W/Mangroves make sure the male is MUCH larger than the female. I lost a male to cannibalism during my first breeding trials. Apart from breeding I keep almost all separate..some feed poorly in the presence of others..may be the hangover effect of possible cannibalism.



Studies on the Brown Snake on Guam have shown that the females don't begin to cycle until the presence of a male is detected so I operate on that philosophy.



I introduce females to the male's cage. If a female is receptive the reaction from the male is almost immediate..or w/in 30 minutes. He will chase and she will run! Copulation is quite lengthy w/hook-ups as long as an hour sometimes.



No trigger mechanisms are used ..humidity, day lenth, brumation, etc. All my females have double clutched and I cycle them through the males twice a year. As always snakes will fool us. I've had a 7' male Melanota in w/a 5.5' female for 60 days and was just about to separate them thinking she's got to be gravid and came into the room and heard a frantic rustling from their cage...he was courting her in a big way!



The easiest way to tell if a female is gravid is if she goes off feed! I offer food after what I consider to be the prelay shed and if they refuse I know to be on the lookout. All mine are ravenous feeders of anything off of tongs so its easy to tell when they're off feed.



I usually have a suspended lay box as well as one on the floor of each cage w/moist sphagnum moss inside. Infertile eggs are laid 2-3 days before the "good" eggs..at least thats what happened w/my last 2 clutches. Incubation is app. 100 days at 82F-84F though these last 2 clutches have been incubated w/the natural ambient shifts of my snake room..83F for a high during the day down to 79F at night. They seem to be cruising along just fine like this too..it may extend the incubation a bit so we'll see. One thing thats interesting is the amount of swelling on the female during copulation..see attached pic.



Hope this helps,



Bill

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