Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a het male that I have been putting with 4 different females since Feb. I still have not witnessed a lock. I wake up at 2 am sometimes to go check on them and the male is in his hide. The male is around 1200 grams. 3 of the girls are roughly 1200 grams and one female maxes out my 5 dig scales so she is over 5 pounds. (I can't remember everyones exact weight I am at work away from my records.)
I have tried putting the male in the female's bin, moving the female in with the male, even put a two females with him at once. Nothing seems to be working.
Any suggestions?

what is your ambient temperature inside the snake cage?,try to get it down to like 74-75 but NO lower and spray both snakes with lukewarm water when you put them together and alot of times that sparks the interest.i dunno if your male bred last year or has even bred for you at all,is it possible he is a she

"what is your ambient temperature inside the snake cage?,"

It is 80, I will try and drop the temps and spray some water this evening.

"try to get it down to like 74-75 but NO lower and spray both snakes with lukewarm water when you put them together and alot of times that sparks the interest."

"i dunno if your male bred last year or has even bred for you at all,is it possible he is a she"

This is my first go at breeding, I purchased the male and females this time last year. I spent the year feeding and getting everyone settled in. The male came from a reputable breeder. He probed the females for me when I purchased them, verifying they were of course female. I am not skilled in sexing myself, but I trust the person the male came from.

Hi there,
I had some males that wouldnt breed this season too. I isolated them in another bin system where I could totally control 3 factors. The photo period, humidity, and the temp. Once I had the humidity up to about 75%, daytime ambient to 85-88 degrees(with a hot spot of 92 degrees), and the lights on for only 7 hours a day, I had success with all 4 problem males breeding. It was difficult to get them going, but I had to introduce the females to the males bin. I normally move the males around. I noticed that the males where skidish breeders, so dont bother them. They will break good locks, or will become apprehensive if you keep bothering them. Each female should be left with your males for 2-3 days, then rotate another female. The most important thing is to offer the males a small meal every week like clockwork. If they refuse to eat try again in a day, THEY MUST EAT! Our philosophy is, "A POOR FEEDER IS A POOR BREEDER". I hope this helps.

nighttime temp drop. We drop to ambient 80 degrees, and a warm spot of 85 degrees. Sorry!

So now I am really confused! should I drop the temps to 75 or raise to 85?

The male has always been an excellent eater never skips a meal unless he is getting ready to shed then after shed he is back in action.

Humidity definitely has a role in triggering breeding. We simply mist cages as we introduce.

I find it interesting that you fell like feeding the males helps encourage their breeding. Most of our males naturally refuse feeding during the breeding season (as do many of our females). Since we noticed that pattern many years ago, we don't even bother to offer them any food during our breeding season (late November to Late January or early February).

I guess it goes to show there is more than one way to skin a cat...

My large female hasn't eaten in several months but my male and the smaller girls eat like clock work.

Jason

The smaller girls may just not be ready - but since the big girl sounds like she is ready - the problem is most likely with the male - possibly he hasnt been cycled correctly - adjust night and day temps accordingly - or maybe he is also not ready, mature enough? Do you have another male? If so you can try putting both of them together for a little combat then put your male in with the female. Also you can try using a shed of another male (in the breeding cage) or pop plugs from the other male and put them on the female. Or you might have to face the fact that this might not be your year.
-----
Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

6.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 Lizard of unknown origin

The smaller girls may just not be ready - Yes I knew they may not be ready yet but just wanted to try them since the other girl wasn't doing anything for him.

- adjust night and day temps accordingly - or maybe he is also not ready, mature enough?

So should I drop temps or raise temps? What about photoperiod shorten? or leave 12 hours on 12 hour off???

Do you have another male? - NO

Or you might have to face the fact that this might not be your year. - I am begining to really think so.

If my males and females are aggressively breeding, they tend not to feed. However, this is not set in stone. My best breeder this season has refused food for several months and goes hog wild with the females.
-----
Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

The male i got the most out of this year was fed between every girl,and he took them without hesitation.(Bred 5 girls-totaling 14 lockups in all)

plus... waited all winter to see my little pastel do something,and he finally did(this week).Right after he had just eaten.

So this season is definetely make me think twice about everything i've read in the past.
-----
Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.

Your right reading is insightful, but no substitute for experience by far!!!!

also 14 lockups isn't that many for an entire breeding season.

between 5 girls I hope they were timed well for you.

just my opinion.

TomChambers

Heya Tom,A couple were a bit lacking.So who knows what is going to happen.
Out of those 14x...It was:5x(eight eggs incubating)...5x(unsure yet)...4x(currently gravid/HUGE)...2x(she doesn't look so well now,so she is done)...and 1x(still pairing).

gl
-----
Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.

I got mine breeding by putting him in with another male that was breeding a female at the time. So essentially, it was one male breeding a female, and another male, then non-breeder, in the same tub.

Jason

Temps are now at 80 cool side and 90 hot side. Do I raise temps or lower temps, and what about lighting?? It is on 12 light and 12 hours dark right now.

Thanks to All

Jason

I would keep the temps the way they are. 80 ambient and 90 warm spot. Any further dropping with higher humidity can put you at risk for URI's. The humdity and shorter light period will do the trick. I would give them 7-8 hours on. This is just a way that worked for us, it may not work for you. One thing we also noticed, our boys did breed more when our low pressure systems moved in FL. Any time our Barometric pressure dropped, or we had rain outside, our boys where more receptive females. Mighht not be anything, but just something we noticed.