Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, so there are a few of us out there trying unsuccessfully to propagate these guys and there is precious little information out there regarding captive breeding. So, for you guys (Brian, Bill(s), etc.) who have had success with Spilotes pullatus, would you be so kind as to post up what has worked for you such as housing separate or together, temps/cooling periods, male and female sizes, misting, male combat, etc. I have bred several other species including boas, amazon tree boas, yellow rat snakes, garters and Telescopus dhara. For two seasons though, my 8-9 foot pair of Surinam Spilotes have zero interest in each other. I house them together (as per Primareptilia's care sheet) year round in the exact same conditions as I house my boas and amazons (who breed consistently for me) but nothing, zero, zilch, nada, nill in the breeding arena.

I'm sure any little tidbits or hints that you all could supply would be hugely appreciated by us novices!

Billy

I think the 1st mistake people make is thinking they're big/old enough to breed before they really are. My original pair started breeding at 8' and bred continually 'till they were almost 10' at 12 years old. I will also be experimenting w/rotating males just to gauge the reactions.

They were kept together year 'round. What I did here in Vegas w/them was to keep them a bit cooler in the Winter (no heat, ambients in the room get down to 70F and only rise to 79F in the Winter. No misting whatsoever for 60 days. I then flooded the cage w/ "rain" and upped the temps to 78F for a low and 86F for a high. This led to frantic mating and subsequent eggs.
My F1s are now large enough and old enough (3.5yrs) to try this again. I also have 1.1 ltc imports at the same point. The original pair died of old age at 13 years old /- as I have no idea how old they were when I initially got them as young imports.

Consistency will determine if this approach works. I also got them to mate once when a new addition to the room brought in mites some years ago and I put them in the shower to rinse them off...they started copulating in the shower! I know the rainy season is a huge contributor but only time will tell how it all works together. Hope this helps.
Bill

thanks alot vegasbilly although i'm not too thrilled about having to shower w/ them. haha.....i'm gonna give them a dry season for a couple months then soak 'em. by way of contrast, here's a pic of a champion breeder! thanks again!

I also got them to mate once when a new addition to the room brought in mites some years ago and I put them in the shower to rinse them off...they started copulating in the shower!

Nate (Tokaysrnice) called and was asking me about your setups and how you had bred them. I remembered as much as I could but forgot all about the shower.

Nate, hope you're reading this.
-----
Currently keeping:

6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephalum (Javan, mixed colors)

1.1 Philodryas baroni

1.1 Lampropeltis triangulum multistriata

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback

I think Vegas Has the right idea after doing quit a bit of research I made these Graphs. It took me a bit because I converted all temps/rainfall from Metric to Standard.

Guatemala City, Guatemala

rain fall Min Temp Max Temp Daylight hrs
Jan .32" 53.6f 73.4f 11.21
Feb .1" 53.6f 77f 11.40
Mar .51" 57.2f 80.6f 12.03
Apr 1.22" 57.2f 82.4f 12.28
May 5.98" 60.8f 84.2f 12.48
Jun 10.79" 60.8f 80.6f 12.59
Jul 7.99" 60.8f 78.8f 12.54
Aug 7.79" 60.8f 78.8f 12.36
Sep 9.09" 60.8f 78.8f 12.12
Oct 6.81" 60.8f 75.2f 11.48
Nov .90" 57.2f 73.4f 11.26
Dec .31 55.4f 71.6f 11.16

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Rainfall min temp Max Temp
Jan .47" 59f 78.8f
Feb .07" 59f 82.4f
Mar .03" 60.8f 84.2f
Apr 1.02" 64.4f 87.8f
May 7.09" 66.2f 86f
Jun 6.97" 66.2f 84.2f
Jul 2.75" 64.4f 82.4f
Aug 2.91" 64.4f 82.4f
Sep 5.94" 64.4f 82.4f
Oct 3.42" 64.4f 80.6f
Nov 1.5" 62.6f 78.8f
Dec .5" 60.8f 78.8f

