When to separate boys and girls

[dieselbaby]

I have a male and female checkered garter pair, although they are brother and sister and i do NOT want to breed them. They will be a year old late this summer, my question is, when should i separate these two so i dont get any unwanted breeding going on.. I thought i read somewhere they dont breed til age two, but i want to make sure this is accurate information.. Im hoping to keep them together until the new baby pugets are big enough so i can put the girls together and the boys together. I dont want anyone to be lonely...lol..

Thanks so much in advance.

[guidofatherof5]

A year old would probably be a safe separation time. Anything long and anything's possible.
Better to remove any possibility of it happening.

[dieselbaby]

Thanks Steve, i knew you would have the answer. that means they will be lonely for awhile til the pugets get big enough to not be eaten by mine lol maybe i can find a really big tank with a glass divider or something so they can visit through the glass..

[guidofatherof5]

Thanks Steve, i knew you would have the answer. that means they will be lonely for awhile til the pugets get big enough to not be eaten by mine lol maybe i can find a really big tank with a glass divider or something so they can visit through the glass..

That was just MY answer. Get a few more and pool the ideas into what feels right to you.;)

[chris-uk]

I plan to take our male blackneck out of the communal tank at around a year. He's got the female blackneck and a couple of female checkereds for company at the moment, so I definitely want him moved before there's a possibility that he could show interest.

[gregmonsta]

I don't tend to go past six months if I can help it. I tend to keep them separate from the start if at all possible.

[indigoman]

I had one of my T.marcianus give birth to 2 babies at 1 year old, 6 months is the longest from my experience.

[dieselbaby]

well i hate to separate them, they are so bonded and love eachothers company. I wish there was snake spay and neutering lol... Wow 6 months huh, well they about that now, and show no interest in eachother that way, only in chasing eachother at feeding time to steal worm pieces when i feed worms. I guess where ever i read that 2 yr thing they way off the mark.. maybe that was a recommended breeding age or something.

[EasternGirl]

I completely understand not wanting to separate. Cee Cee and Seeley need to be separated...they were together because I orginally thought Seeley was a female for quite some time...and then found out he was a male. Now that they have been trying to mate, they need to be in separate enclosures...but they love being together so much, it breaks my heart and I end up letting them stay together a lot. Steve is going to be sending me same sex mates for them soon so that I can finally separate them without feeling guilty about leaving them alone.

[chris-uk]

I had one of my T.marcianus give birth to 2 babies at 1 year old, 6 months is the longest from my experience.

Giving birth at one year old has to be at the extreme end of the sexual maturity spectrum though? But it does provide a warning that a year may be leaving it late.


Steve is going to be sending me same sex mates for them soon so that I can finally separate them without feeling guilty about leaving them alone.

I assume you use "mates" in the context of buddies/friends/company, rather than in the biological sense? If it is the latter, I don't know how to break it to you, but you may want to rethink the breeding plans. :D

[EasternGirl]

Lol...yes...roommates, I meant. :)

[chris-uk]

I assume you use "mates" in the context of buddies/friends/company, rather than in the biological sense? If it is the latter, I don't know how to break it to you, but you may want to rethink the breeding plans. :D


Lol...yes...roommates, I meant. :)

Good, I didn't want to see you posting up in a year or two wondering why you hadn't had any success breeding. ;)

[EasternGirl]

Good grief Chris...I'm not that blonde! :D

[kimbosaur]

Are you still planning on importing through Reptile Kings? I would be interested in taking part in a possible group buy if we can get more Canadian members to join in. :D

(Sorry to change the subject.)

[dieselbaby]

Hahaha good to see some discussion going on.. If i see any courting or anything that resembles courting i wont hesitate to separate them even if it was tomorrow. I just hate to do it before i have to. They are the best of friends, but i also dont want an inbred litter, or something happening to my snakes because they bred too young.. I've seen in too many times in the horse industry.

Yes kimberly, i still plan to import my two high blue pugets from scott thru reptile kings.. I almost couldnt they were thinking bout giving up their import permits, but they got lots of people saying don't. Of course i want those puget's so bad i would have gotten my own permit if i had to. Its going to cost me a fortune for those two babies, but its just money right, the hours of enjoyment and laughter they will give me through the years makes it all more then worthwhile. Let scott know what you want and you would deal with him on the payment for the snakes, i will be footing the whole import bill, so you would just pay me your share of the import costs, and shipping for your snakes from reptile kings in toronto would be yours as well. The import fee would be split and everyone would pay their own shipping from reptile kings/reptile express in the toronto area, there is taxes in there somewhere too lol we will figure it all out. im looking at between 700 and 800 for my two babies by the time i get them home.. 350 of that is the import fees for using reptile express's permit etc. I just cannot wait til the babies are born, and get them paid for and on their way to me, and of course arriving happy and healthy. I will be like a kid at christmas like i was with my two checkered's.

