General Breeding Questions

[d_virginiana]

So Harley finally got her stitches out and has an all-clear to breed this spring. For those that don't know, she had a parasite issue last year that affected her connective tissues. It also seems to have affected the development of a clutch of unfertilized ovum she was carrying at the time, and she had to have some surgically removed. She will be three years old this May.
The herp vet said there should be no problem with her mating this year from the surgery. The safest thing would be for her not to have any sort of litter, but a litter of live babies would be safer than risking another litter of slugs, so that's what I've decided to try for.

I have some questions about breeding and housing them together... The male I want to mate her with is also three years old, but probably a third her size. I have a 50gal long tank that the pair would be housed in, and that she could stay in to have the babies.

So, my basic list of questions:

How long do you usually take to introduce a pair before letting them live in the same tank? (She's a big girl... any confrontation would end badly for the male)

When would I need to do this by? I was thinking maybe late February or early March?

How long do you let them live in the same tank after mating?

Also, any other suggestions would be welcome. This would be my first time breeding.


btw, none of my snakes have been brumated. It wouldn't have been possible for her with her health issues anyway, and I don't especially like to brumate my reptiles. But every mating season they all lose their minds so I'm not overly worried about that being a problem...

[chris-uk]

Personally, and opinions will vary I'm sure. I would introduce them to each other whilst holding one of them, and if they seem ok with that put them in together and observe for a couple of hours.
If Harley is putting out the right pheromones I'd expect action in minutes. If not leave them together for as long as it takes, in fact I'd leave them together until you start seeing signs that she is gravid.
At the end of the day a male will only court a female that smells right, if the female smells right she'll be receptive, if she doesn't want to mate she won't be producing pheromones to attract the male.

This iis based on reading and my limited experience, so I'll wait to be corrected on any of the details by the more experienced breeders. :-)

[d_virginiana]

I think mine must be picking up on seasonal cues even without brumating, because they were all definitely wanting to mate last year. I even had to move one of my males to another room to get him to eat; once he was further from Harley he calmed down and took food.

She's about to shed, so I'll start introducing them while holding her after that.