Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi all, i've been trying to breed a male i own for the last couple of years with no success. he's now 3 years old and was producing sperm plugs last year - i've cooled him in the same way as another pair and i've had locks with them already. it is the 3rd winter for the female i want to use and shes 1650g he is around 900g does any one have any advice on how to encourage him to mate? any advice would be much appreciated!

Regards,

kenny

*Give him time
*Try a new girl

My experienced pastel male is also three and has been breeding like a champ since he was 6 months old and barely 500 grams! Since we have 10 girls this year up to size, and our cinnamon male is not ready to go, we added an '06 pastel male. Our experienced male went to town with in a half an hour when placed with a female. It took our other pastel...the newby...almost three weeks to figure it out. I kept him with one female for two weeks, gave him a few days break, and threw him in with another girl. He was courting her all day yesterday!

There could be other things going on here too, but he might just be "shy".
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Thanks,
Amy
My Boids

I sometimes will take another male that is the same size, or better yet slightly smaller, and that I have cycled cold as well and I will place the two males together. I will monitor them, but they should begin to battle, usually in very short order, after being placed together. I done this several times, both to observe this Royal Python mating behavior, and to get my shy male worked up and ready to go. In nature, the males will battle over females and this is a way for nature to (in most cases) select the largest, strongest alpha male to procreate and pass the best genes along to the next generation. During the "combat" encounter, the males will sort of entwine their necks, with each male attempting to gain the upper hand and force the other's head down into the ground and make the other submit and leave the breeding to the more dominant male. They will get pretty active and push each other around, knocking over water bowls and bumping up against the sides of the enclosure. While I have read stories of males biting each other, I have never observed this behavior in Royal Pythons? It is really facinating to watch and it definately entices the males to want to breed the females more aggressively. The one thing you want to make sure of is that you NEVER leave the males unattended while combating, and always seperate them when the have had enough.

Good luck!

Alan

does it usually take for them to "combat?" And how long do you leave the 2 males together? I put 2 18 months old, 950g males together with a female 2 hours ago and they are all laying together like best buds. Any thoughts?

I have never tried combat. One thing that has worked for me is to take the sheds of some girls that have been good breeders, mist them with water and put them in with the male and female that wont breed. This will usually entise the male to breed. Bedding from the breeding girls may also work.
Link

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www.fbballpythons.com

I learned this trick this year. My mojave wasn't breeding at first, and I put my super-stud spider in with him for a few minutes to see if it would work, and they went at it almost immediately -- slamming themselves all over the tub and wrestling for the win. I separated them after about 30 seconds, but this was all it took for my mojave to get his rear in gear -- he's been breeding his girls like a champ ever since.
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~* Jen *~

Pink Lady Constrictors

one of my males actually was combating me this year... it was funny. he won...

there was a thread a while ago about this, and someone suggested giving them a misting in the evening. I tried it and it worked great. I guess an evening rain simulates the breeding season in nature. Whatever it was, it was like turning on a switch. They went from no activity, to locked up within 20 minutes!
BTW, can't remember who suggested it.....but thanks.
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James.....
"Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought the beast back."

Hi All,

thanks to everyone who responded, ill certainly be trying the various things that were mentioned, hopefully he'll get the picture soon!

If you have the shed skin from another male wet it down and spread the "juice" on the female. When the new male gets in the enclosure he will go crazy thinking another male has courted her. I have heard this works but haven't had the chance to use it yet.