Reptile & Amphibian Forums

breed your Hondurans? Specifically what weight do you allow the female and the male to breed?
I know some breeders prefer age to weight..
I know others like 40" 400 grams for females..

General idea what do you like?

-----
Jason A.
"Long time Herper, first year Breeder `07."
My 2008 Care Sheet & The BRB Stats. Username: brb@kingsnake.com

Odd nobody replied to your question, I think a few people out there still work with hondos and at least one must have a scale.
I never weighed my breeders when I had hondos but bred them at 4 years of age. If I had to guess their weight it would be between 700 and 900g. These were beasts and they still had trouble passing the eggs!
Why not breed them at 3? The eggs are simply huge and can be a problem to pass for a young and smaller female.
I did weigh my polyzona at age 4 when she bred (she's a hefty 4 footer) and she came in at 770g.
2 female stuarti that are in the breeding queue this year each weigh 750 and 730 at 3 years and 4 feet.
Age plays a role here when you include the 'growth potential' of the individual snake - a smaller hondo that's 5 years old and weighs 500g will produce smaller eggs and likely pass them just fine. I'm less sure about a 400g 2 or 3 year old that has a growth potential of 5 or 6 feet having the endurance to deliver 5-8 chunky eggs.
If you can get a look at mom, you'll have a better idea of your snakes potential adult size and make a more informed decision.
If this sounds like gibberish, it's me without enough coffee!
Fine looking hondo BTW.
Jeff

I was hoping more people would reply to this, too. I'd like to see some differences of opinion and some other people's results. I have five hondos (they're not ready yet) that I'm working on, but I don't know exactly when to start either.

-----
---

1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

My collection of about 45+ Hondurans, this is what I do.

I have breed a female at 400g and she laid 6 good eggs, they were very long. She was 3 years old. I have waited 3 years to breed females. Some just will not breed and other do but lay infertile eggs. I just took my collection out of brumation and they are all eating up a storm. I have 2 females that are 05 but were finicky eaters and I don't think I will breed them this year.

I already know what a 400g female should look like so I do not weigh all my females anymore, unless I am not sure. Now some of my first times laid good clutches and some did not. Then the second year of breeding and using the same male they all laid good clutches. Just make sure you feed the females until they just do not want to eat after they have breed.

I always make sure my females have locked up at least 3 times, and this is what I have witnessed. They may lock up when I am at work. I have been dealing with Hondos since 1995, and they are my favorite. I have dealt with, Corn snakes, Kingsnakes, but Hondos are my best. I also am dealing with Ball Pythons, small collection and Irian Jayas, small collection. But Hondos make up 95% of my collection. I have about 47 Hondos, 11 Ball Pythons and 5 Irian Jayas.

If you want more info just email me at snakeman56@comcast.net

Sorry for the long post!!!

-----
Thomas Sierra

Cool Thanks lets keep the methods coming!!

I know that most breeders I speak with prefer 3 years.

Do you think that in the wild a Hondo female would wait until she was three? Of course not she doesn't even know what a year is, so how do they know? When does a typical Hondo start producing eggs? When they are a certain weight or age or combo of both?

Again any input is appreciated!
-----
Jason A.
"Long time Herper, first year Breeder `07."
My 2008 Care Sheet & The BRB Stats. Username: brb@kingsnake.com

Hi Jason,

A snake may not know what a year is, but they do react to the change in season. In the wild many snakes and other animals will only reproduce if there is an adequate food supply. I don't feel like there is a set weight or age to go by, but two and a half to three years is a pretty good rule of thumb. They are individuals and what works for one will not necessarily work for another. We had a two year old that had not been cooled go in to ovulation last year. We paired her up and she produced 4 good eggs, one of which was the Extreme Ghost. It is also possible to have a large 4 or 5 year old female to become egg bound. One of the best producers we have is on the small side. She still looks like a two year old snake, but yet she produces large clutches of big eggs every year. I think a lot of working with these guys is more art than science. Nobody knows your snakes better than you, so all you can do is take in all of the information available and make the best decision you can.

Thanks!

Joe Exposito
Thoroughbred Exotics, LLC