2.
3.
the rear half of his body, whereas the female had dull,
rusty red bands. She also appeared to be relatively low in
weight, apparently from a recent clutch. In order to
re-establish condition, she was fed on pinky mice, wood
roaches and a special mixture I use for my monitors,
along with supplementary vitamins and calcium powder.
Breeding and Laying.
After the first month I noticed the female gaining weight
at an increased rate; mating had not been witnessed but
as the pair were housed together this could not be ruled
out. Two weeks later, the female began to show interest
in the lay box, and would spend several hours at a time
either in the box or in its vicinity. Inspection of the lay
box showed multiple test burrows had been excavated
and the female could often be found sitting in the bur-
rows. Another two days later, the female was found
deflated and basking on the log near the lay tub, and so
my first clutch of glauerti had been laid.
The female used the full depth of the lay box, depositing
the eggs on the bottom in a slightly separated formation.
A total of 13 eggs were laid; one being infertile and two
others being fused together. An interesting note is that
the male appears to be quite inquisitive about the laying
process. He will stay in the general nesting box area and
show curiosity at any movement, but has never attempted
to enter the nest box. The female tends to stay in the box
for a day after laying and observe the location for another
day before showing a lack of interest.
I have had another three clutches from this pair since,
with the frequency of mating not appearing to be subject
to seasonal changes. Other observations worthy of note
consist of:
The second clutch also totalled 13 eggs, of
which two were fused together.
The third clutch contained only four viable
eggs from another total of 13, and just one
made it to term and hatched. I believe this
was due to the lay site being dryer than on
previous occasions.
The fourth clutch comprised 10 viable eggs.
In my experience, if females take longer than two days to
find a suitable lay site, this is reflected in a marked drop
in the viability of eggs. I believe this applies across
multiple species.
Incubation of eggs.
The first clutch of eggs was incubated using perlite in
two separate containers at a steady temperature of 30 o C.