Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a male YB that's proving to be useless as a breeder so far this season. He's well over a year old, but small, around 600 grams. Showing no interest at all in the 3 females I've introduced him to so far. Do they ever just suddenly accept their heterosexuality, or do some just stay afraid of the ladies forever? If not, I have yet ANOTHER season of strictly Cinny production coming. Gettin a little mundane.

The season is still early. Try putting him in with two girls at the same time, try putting the shed of another male in with him when he's with the girl, putting the sperm plug of another male on the back of the female, watch for weather systems rolling in - barometric changes really get them in the mood. Try putting him with the ladies when they are in shed.

These were all tricks I tried last year - this year I'm just going mainly with weather systems - when a rain system is moving through - males and females get paired.

Good luck!

Ryan, is this his first season and if so do not worry. I had several 06 males last year that where slow starters but once things got right they snapped right in to it. On the other hand I have an 05 het Pied male that had not done anything two years in a row. I finally gave up and last season tried a poss het male that thankfully proved out producing two pied males in a four egg clutch. JP

Are you certain it is a male? I know it may sound stupid, but I'll be the first to admit that at least once I have maintained an animal for a long time thinking it is one sex only to find out at breeding it is the opposite sex! Always check.

Susan Sentman
SSNAKES Reptiles

(assuming it is properly sexed)

Males have good years and bad years. One season they may be your champion stud, in the next, give you just about nothing. We only have a couple of males that do excellent work year to year, the rest are much more variable.
-----
robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

Everyone else that posted all had some great points - read what they have to say and then look at your breeding practices a little more closely.

You obviously have a fair idea of what you are doing if you bred out some Cinnamons last season.

It sounds like the major variable is the male since I assume you are attempting to pair him with proven females. If he is getting stressed out by the change from his tub to the female's tub he may not perform.

There are a number of tricks you can try (some of which have already been mentioned). If he seems stressed out you could try shortening the time that he is in with the females.

A few other things that seem to jump start slow starters:

Put two males together (monitored and only for a short duration) they may "spar" but so long as you are monitoring their interactions and are able to intervene no one should get hurt. Competition is what drives most animal behavior, when we bring these snakes out of their natural habitat we essentially remove all competition. This has it's ups and downs, but can help during breeding season.

If you feel uncomfortable with this you could try putting the shed skin from one of your other (sexually mature) males in with your YB male and his female companion. Just the scent of another male is sometimes enough to give the illusion of his presence and spur that competitive drive.

Never underestimate the power of misting your animals!! This is a big one for me. Pairing your sire and dam together during storm fronts is fine, but adding the little extra realism of some mist goes a long way. I don't see this tip mentioned too often, but for the buck fifty I spent on a water bottle it is by far the most useful tool I've purchased.

Try to maintain as natural of an environment as possible in the room that your racks are in. (I know, racks are no where near "natural", however I am speaking mostly about the lighting and heating issues.) After it is dark in that room do your best not to turn any lights on, if you must enter the room try to use red lights so you don't disturb the animals so much. Also, if you drop your temperatures at night try to set the timer so that they do not drop until after it is dark and or raise until after it is light. Follow the natural season change as closely as possible. These snakes may have spent their entire lives in captivity, housed in a rack, but 99.99% of their behavior is still hardwired from millions of years of evolution. They are still wild creatures that expect certain "rules" to apply.

Do a search on this and other forums for breeding tricks and tips, even tips that are generally applied to other species can sometimes work. Try Google and look at some of the breeder sites on the Breeder Listings section for more ideas. A lot of the information will seem redundant, but every now and then you will find a pearl of wisdom.

wow Im going to use some of these methods very detailed and nicely put thank you

np.