Unexpected courting

[ConcinusMan]

Well I'll be darned. I've seen this before but had forgotten about it so I wasn't expecting this. My hypoerythristic male (the only male in the big tank) apparently approves of this girl's new skin. He's all over her trying to mate with her. She's gravid for cryin' out loud. This is the first time this has happened with this particular group of snakes. She just shed and I assisted her. You can see that in the youtube thread. I thought this one deserved it's own thread.

The attraction should wear off in a day or so.

Any theories as to why this happens? What I mean is, what possible purpose can this serve in nature? The pair I kept for all those years did the same thing. An out of season one-day attraction after shedding never resulted in a lock though. Anyway, here's some video. It's getting dark and it's their bed time but you can still clearly see what is happening. I separated them for the night so they can both get some sleep. I'll go get him a cold bath

[ConcinusMan]

No comments? BTW, I put him back in with her this morning. Seemed like this had passed. After they got good and warm, he started up again! Jeez, she can't get any peace so I separated them again.

[Flicker]

Maybe she's not gravid and he wants to fix that??? LOL

[ConcinusMan]

Well, she is the least fat of them but I'm still pretty sure she's gravid. Doesn't matter anyway, this is the wrong time for them to be breeding. I've seen this before. I've had males court gravid females after they shed, or as they were giving birth! Never results in the female allowing it though. Only the spring courting (which can last several weeks) after brumating has ever resulted in a lock for me. This isn't as intense, and usually only lasts a day or two. Unlike spring time, he only seems to notice her when he gets very close. In the spring, the pheromones are so strong, the males can smell it in another part of the house, or on my hands. Kinda creepy reaching into a male tank and having them all try to make love to your hand! But still, that would make an awesome video for youtube. I think I'll do that next spring.

[Mommy2many]

Looks like you've got some tail holding going on too!

[Spankenstyne]

Looks like he likes his girls fresh and clean

[ConcinusMan]

Yeah, there was tail holding alright and a lot of twitching on the part of the male. The female couldn't care less. She totally ignored him.

@Spankenstyne

Funny. Yeah, he doesn't like trashy girls and she's looking so fine and clean...

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

my male eastern blackneck regularly courts the female even though she is gravid!!!

[ConcinusMan]

Well, this has passed as I expected. She's no longer attracting him but another gravid female turned blue today and she's an absolute blimp just loaded with babies. Here we go again.

[Steven Bol]

Mating behaviour just prior to the time that the female will produce young is very normal, at least that is my observaton over the past 20 years. I see it as a sign that the young will come pretty soon.

And the biological reason for this? I guess in nature the young are often born early fall, and fall matings are quite normal. The males will also copulate before hibernation..

Kind regards from the Netherlands,

Steven Bol