Nieuw Nickerie, Suriname

Rainfall Min Temp Max Temp
Jan 7.2" 77f 82f
Feb 4.3" 77f 83f
Mar 4.1" 77f 83f
Apr 6.8" 78f 83f
May 9.5" 77f 83f
June 11.6" 77f 84f
July 9.8" 76f 85f
Aug 6.3" 77f 86f
Sep 2.9" 78f 86f
Oct 2.3" 78f 86f
Nov 3.3" 78f 85f
Dec 6.6" 77f 83f

Now I don't know how this works into the puzzle but I would assume around December temps go down and misting is limited until around March. Begining in April temps start coming up until they max around June/July then begin the cool off again and repeat.

Some things that I wonder about are feeding less in the cool months or the rainy months? I would think durring the cooldown. When in this cycle does copulation occur? I would think right around peak heat and heaviest rainfall?

One more observation, and don't take offence to this but The few succesfull Spilotes mattings I've heard of are from much thinner specimens than I see from very "portly" animals. I know in most of the Colubrid world skinnier males make better breeders.

Just some more stuff to think about, and hey If I help someone get Babies before me, please think of another Spilotes addict!

Nate

Ps this is stuff I've wanted to compile for awhile as all my snakes range from these areas.

If any of you guys want easier to read tables let me know KS scrunched them up.

Awesome compilation! I will for one be setting the thermostats closely to these parameters...varying a bit to take in the ambient temps here in Vegas. I was going to move my breeders off of the bottom levels but now I think I'll leave them lower down to better reach the lower temps...I'll just tweak the DTHs on the 'stats to get the gradients. I'm also going to rotate males (may have typed this earlier?) just to mix things up a bit as I'm male heavy anyhow. I'll go w/ a "fat" male and a skinny male and see which one is hornier! LOL

I appreciate you sharing your research!

Bill

I would also like to thank you for the temp/rainfall info! I have 2 trios of Spilotes together as of last week, and have yet to see any action from the trio I put together this summer.

It has been my thinking that after a winter cycling here in New England that I may see some action in the spring. I have never bred Spilotes, but breed tons of Gonyosoma, and last spring was my best breeding season yet. My thinking is that despite my indoor temps the snakes really feel the dreaded winters we have here, and after being in captivity a couple of years they seem to align with this pseudo-cycling. Little changes for the snakes environmentally except cooler night temps, and somewhat cooler day temps. The shorter days may have some input as well.

Anyway, the race is on, and it will be interesting to check in in the spring/early summer to see how everyone makes out!

Lots of luck!

Freight
Link

Just remember me when all those baby Spilotes need new homes lol.
I don't have an alterior motive but I want enough Spilotes out there so me and others can find CBB babies these snakes are just too cool!
Nate

These charts will most defiantly be useful.
-----
2:3:5 Cornsnake
2:2:0 Red-tailed rat snake
2:2:0 Tiger rat snake
1:1:0 Carpet python
1:1:0 Mangrove snake
1:1:0 Southern copper head
1:1:0 Giant hog nose
1:1:0 Taiwan Beauty
0:2:0 Brazilian Rainbow boa
1:0:0 Yellow anaconda
1:0:0 Scrub python
1:0:0 Green tree python
1:1:0 Uni-colored cribo
1:0:0 Albino checkered garter
0:1:0 Pueblan milk snake
0:1:0 Dusky pygmy rattler
0:1:0 Twig mimic snake

1:2:0 Bearded dragon
0:0:2 Nile monitor
2:3:0 Leopard Gecko
1:2:0 Green iguana
1:1:0 Red iguana
1:1:0 Blue tongue skink

5:5:0 Eastern box turtle
1:2:0 Red eared slider
1:1:0 Map turtle
1:0:0 Painted turtle
0:0:1 Sulcata

0:0:1 Dwarf caiman

0:2:0 White-spotted bamboo shark
0:0:2 Saber tusk barracuda
0:0:1 Tiger shovel nose catfish

0:1:0 Foul mouthed African Grey

wsrosser@bellsouth.net