences, and hopefully they still lie each other this year. I am waiting until the last week of March to start pairing as last year the females were not receptive and often attacked and bit the unrelenting males so it would be nice to avoid this drama and potential injury. I’ll keep everyone posted on the progress and of any successes and failures on my second year of breeding these amazing Gila monsters!