Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've heard of females retaining sperm for up to a year and then laying egg.... I have a female that was bred in 2007/08 to 2 males, and laid a clutch of 7 big eggs. I haven't bred her for the past 2 years because she the became a picky eater and didn't eat for 5/6 months... She now to my surprise laid a clutch of 4 eggs some 3-4 days ago.. My question is how normal is it for a snake to retain sperm this long? And is there a maximum amount of time a snake can retain sperm and eggs still be viable?

All the eggs look good (no slugs) it seems i found them early enough and got them in the incubator.

I don't think anyone can really say how common it is since most people breed multiple males each year.
They can retain sperm for an extended period of time though, but 2 years is ridiculous (I normally hear only one year), but also very lucky!

Hope they're all healthy, keep us updated!

As snakes (and any species) retain sperm, the sperm will slowly die. There has been little research on the sperm retention and viability in snakes. Which is surprising because sperm will remain viable longer at lower temperatures, and almost all reptiles tend to have lower body temperatures than mammals, so it would be an interesting study.

Few questions: What did you breed her to those few years ago? And what kind of a hot spot does she have available? Do you cool your snakes for a season?

Though I have no science to support it, I would hypothesize that a snake maintained a slightly lower temperatures would be able to retain viable sperm for longer than one kept at higher temps. Hmmmm....
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.0 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

She was bred to a couple of pastels. Hot spot temp is about 85F.

Well, I hope you get some Pastels then If you get anything other than Pastels and Normals, that will be the real shocker.

With an 85 degree hot spot I wouldn't be surprised if a female could retain sperm for two years. I think most people use a 90 degree hot spot with a gradient down to 80 degrees. Rattlesnakes retain sperm for two years in the wild fairly frequently. Since you keep yours on the cooler side you might see retained sperm more often. A blessing and a curse in one, depending on what your breeding goals are. Best of luck to you!
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.0 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

I have had it happen. I have a het pied that was bred to a male het pied. Produced 7 egg clutch in 2007. Didnt breed again. Produced a 4 egg clutch in 2008 with one egg being fertile. again 4 egg clutch in 2009 with 3 fertile. no eggs this year. i also have a normal female bred to a spider last year. 5 eggs. this year no breeding. 5 eggs 2 fertile.

That's amazing!! I could breed a female one year and then not breed her for the next season and have her possibly produce. That's something I didn't know.

What sex and morph were the babies in the non-bred years?

Warren
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Dr Warren Booth / Director USARK
North Carolina State University
Department of Entomology

The year the female was bred she was bred to 2 pastels, she had 2.0 pastels and 3.2 normals. As far as non-bred years this is the first time this has happened and the eggs were just laid, so no morph or sex info on any babies.

np
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Dr Warren Booth / Director USARK
North Carolina State University
Department of Entomology

What temps do you keep your females at?
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.0 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

I have a heated room that maintains 85 degrees on one side of the tubs and on the back side it is 80 degrees.

Well 1 of eggs did not make it.... The other 3 look fine up to this point.