Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am going to be attempting my first breeding of tricolors, between an almost 2 year old male and a 3 year old female (exact age unknown, previous owner had her for 3 years at least, going off length and weight). She is a more recent acquisition, and I am still getting her up a little fatter (previous owner didn't feed her as often as she needed, IMHO). My question is what type of behavior should I expect between them when I first put them together? The reason I ask is this: while cleaning tanks, I put the male into the female's tank for less than a minute, and she seemed to be inspecting him as prey. He looked like he was fleeing... She had just eaten 4 huge f/t fuzzies the evening before, and was still lumpy and full-looking so I was surprised. I will try feeding her again tonight, but in case she was only scoping out a mate rather than food, I thought I would appeal to the experienced breeders on this awesome forum.

Oh yeah, almost forgot--I know about the 3-3-3 rule, but how hard and fast is that? The age and length are met, but no matter how much she guzzles down, her weight never seems to climb. Temps are good, she's scarfing down food like nobody's business, and sheds well. I am itching to breed her, but don't want to do it too early.

So I think that's it for now. Advice, anecdotes, and pics are all appreciated.

Thank you in advance to everyone.

HoggyMomma (aka Laila)

breeding tri color hogs is easy. the problem is keeping the females alive for more than two years after they start laying is the tough part. they will continuously lay eggs whether introduced to a male or not until they burn themselves out. i've personally tried cooling down, keeping them on the thin side after laying, etc... in the end, i gave in and just let them lay their multiple clutches and expire. i just hold back 2-3 female babies each year in anticipation of this. good luck!

sorry didn't read your whole post. i have no idea why your female is not bulking up. at around 3 years old, my females get "bulky/heavy" and that's when i know they are ready to breed. you may want to do a fecal on her to make sure she's not haboring parasites.

Oooh! Great suggestion--thank you!! Vet on Tuesday, then!

can we see some pics of what you both have

Never seem to have any , problems with mine
BIG problems if they are wild caught !
Keep in mind with Tri-color hognose ( Lystrophis semicinctus)

(Lystrophis pulcher )

( Lystrophis matogrossensis)

nice picture spread. i have picts but i'm just too lazy to upload it to the photo file and post. if you e-mail me at tchiang@pol.net i'll jet some out to you. since you too breed these little suckers, what has been your experience to slow down the females after they start laying so they don't expire within two-three years of laying? as sad as it seems, i've resigned to the fact that maybe they just aren't long lived snakes and accepted that the females will eventually expire 2-3 years after they start laying.

this maybe a short lived species with a high reproductive rate for population recruitment.......any population studies being conducted on natural populations??????

here is a pic. I Found months ago ,this is not my pic. but IF A picture could talk .
I find that to be myth.

Snaketaboo77,
Hee hee. I think you may have hit the nail on the proverbial scaled head there. Here are my pics:

Big female

Other two tricolors (male and female bunched together)

So, looks like 2 different species. I'm not sure which one is which, and obviously, couldn't tell they were different species when I didn't have them in hand to compare when I bought the new large female (to compare against the pair I've had longer).

Now, I was under the impression that they would breed together, regardless if one was pulcher and one was simicintus.

Oh well--I'm rather fond of the new big fatty female, and if she'll live longer without being bred, I'm happier.

I feel silly, but whatever. I've got my snakes, so why complain?

I wish you best of luck with them .
BUT
If THEY are imports I would take them to the vet right away .

Not imports--got the pair from Guardian Reptiles (FL), and the big femal recently from a teen who had her for three years. He couldn't remember where he got her.

can you tell me which is which? The big female is more of a flat, drab, darker red, while the pair are more bright orangish red. The pics I have Google'd have had both shown for each, pulcher and semicinctus.

Just curious.

I only say this because they do have nice color
But THEY both look thin .
Best of luck to you !

So, although everyone is giving some interesting thoughts about the end result of breeding, I am noticing that there still hasn't been an answer for my original question:
Is the seeming prey seeking behavior of the female toward the male a normal thing? Just want to make sure that I am not risking the male. Thank you!

You have a male and female RIGHT?????????????

here is your answer is he or she a Lystrophis semicinctus ,Lystrophis pulcher , or a
Lystrophis matogrossensis
maybe thats why they ran from each other.no match

never had mine do this ,so that is why I ask for pics.
yw
there's more then alot of people understand with the tri-colors
they are not westerns hogs.