Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a collection of Chihuhuan mnt kings---Knoblochi subspecies--that I have put together, 2/3.While 2 of the females are too young yet for breeding, one female and the 2 males are 4 to 5 year old, and of the proper size to breed.I also breed cornsnkes,gophersnakes, and Ca. kings, successfully, but the Knobs are not breeding. I brumate them along with my other colubrids, usually 75-90 days, in the winter.The routine that is successfull for the other species doesn't seem to work for these Knoblochi. Any ideas???

I'm first going to admit that I don't have any experience with mountain kingsnakes. The only kings I keep are mexican blacks. I might suggest looking into how low the temps are when you cool them. On the other hand, I have friends that don't brumate their kings at all and are successfull. Perhaps the problem is with the individual snakes and not your methods?

Of pure interest, because public use is many years down the road, but at a bio seminar this fall I ran into a reptile reproductive therapist! They developed a fecal test to tell if veiled chameleons had ovulated. I thought it was pretty far out, and the methodology could be used to detect different reproductive states for many different species.

Good luck in your future endeavors with this species

Ian

Without knowing too many details I would say it has to do with the temperature you are brumating at. They should be cooled down to around 55-60 degrees. Then when you warm them up keep them a little cooler than usual around 83-86 on the warm end. I have done this and never had problems with my knoblochi breeding.