Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what is it with this hobby. Its claiming all my money, driving me nuts, and I CANT STOP!! Im having so much fun with this! ANYWAY>...I have an adult female normal 01'. In sept, she was 2200g and I cooled her down along w my 05 graz pastel male, who was around 300g. I put them together off and on, until about november, when i decided the male was too small. The cooling had put him off feed, so he wasnt growing. I decided to up the heat again and get him eating, and he got up to about 700g. all that time I never witnessed a lock. NOW its the end of july.....The female is back on feed and fat fat fat. The male pastel still wont eat yet....even after being seperated from his girl. Well last night the pastel escaped, and when i found him in the bathroom i put him in w the big female so he couldnt get out. HMMM. now there FINALLY locked up! FINALLY!!!! Ive been waiting and waiting and waiting....i cooled, put them together, waited and waited....while all you were having ovs, then eggs, and now babies...I watched. WONDERING why mine werent progressing as fast. My question is, Now that the female is back on feed and really fat, and the male is breeding her...can I still get eggs this late? Ive never heard of this before...SOS SOS SOS!!! haha HELP! whats going on with these guys? thanks for any feedback!

Does she have follicles?
Is he producing sperm plugs?

Certain criteria need to be met before a successful breeding can take place but on a positive note, it's not too late. LOL.

Yes, the male is DEF. producing plugs...I kept finding them everywhere in the cage....nothing was hapening with them, the female was back on feed, the male wasnt. So i decided to seperate them...well the male escaped his new cage so I put him back w the female and BAM>there locked for an hour or so now. I have NO CLUE if she is producing follicles or not, for MONTHS Ive been told about palpating, wich ive tried but i just cant tell. It just feels like a snake haha. I feel bumps, but I think I always felt them, its like she tenses up and Its hard to tell. since september..shes been doing the back and forth thing. around the water dish, than coild on the uth. back and forth all day...i thought this was her producing follicles. But it was MONTHS ago. NOW, for the past idk, maybe two months shes been laying inverted alot...so i though maybe gravid. But nothing is EVER coming out of her lol. Shes now eating alot, and laying inverted after that so I think shes just trying to help digest. BUt now, there locked so its back to square one. I heard that if the female is not able to breed, like if she doesnt have follicles ready, she WILL NOT let the male breed her. Since shes letting the male breed her, does that mean she must have follicles and is ready? The breeding tips, schedules, everything everyone is saying...is happening. except its waaay out of order, and spread out over almost 10 months. So I dont have a clue whats going on....

I didn't know that snakes leave sperm plugs in their cage. I have never heard of this, but I may be wrong. I don't think he is having recreational releases. I always thaought you had to manipulate the plugs from the males.

I've never found them just sitting in the cage. They are small and would get lost in the substrate. I usually find them by purposely checking for them or in one case when I probed a "female" and a sperm plug came out on the probe.

Theres usually one every time he sheds, and sometimes when he eats one squeezes out lol. The ones when he sheds are usually dried on attatched to the vent part of the shed...and when hes eating he sometimes pushes one out that gets covered in mulch and cleaned out like the rest of the presents he leaves me hahaha. Is my snake a freak or has this happened to other people?

these are sperm plugs you are seeing and not something else?
I would have to take a magnifying glass to see a dried sperm plug stuck to an old shed and I have never heard of a snake shooting out plugs while eating.

yes, yes, YES!!!! No doubt about it....and there really easy to see when he sheds, I usually catch him before its even the whole way off....so its not dried yet and its very obvious to see the plug by the vent...it looks like a "V" and I googled it...its DEF. Sperm Plugs. And shoots them by accident when he eats, if hes still plump from the last feeding. Its like he looses muscle control for a sec. when he lunges and coils? Idk. maybe hes a freak hahaha. Either way, at leats now hes breeding my female and now leaving em around! haha.

wow. sorry for the typos!