Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum and I am in some desperate need of advice.

I was contacted by another hognose owner who is interested in breeding one of my males to his albino female. He is sure that this male is a rare color variety, and while I'm not totally convinced that my snake is what he says, I need some help on how to proceed.

Is there any established etiquette for pairing snakes with different owners? How are the offspring split, if at all? Or is there really no set standard and up to the owners to discuss and decide?

I'm a little nervous about the whole thing, and I am worried about possibly being responsible for someone else's incredibly valuable snake...not to mention the consequences if my snake isn't what he thinks it is.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions on the matter!

There are no real "set" rules. Whatever you both agree to be fair is usually good enough. However, if he was going to be taking care of the two while breeding and possibly during cooling, then I would want to make sure that you have discussed what would happen if your snake were to die in his care.

Yeah, I am worried about that as well since my boy is an oldie, and the last thing I want is him dying because of all of this.

The breeder has offered to send me his female, but taking care of someone else's very valuable snake has me understandably nervous. Heck, he may not even want to go through with it once he realizes that my snake isn't quite the rarity he thinks it is...but I'm certainly not willing to go into this blind without some form of written contract between the two of us.

I'd make sure you have a written contract covering _everything_, what happens if your snake dies while in his care and how the clutch will be split- starting with only one live hatchling.

I've read on another forum about HUGE disagreements (which then go public) which seemed to come about because both parties were unclear on the terms.

Nanci
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*****
0.0.1 Normal Corn, 0.0.1 Cali King 0.1 Nelson's Milk
0.1 Tricolor Hog, 0.0.1 Eastern Hog, 1.0 Eastern Box Turtle
0.0.2 Desert Torts, 2.0 Feral Pigeons

Thank you, and yes that is my fear as well. I have already thought about a contract, and I wouldn't take a snake in, send mine out, or breed him without one. I also hadn't thought about the "one hatchling" possibility and I will keep that on my mind.

I'm hoping that the two of us might live close enough where I could bring my snake to this breeder myself, as I live in a fairly cold climate and my snake is getting up there in years. It would alleviate a lot of my worries about taking in a valuable snake or being worried about my boy not surviving shipment.

I want to say that in the case of dogs, when the stud fee is waived in exchange for pick of the litter- that means the stud dog owner gets the first offspring, even if it's the only one.

I suppose the female owner could also pay you a fee for _all_ the babies, or you could split the clutch.

Nanci
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*****
0.0.1 Normal Corn, 0.0.1 Cali King 0.1 Nelson's Milk
0.1 Tricolor Hog, 0.0.1 Eastern Hog, 1.0 Eastern Box Turtle
0.0.2 Desert Torts, 2.0 Feral Pigeons

*laughs*

I think my price would be two (male/female) of the normal looking babies. I've always wanted offspring from this snake, and his girl friend was just never interested in his advances. (And now she has cancer so it is completely out of the question.)

I've had quite a few very long road trips with reptiles, and snakes were much easier to please on the road than my lizards, (and we aren't going to mention the turtle that spent the night in my sleeping bag camping in Yellowstone...) so I think a road trip would be a much better situation if we could swing it!

I wonder how the timing works. It's all up to the female, right? So her owner just calls you up, says she's ready, you pop Mr. Snake in the car and head up there- then what? The happy couple meet and consumate their relationship right away? Then you drive him home the next day? Or do you think you'd have to drop him off and go back later?

You'll have to let us know how the whole relationship goes. Good luck!

Nanci
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*****
0.0.1 Normal Corn, 0.0.1 Cali King 0.1 Nelson's Milk
0.1 Tricolor Hog, 0.0.1 Eastern Hog, 1.0 Eastern Box Turtle
0.0.2 Desert Torts, 2.0 Feral Pigeons

LOL...I'll be sure to let you know!

Like others have said, get a contract. It can be a simple email with terms and conditions that both parties agree to.
As far as using your male, it's special, etc. Post a pic of the male and let the forum tell you if it's special or not.
Also, consider having the other breeder ship the female to you.
Best of luck.

Thank you for your reply. I will not move on this without a contract for sure, so thank you for the affirmation.

The other breeder has offered to send his female my way, which would be much safer for my older boy, but leaves me in the care of a very expensive animal. I would like to think that this shouldn't be a problem, since I've kept hogs for almost 15 years now, but I also know that even the best laid plans can go wrong.

As far as my snake being "special" he is a very gray hog and the breeder I'm talking to thinks he may be axanthic. I really don't think my snake is, as he has some hints of brown around the edges, but if this breeder wants to try it anyway, I certainly can't complain, as I am very eager for babies from my boy and it is most likely the last season for him.

But I agree: contract first, sex second.