Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone breed here hogs in the fall? A co-worker of mine found a pair of w. hogs locked up in the field this past week (Minnesota). It got me thinking, and I tossed a male in with a female. Both showed interested and they locked up within 20 minutes....

Anyone else try this?

-Chris
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Christopher E. Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps
Wildlife Research & Consulting Services, LLC

I haven't... butI think I will now just to see what happens.

I have heard of late season breeding in captive hogs..might try
some yet myself. But as for your buddy finding them locked up
this late in the wild makes one wonder what is going to happen next,is the female going to hold out to lay next year[retain sperm] or will she
lay them this late and have the clutch die from cold. Interesting
field observation on your friends part though..something to keep in
mind. To bad we'll never know what she will do, but I believe she will retain till next year, but for yours it seems you'll have
some Holiday hatchlings. Good luck!!
David

We will know. The female hog observed mating is part of a hognose tracking project.

-Chris
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Christopher E. Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps
Wildlife Research & Consulting Services, LLC

Awesome...great project! Wish I was in on a study like that.
Keep us informed!
David

We have the same thing going on here in Texas. All native types have a fall breeding. I put mine together and several breed. It is important to look at your snakes during hibernation, as I am aware of at least one captive hognose snake that was found gravid during brumation. My fall breeders will ovulate post-brumation with or without a shed.
My friend also saw a pair locked up in early october 2008 at a local ranch.
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Thank you,
Kevin Rhodes

www.spiderhognose.com

http://www.freewebs.com/spreptile/index.htm
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc314/lifesciences/?action=view¤t=09-09hognose001.jpg

I have had a few animals breed in the Fall. For some reason, it seems like my males become more sexually active late in the summer than they do in the Spring. I do not know if that is due to the weather here in the Pacific Northwest or what, but most of my collection rarely breeds in the Spring time. The latest Western clutch I had hatch out was in the middle of December in 2009 (they were laid in the middle of October) if that is any indication of how late some of my stuff goes.
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Troy Rexroth
Rextiles

I have heard of field accounts of kingsnakes overwintering and being gravid, and the eggs were laid just fine in late Spring with no harm to the developing embryos. So to hear of hognose doing the same doesn't surprise me.

I witnessed such a breeding when a group was kept together in a really big cage. I believe this is possibly happening (in the wild) more than just occasionally.

In captivity with the advent of one-snake-to-a-box setups, people won't see this behavior.
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Mark

Had two female lay in Nov. one year, and they both double clutched!
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Jenea
Guardian Reptiles

"When your memories are bigger than your dreams, you're headed for the grave" Author unknown

Had two female lay in Nov. one year, and they both double clutched!

So, was the November clutch the first or second clutch for these females?
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Troy Rexroth
Rextiles