Too breed or not to breed

[guidofatherof5]

My beautiful radix Speckle just gave birth to her second group this year. I don't want to breed her next year because I think a break will do her good. I don't know why I think this will do her good but my logic is that her body won't have to go through the stress of babies and that must be better for her.
Now, with that being said. She is a healthy, young snake who apparently is good at having babies. In the wild she would be having babies yearly in most cases.
I would like to know what you think about this issue. Are there any studies that justify me not breeding her or am I just giving myself a break more than her?

[drache]

frankly, Steve - I don't think the snake cares either way, and I do think that the survival rate is probably greater at your house than in the wild
you seem to be having a bit of a radix population explosion at your house, and not to go all Mao on you, but I personally have chosen to exert some influence over my snakes' reproductive behaviour - the only influence I've got: gender separation
my reasoning is this:
none of my snakes' offspring will ever be released, and Brooklyn real estate limits how many I can keep
I want all of the babies to find good homes, and the garter world is not that big
for you space is not an issue though, so you've got more choices

[gregmonsta]

I think you'd be right giving her a break. In the wild, with brumation being upon us, this clutch of babies could definately have jeapordised her chances of making it to spring. Also, she may then also be too low in fat reserves too produce enough lipids to attract a male on emergence.
Breeding her again in a captive setting is less dangerous but even looking at Sky (double clutching for the previous owners the previous year and then blanking out on me this year) I'm thinking that it took her most of this year to recover (explaining the weight gain I guess).

[guidofatherof5]

frankly, Steve - I don't think the snake cares either way, and I do think that the survival rate is probably greater at your house than in the wild
you seem to be having a bit of a radix population explosion at your house, and not to go all Mao on you, but I personally have chosen to exert some influence over my snakes' reproductive behaviour - the only influence I've got: gender separation
my reasoning is this:
none of my snakes' offspring will ever be released, and Brooklyn real estate limits how many I can keep
I want all of the babies to find good homes, and the garter world is not that big
for you space is not an issue though, so you've got more choices

I know what you're saying. I had planned on 3 births on the ranch this year. I got those 3. I never expected to take in 12 gravid females. 10 of them were delivered to me or I had to go rescue from certain death. The other 2 were from my yard.
The rescues and deliveries were all word of mouth. I've done nothing to advertise the fact that I take in wayward garter snakes. I can't imagine what that would be like.
I hope not to repeat a year like this but will not turn any calls or deliveries away. This year has been an exhausting experience but also a valuable one. I have learned more about my snakes than I ever have. I can't attribute it all to the large amount of snakes I care for but also to this forum and its members.

[Mommy2many]

All of those snakes are lucky to have the T. Radix Ranch available to them. Now there are that many more that will survive. Great job Steve on taking in the homeless, wayward and injured! Can't wait to see some of them next spring!

[guidofatherof5]

I've decided to let Speckle breed again this Spring. I believe in the wild she would produce again. She is such a healthy, large radix. If all her babies would have lived from her last clutch she would have had around 40.
She is becoming one of my favorite snakes. She has calmed down and seems much more relaxed with her life. To be honest I didn't think she would ever calm down. She has always been very aggressive and pushy towards all the other snake that have lived with her. Since I moved her into a much larger enclosure and put her with larger radixes, that's all changed. Now, she's very docile. She's the enclosure Greeter. Many times it's for food but she also likes to explore arms, shoulders and hoodies. She's a great radix. She's like holding a young bull snake.