Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone know or think that males who begin feeding before they start breeding are more potent as far as making a female gravid, or even influencing the number of eggs a female will produce? Tom Stevens

That if he eats a few meals before that he would be healthier....hence should be better stock for breeding. That is in my mind anyways.But this is just my opinion.....

Toby
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www.Wood-N-Snakes.com

Thanks for writing, i think the same thing but for example I have a male Pine that only eats in summer, and he does a great job of getting my female to lay a nice big clutch. He has gone 7 and even 8 months without a single meal....pretty incredible. He has a one track mind. Tom Stevens

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www.Wood-N-Snakes.com

Others have disagreed with this but I found a higher fertility rate in my milks (and a fatter healthier male) when the male is warmed a couple weeks before the female. In theory, your cold male is carrying 2005 sperm and will need some weeks and months to build a fresh arsenal. Ever notice better viability in the second clutch?
Pack as much food as possible into the male before he goes into the breeding frenzy.
Jeff

Others have disagreed with this but I found a higher fertility rate in my milks (and a fatter healthier male) when the male is warmed a couple weeks before the female. In theory, your cold male is carrying 2005 sperm and will need some weeks and months to build a fresh arsenal. Ever notice better viability in the second clutch?
Pack as much food as possible into the male before he goes into the breeding frenzy.
Jeff
Thanks for your input Jeff. I do try to feed my males after brumation, some eat and some do not. I get plenty of eggs either way but wondered if anyone had noticed better results from males that are feeding before hand. Do you begin to cool both sexes at the same time and bring the males up first? Most people seem to think the male is the one that benefits most from the cooling. I also know many people who think a lean male without much food in the belly is a more efficient breeder. I had a male this year who bred a few times and seemed to be wanting more action. I gave him and the females a break and fed them, now the male seems lazy? I am sure he will be back in the game soon but thought this would be interesting to hear what others notice,....as this time of year it is mostly females we're all talking about. Tom Stevens

Thanks for your input Jeff. I do try to feed my males after brumation, some eat and some do not. I get plenty of eggs either way but wondered if anyone had noticed better results from males that are feeding before hand. Do you begin to cool both sexes at the same time and bring the males up first? Most people seem to think the male is the one that benefits most from the cooling. I also know many people who think a lean male without much food in the belly is a more efficient breeder. I had a male this year who bred a few times and seemed to be wanting more action. I gave him and the females a break and fed them, now the male seems lazy? I am sure he will be back in the game soon but thought this would be interesting to hear what others notice,....as this time of year it is mostly females we're all talking about.

Hmmm, I really have no idea about better results from feeding vs non-feeding males in the first 30 days of post-cooling activity. However, clutches seem to have (often) a higher fertility rate later in the season when males have finally come off their breeding frenzy but this could be attributed to recent spermatogenisis also.
Males do calm down but will breed again, offer him a post shed, well fed, female but I have males (milks) that don't seem to be interested in late season/second breeding and others that I can count on every time. And these are the same ssp from the same county but unrelated.
About cooling, my adult N.A. milks just stop feeding in Aug/Sept and I start looking for a cool place to store them. The tropicals seem oblivious to the seasons and I pack them away (same time, approx) in Dec. I'm targeting 3-4 months at 50-60 and don't worry about putting them down together, more the time at 55 and getting the males warmed and fed before he smells a female. The thin, non-feeding, hyper active, male N.A. milk has about 4 months to regain his normal body mass before he stops feeding again for the winter, these guys are always a greater concern since the females will absolutely feed like horses after dropping a clutch.
The old saying about absence and the heart growing fonder works with out snakes also, put the pair together every couple weeks and BTW, there is a connection with oncoming storms and breeding.
Good luck with the pairing! Jeff