Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I reintroduced the MBK's tonight and the male immediately bit her and tried to mate with her.After about 2 hours without any copulation(he was trying and she was submissive) I separated them just by picking them both up so he would release his grasp. He did after about 30 seconds but she was bleeding pretty good from the bite. I put them back together and he latched onto her again. Closer to her head this time. She was lifting her tail and his schwartz kept darting out but with no aim. The reason I separated to start with is he's a little bigger than her and he bit on to her about half way down her body so I think thats why he couldn't line up his cloaca with hers. I know I sound like an idiot asking all these stupid questions but is it O.K. for the female to bleed pretty good and mess up her scales? Steve (the idiot)

Hey man your not an Idiot. It can be quite frightening to see your snakes going at it like that. I would say use your judgement. It's hard to decide for someone else what they should do. It is normal for them to bite the females and hold on. But if He is quite a biyt larger and he does seem to be causeing lacerations then you may want to separate them and hope she has enough in her to produce a decent clutch. I believe you said they did lock up for some time, correct? That may be enough to give a decent clutch. But I have noticed some scars around the neck of breeding females both in Corns and Kings. Like I said use your judgement. Maybe some else can chime in also.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Thanks for responding J. He's about 5" longer than her and this is is the first brumation and copulation. Yes they locked up for at least 3 hours and he flooded her, like I said there was actually sperm oozing out of her. I'm wondering if its because I changed his newspaper before I introduced them. I don't know. He also hasn't shed since brumation and he's looking pretty crappy. His weight is good so I'm not concerned but his skins looking ugly. Nothing too ugly but he's constantly looking for her. Steve

LEAVE THEM TOGETHER!

What you are experiencing is normal and part of mating. If you keep disturbing them you might not get the results.

What you are describing has nothing to do with the larger male trying to eat the female. I would be more worried about cannibalism if this was not going on. If the male is on top of her and biting her is normal. Sometimes it looks to us humans to be rough. But this is what they are designed to do.

To be successful at herpetoculture one must understand the ecology of the snake. Let the snakes teach us and forget about trying to do what "we" think is right. Listen to the snakes! This goes for a host of other misinformtion out there that most people still use (do0 today. There are a lot of mistakes done by experrinced and seasoned herpetoculturits. So don't feeel like i am picking on you. We all make mistakes. What we need o do is learn from the snakes in ALL areas of husbandry, ecology, basic anaotomy and adapt them as best we can to captive condituions.

One thing is for sure. For your snake to try and reproduce, you are already succsessful by supporting them . Breeding efforts prove this.

Sorry i didn't mean to scream above. Sometimes i just want to wake people up to certain things and feel like jumping through the screen and into your snake room to explain better.
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www.Bluerosy.com

"Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8".

"They that can give up essential liberty, to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety." -Benjamin Franklin

I agree....Keep them together......
Doesn't sound like cannibalism at all.....
Sometimes the male just wants the female to be still and enjoy...LOL

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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

I didn't read anything about him afraid of canibalism. He said the female was bleeding all over the cage. Yes it is normal for males to bite female and sometimes they get rough, but sometimes animals do injur their mates if they are too agressive and overpowering. That's why I said he should use some judgement. If it were mine and the female was bleeding all over the cage I would not leave them together, especially if they have already mated sufficiently. The bites can become infected and cause more problems if the male is overly agressive! Use your personal judgement! I read your posts and I know you don't have a back up female so, use your judgement. I would hate to have someone tell me My snake is is sick or worse because of advice I gave them. sorry!
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

I just got home and put him in her cage and her immediately bit onto her about 3" from her cloaca. I lifted him up a little bit and he let go. I reintroduced him with his head closer to hers and he is now on her lining up his tail not biting her. The reason I separated them yesterday was because after two hours and he was unsuccessful, and she was bleeding pretty good, I put him with her again and he bit her for another hour leaving more blood and messed up scales. I didn't take offense at you screaming at me, I take it as constructive criticism. I just appreciate all of you guys taking time out of your day to respond to my questions. Steve. P.S. I just looked in the cage and he's biting her AND he's inside of her!

Haha- all along this thread, this has been going on here at my place:

I got home today, and he was biting the crap out of her, too...

My pair has been going at it now for a solid 24-48 hours without a single smoke break...

//Todd

I give mine smoke breaks and play Lou Rahls, Marvin Gay ETC. Just to keep them in the mood! J.K. Their still locked up now. Steve.

Haha- good man!

Well, after about 48 hours of pounding, the female has finally resorted to hiding, climbing, etc.- anything she can do to keep the male away from her...

//Todd