Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK....I have breed bloods, and many other pythons for years and never seen this kind of behavior before. I put my one of my Adult "males" in with one of my "females" last night, and within seconds of scoping out the cage, the "male" was wagging his tail very hard and starting to evert what looked to be scent glands, and began crawling over the "female". He kept doing laps around the cage and had no interest in courting. Meanwhile, the "female" just seemed very defensive and sat there doing nothing.
Now, the reason I say "female" is because it was purchased from a breeder as a female, but I never sexed it, I just took his word on it, and I do not think it would like to sit still for me to sex it alone. Is this male on male aggressionthat I am seeing? In the past I have always bought babies that I have sexed or seen a breeder sex, so sexed pairs were not an issue. Any info would be appreciated. I figure that Ryan, or Kara may have seen something like this before since thay are dealing with larger collections. But info from any one would be helpful.
Thanks in advance,
Jasin

My female did the same thing w/ the male.I guess trying to get the male to do his thing, it was a trip.It went on for over 30 minutes, like a dog in heat.As for your case I couldn't tell you if its a male on male defensive thing, just that I've witnessed it w/ my proven pair.

In my experience tail wagging has always been a sign of some sort of rejection and nothing usually comes of it, unless things change down the line.

They did end up mating a few hours later.Now I have seen tail wagging when I've put a rat in the cage or put them out on the lawn, but I thought this was either aggression or enticing the rat w/ the tail, who knows.If it is a male w/ a male I bet it's an aggression thing.Just my 2 cents.

You bet, that is a great sing. Just watch out for snakes to start flying. I have had pairs crush heat shrouds in cages before. Bloods can be VERY rough at times. Just make sure you have a pair, males will lock tails and look just like it does when you have a female in their. My females will go around with their tail sticking all the way up in the air for hours. Good luck on!!!! Ryan The Blood Cell

Tail wagging happens in most species of pythons from my experience. It demonstrates excitement, but not necessarily bad. I have females that waive the tail like crazy then lift it expel lovely mixtures and an hour later, locked up with the male. I observe this more with females than males, but both sexes have done it.

Ryan indicated about the rough love of STP's and I agree full heartedly. I have lost panes of glass on my Vision cages and had water dishes thrown around. It makes for a very loud experience especially at 12-1am in the morning!

That is why my best male is called "The Rock"! Not all are violent or rough some are lovers not fighters, too.
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