Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok,

I have a definite male that has already locked up w/one female on 4 occasions. My other "male" however, an almost 6' Sorong, has never shown any inclination to breed. It was purchased as a male and reprobed last month as a male..not by me but buy a very experienced herper.

"He" shed last night w/no evidence of sperm plugs so I put the proven male in. The response was immediate! Jerky movements and alot of spurring. He's draped all over her as I type this but the courtship has paused - he only copulated w/the other female at night.

My question is this, does male dominance behavior resemble courtship in the beginning? I'm afraid to leave them alone if so. On the surface it looks like courtship and my "male" is in reality a female - bonus! If males are going to battle, how long before a violent reaction is given. Again, right now they're "resting" - inter-coiled but not copulating.

Bill

Never mind, they've been copulating for 4 hours! So much for "expert" probing LOL! It would still be a good discussion from those who have actually witnessed male combat to describe the order of events/behaviors.

Bill

Bill, I'd say you have a female. I have a large 6.5 year old biak that was sold to me as a male at an age of 2.5 years old. I raised it up believing it to be a male and paired "him" up with a couple of females with no interest. This "male" is also a 6' adult and never refuses food. Last winter I probed "him" to 10 SCALES DEEP!!! Male right??? Nope. She produced a nice clutch of 19 eggs for me last spring. From what I've noticed with MOST other pythons, male to male combat is very aggressive from the moment of introduction. There usually isn't any courtship unless there are multiple female present in the same cage. Also, and this is just hearsay, male chondros will combat until one or both are dead unless there is a chance for one or the other to retreat. They will try to do serious damage if given the chance. I say good luck and you could see a nice pile of eggs in a few months.

Brandon Osborne

Yhanks Brandon!

I'm very stoked about this development! Question, I only have one male. He's bred one female 3 times so far, w/3 days of separation between them. Is a typical male "virile" enough to impregnate two females? If you were me, how would you rotate this lucky guy between sessions and between females?

Bill

Here's the two "males" copulating. The female (darker) is soo big I'm hopeful for a nice clutch out of her!

Bill