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Questions

forkit Jun 03, 2006 03:56 PM

because you cant believe everything you read...

1) a. can colubrids always interbreed? milks with kings, kings between all their subspecies, etcetera. is it only certain kinds that can?
b. how possible is it to produce these hybrids and how viable are they for breeding, and their offspring for breeding? are blood lines strengthened or weakend by this?

2) a. can aritificial insemination be performed with kingsnakes, or any reptile for that matter? or is the process or courtship crucial for breeding? if it could be performed, the instance of accidental meals could be minimized...
b. what is the method of breeding kings? just make sure theyre well fed and its the right season for breeding? is there a fool proof way to make sure that one will not eat the other?]

sorry if this stuff is common sense for you guys.

Replies (5)

zach_whitman Jun 03, 2006 06:07 PM

But if you want to we can open up the hybrid can of worms... I'll try to give you some info without taking sides

Many colubrids can interbreed with other species. Not all combinations have ever been tried. There is no master list. You will be more successful breeding species that are more closely related. There are many issues. Many speceies will ignore each other. Some individuals are more or less picky then others. Kings may try to eat foreign mates. Different genes may be incompatible resulting in slugs, deformities, unfertilized eggs, or females mate and never become gravid. The offspring of hybrid colubrids have frequently proven to be fertile but sometimes are sterile.

By "strengthening the bloodlines" I assume you mean something like hybrid vigor as is found with mutt dogs. This is not really the case with snakes. All dogs are the same species. They have been line bred for literally thousands of generations. Along with desirable traits, weaknesses are often propagated. By breeding two dif breeds you mix up the gene pool (within the same species) and possible get a healthier offspring.

Snakes have not been bred for that long. Most captive bloodlines are from wild stock within the past few generations. Maybe some of the oldest bloodlines are near 40 captive generations (probobly with some wild stock mixed in though). Even with all of todays selective breeding no where near the damage done with dogs has been done to snakes. I would think you are more likely to cause deformities or problems DUE TO the hybridization then you are to develope stronger offspring.

The first artificial insemination that resulted in live affspring was just carried out by some vets at a zoo with eastern indigos. As of now this is not a viable way to produce snakes for the private keeper. It may or may not ever be.

Buy a book. Buy two books. Your kings probobly won't eat each other.

MikeRusso Jun 03, 2006 08:01 PM

1) a. I Don't know if all colubrids can interbreed, as i personally have never interbred...

b. again I am not 100% sure but my guess would be that the blood lines would be weakend.

2) a. i dont know if aritificial insemination can be performed with kingsnakes, or any reptile. i would imagine it would be a costly process though..

b. as far as breeding kings, most if not all of them require a cooling period. This period varies as far as time and maxium temps. It would be best to buy a book that outlines the requirments for each species.

As far as i know the only 100% fool proof way to make sure that one snake will not eat the other would be to watch them while they are together.. Although, i have heard of this happening i believe it is uncommon..

hope this helps..

~ Mike Russo

FR Jun 03, 2006 08:59 PM

Your statement is off a little, its you cannot believe "everything" you read. Not you cannot believe what you read.

If what you said is true, then you cannot believe anything you read here. So why ask?????

About your first questions, why does it have to be always this or always that? And if you understood the difference between a hungry and starving snake, there would be fewer accidents. Cheers

MikeRusso Jun 03, 2006 09:38 PM

WHUT???

forkit Jun 03, 2006 11:45 PM

np

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