Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I currently have my black rats together and they haven't locked up... (not that I have seen) The female shed 2 days ago and I placed the male in there with her. There is a size difference but it doesn't seem like enough to keep him away. Should I just keep him in for 2 days, take him out for a few and feed them, and then place them back together until she sheds again? What can I do to encourage them?
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.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
.1 MO Locale Black Ratsnake "Molly" (Flogging Molly)

"You saved my life! I'm gonna get you so many lizards!"

It seems kind of early to be breeding them but I guess some people take their snakes out of hibernation early. I usually take mine out in the middle of Feb. and they do not breed until the end of March or early April. I have very few females that breed right after they shed. Usually it's several weeks later. I would just put them togther weekly for a day or so and see what happens. Some people just leave them together which would probably work too.
Good luck.

" I usually take mine out in the middle of Feb. and they do not breed until the end of March or early April. I"
.
.... What he said....
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Regards, Bill McGighan

I rarely see breeding activity in black rats before early April.

Thanks to everyone who responded. This will be my first season breeding so this may sound like an ignorant question....
She came out of brumation in early Feb. She had her first shed (post brumation) just the other day. I was under the impresion that this shed signified that she was ready to breed? Is there another indicator that tells me when she is ready or do I just keep trying them together?
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.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
.1 MO Locale Black Ratsnake "Molly" (Flogging Molly)

"You saved my life! I'm gonna get you so many lizards!"

Sometimes if they shed early after brumation the second shed will signal breeding time.
I brumated mine early last fall and brought them up in mid Jan.both my leucys have been fed and both shed this week.When placed together,they showed no signs of willingness to breed yet.Keep feeding.
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"Upon Thy Belly Thou Shalt Go"

I have had success breeding early before....I try to time pairring my snakes around rain showers. I have mist my snakes with some warm water while the windows were open too..Once the air pressure drop it's on ...My Male would hit anything in the cage.....Let us know how you make out

>>What can I do to encourage them?

Besides waiting (lol) there are a few things that I thought of that you can try. First thing I'd do would be to introduce a smaller male (if available) into the cage of the male that you are trying to induce breeding behavior. This should elicit a twitching response from the male you want to breed and he should eventually begin to bully the smaller male by pressing him down, pinning him, etc. Once the desired male is primed with a smaller competitor, introduce the female into the male's cage. You can leave the smaller male in, but keep a close eye.. sometimes the 'lesser' male will still try to slip in a hemipene.. lol. If the desired male begins to actively court the female, go ahead and remove the smaller one.

Another thing you can do if you don't have a smaller male to induce combat behavior is to introduce fresh sheds from another male, doesn't matter if he is larger or smaller. Toss them into your male's cage and let him sniff for a while, then introduce your female into the male's cage.

In your post you mentioned putting your male into the female's cage... I have always done the opposite and put the female into the male's cage. The males seem to respond better this way, but YMMV.

Good luck,
dg

I will point out that you are placing the male in with the female. Try introducing the female into the males cage. I have seen CW Black Rats start to mate after putting them on the ground together.

At this point, feed your female as much as she will eat every 5 days. You want her to put on weight. If you can't get them to mate in the next few weeks, wait for her next shed, and try introducing them again. Remember, you put the female in with the male, and not the female in with the male.

Female in nesting box after laying a dozen eggs.

I don't think she will fit into a 10 gallon aquarium she is almost 5'.... Should I try placing them on the floor? The female seems EXTREMELY receptive tonight.... (twitching is a sign of willingness correct?) If so then she is ready to go but the male doesn't seem to know what to do or is just uninterested...... What can I do to make him interested if he is my only male snake?
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.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
.1 MO Locale Black Ratsnake "Molly" (Flogging Molly)

"You saved my life! I'm gonna get you so many lizards!"

>>What can I do to make him interested if he is my only male snake?

Whoops, I guess if I had read your signature I would have seen that you only have one male.

dg

>>Remember, you put the female in with the male, and not the female in with the male.

Huh? LOL!

dg

In Ray Staszko and Jerry Walls' 1994 book, Rat Snakes, they recommended introducing the female to the male in his cage. I didn't just make that up. I have been using that technique, and it seems to work 100% of the time.

This male may be on the timid side in approaching a female that is much larger than he is. I once had to place two males in the same cage together for a few days. The pair of males consisted of a small Black Rat and a much larger Gray Rat. I put the Black Rat in with the Gray. One would have expected the Gray to dominate the much smaller Black Rat, yet when the smaller snake entered the larger snakes hide, it was the larger Gray that left and remained outside the hide as long as the other snake was in there.

I think by placing the female in with the male, it helps the male to feel more secure, and hence more likely to mate.

Since the male’s cage is way to small to use with that female, I would remove the female's hide from her cage, place the male in with her, and then cover the cage with a towel or light blanket so that they both will feel secure. It can't hurt, and it is worth a try.

Thanks for that info. FYI Dwight wasn't being offensive. You mis-wrote that last message. Didn't know if you caught that or not....
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.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
.1 MO Locale Black Ratsnake "Molly" (Flogging Molly)

"You saved my life! I'm gonna get you so many lizards!"

>>Thanks for that info. FYI Dwight wasn't being offensive. You mis-wrote that last message. Didn't know if you caught that or not....

LOL, thanks Phiber. Not only that but I suggested putting the female in with the male in my original post (made before his) and I don't think he caught that either. No biggie, I was just trying to help.

Give it some time, I'm sure your snakes will eventually breed. Also in your case (no extra male to incite combat, lone male showing no interest) it might be beneficial to do the opposite of what I suggested. Put the male in with the female and maybe the oversaturation of her scent in her cage will excite him. Normally when you put the female in the male's cage, he immediately notices her as a new scent. But by putting him in with her, you might actually create a 'sensory overload' and get him worked up.

The main thing is to keep trying, don't give up. With some time they should breed.

dg