How to get penguins to choose the 'right' mate?

[Vicky]

I'm collected a bunch of penguins in animal storage, and can see from their stats who I'd like to match with who for the best offspring, but I don't know how to get them to play ball! I was thinking of setting up a 'bonding' enclosure next to the main habitat, and having them stay in there 2 at a time until they're officially 'mates', but I don't know if this would work? Would they just get too stressed at not being in a larger group to even form a bond? What happens if you use contraceptives on all but the 2 you want to mate, would that stop them from matching with the 'wrong' ones? How do you tackle it?

[MrHappy]

I think they would get stressed if not in the right group numbers. You could put them all in together. Put them all on contraceptives except the 2 you are interested in. And then when they'e mated take two others off the contraceptives? Not sure if this would work but hopefully good for just running one habitat.

[MrHappy]

Just as an after thought. No contraceptives but only one male in the group. The rest go into Trade Centre. When he mates he goes into the Trade Centre and a second male replaces him?

[Mythical Ostrich]

Your best bet would likely be what you already thought of. Contraceptives will not stop them mating with different penguins, just won't tallow them to have offspring.
tbh I just leave my penguins to their own will, I have a dozen now and I'm surprised about not getting any inbreeding lol

[MrHappy]

İlk olarak Mythical Ostrich tarafından gönderildi:

Your best bet would likely be what you already thought of. Contraceptives will not stop them mating with different penguins, just won't tallow them to have offspring.
tbh I just leave my penguins to their own will, I have a dozen now and I'm surprised about not getting any inbreeding lol

It's true, maybe my second idea of only having one male, then replacing him once babies arrive is better. In all honesty thoughtI don't pay attention to genetics or who is mating with who except to avoid inbreeding. Maybe it's important but I haven't seen the need to do so that's for sure.

[iloveyourzoos]

If you want to make sure that your desired penguins mate, here's what to do:
Create your bonding enclosure as you thought, but before placing in your desired pair, put in enough *other* penguins (can be junk or just less important ones) to match the minimum amount needed for their social, (or the minimum amount plus 1 to make it even, if needed), and then wait for all of those junk penguins to mate up. You can then put in your desired pairs one at a time, and they'll only be able to mate with each other, while the junk ones keep them from stressing out.

As said above, contraceptions will not keep them from pairing off (just like in humans!). But putting them in an enclosure where everyone else is already paired off should do the trick.