sorry if i just confused you even more with all that.. everytime i think about it i get all excited. lol god what a mess i am lol

[EasternGirl]

There is already a good chance that Cee Cee is gravid...but that happened before I knew that Seeley was male. Now, when they start "canoodling" as I call it, I take him out and put him in another enclosure until he calms down. Most of the time, the canoodling does not lead to anything...I have never seen it go beyond courting...Seeley doesn't seem to actually know what he is doing most of the time...lol...and Cee Cee doesn't seem to be all that interested most of the time. But I do have to consider that she could be gravid at this point considering that they were in together unsupervised for quite a while before I realized Seeley was male...and my discovering them having "sexy time" was what led me to realize that Seeley was not a female!

[dieselbaby]

lol maybe she is just playing hard to get. or like you said she my be gravid and saying nope, no more of that please and thank you.. lol

[kimbosaur]

Yes kimberly, i still plan to import my two high blue pugets from scott thru reptile kings.. I almost couldnt they were thinking bout giving up their import permits, but they got lots of people saying don't. Of course i want those puget's so bad i would have gotten my own permit if i had to. Its going to cost me a fortune for those two babies, but its just money right, the hours of enjoyment and laughter they will give me through the years makes it all more then worthwhile. Let scott know what you want and you would deal with him on the payment for the snakes, i will be footing the whole import bill, so you would just pay me your share of the import costs, and shipping for your snakes from reptile kings in toronto would be yours as well. The import fee would be split and everyone would pay their own shipping from reptile kings/reptile express in the toronto area, there is taxes in there somewhere too lol we will figure it all out. im looking at between 700 and 800 for my two babies by the time i get them home.. 350 of that is the import fees for using reptile express's permit etc. I just cannot wait til the babies are born, and get them paid for and on their way to me, and of course arriving happy and healthy. I will be like a kid at christmas like i was with my two checkered's.

I was seriously considering just driving across the border and picking them up on my own by getting them shipped to one of those companies that accept packages for Canadians. The only thing is, I'm so confused about the whole inspection thing. There are too many permits and fees it seems that might be needed, but also might be waived. I think I'd have to call them and get a straight answer from the actual port. That would probably be the cheapest way to go.

I would prefer to just use Reptile Express with you but there would have to be 2-3 other people to join in for it to be worth it for me. I'm Toronto, so I wouldn't mind helping to sort things out in terms of organizing shipments and things (if at all needed).

[dieselbaby]

you will spend as much getting the import permit and wildlife inspection done, as just paying reptile kings, if you go in with me or someone else it would be cheaper for that part of it. I have called my port of entry and ottawa to get answers and it all comes out the same, you need the wildlife inspection and import permit. I too was going to go that route, and it would be hard to find a breeder who would want to go through all that with you.

We will know better in a few months, i know of a couple people who were interested but havent commited to anything. Everyone seems to wait and see if others are going in.. How it would work is scott would ship them all together to reptile express, and when they got them across the border to their toronto depot, they would split up the shipments there, and you could probably even just pick yours up right there. I would be paying scott for the all but the cost of your snakes and then we would all split the import costs, and pay our own shipping from the toronto depot. You would be paying me for your part of the import costs. Makes it easier for Scott to deal with that way. I believe the import part is $350 so thats the cost that we would be splitting amongst who ever gets in on the deal. I thought for sure people would be jumping at the chance.. I mean im ready to pay it all so i can get my two awesome babies.I know awefully expensive garters i know, but they are worth their weight in gold.

Keep in touch with me and i can let you know where things stand. Do you have my email address?

[kimbosaur]

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that the New York port allows you to bring in a few (as pets) without an import permit. I think the limit was 7 or something, but this may have changed. Either way, it's way to complicated for me and plus I would need to apply and pay for a passport first.

I'd much rather join in your purchase. Hopefully I'll have enough extra cash. :D

[dieselbaby]

Okay i need to correct myself it wasnt an import permit that was required, canada will allow them it was the EXPORT permit. The u.s doesnt want to let them out with out that permit, it goes with the inspection papers. It is a giant pain in the butt i know.. Canada will not let them in without the inspection and export permit, but no import permit is required.. sorry for the confusion.

You have some time to save, just let scott know what you want, and if you are short we can come up with something for payment wise for the importing part. like a payment plan or something. I see i have a private message so we can continue to conversation there.