Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just recently got a pair of nelsons milks that are the apple of my eye. I know for a fact that they are a pair 1.1,and that they are large enough to breed. I dont know if they were cooled or if any preperations were made intending to breed this pair. right now I have the pair housed seperatly but I would love to get a clutch out of her. I have successfully bred boas and just had clutch of diadem rats laid yesterday. I feel confident that these two are large enough but I have read that milks can be canabalistic. This may be a misconseption on my part but murphy's law rules in my home. I just want to know if these two will be alright together. This is the first pair of milks I have owned so I just want to take any precautions I can. thanks for any help you can give. corey kingsbury

They're lampropeltis. Never house lampropeltis together.

You can introduce the female to the male periodically, preferably while you're in the snake room doing other chores and can keep an eye on them. They're not highly cannabalistic but *%$! happens, and it can happen especially with lampropeltis.

btw, can you not find out the animals' history in order to know whether or not they were cooled? what happened to the person you got them from?

also, if a breeding cycle IS unfolding the female will probably eat especially aggressively, and you'll notice her bulking up. That makes putting them together a safer bet, because if she's putting out signals to the male that suggest breeding, he's more likely to respond with that behavior to, rather than any feeding response.

peace
terry