I have a few questions about expectations for breeding. I've bred colubrids before but have never bred pythons of any kind. I have a pair of Coastal Carpets that I would really like to breed. My male is about 8 years old and very healthy, but I've never attempted breeding. I have a very nice female that is about five years old and also very healthy and also never attempted breeding. What might be the expectations for breeding with older animals that have never attempted breeding before?
I started cooling my reptile room in the evenings in October. I've basically let the temps drop to a range of 70-75 degrees in the evenings. During October I cooled at night but turned on their basking lights in the morning. I've also tried to time the lights to match the naturally occurring photoperiod here in Ohio and I've tried to be very diligent about that. Both snakes seem to recognize that winter is here and they are hiding under their newspaper substrate a lot. My plan is to continue with this night time cooling and maybe also some day time cooling in December and January.
I've put them together a few times recently for a day or two at a time. They seemed to hang out together (not moving to separate corners) but no obvious copulation or anything. So far, I was just doing this to see how they might react. The female actually seemed to show some signs of interest, whipping her tail around like a cat. The male didn't seem to show any interest. My plan is to continue putting them together occasionally and leave them together a few days or so, whether I see copulation or not.
Does this sound like a reasonable plan? I know it might be early yet, but when might I expect the male to show any signs of interest? Should I expect this later in the winter or closer to spring after they start warming up? Is it likely that copulation might occur and I won't be there to see it? I'm just not sure what to expect. Any suggestions?
From what I've read the male may not be expected to show any interest unless the female has ovulated. I'm not experienced enough to really know if I see follicles or not.
Also, I've wondered about putting a shed skin from another male to stimulate his interest....but I have no other males. Is this worth considering?
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
