Reptile & Amphibian Forums

...to breed? Thanks in advance for your input.

It's "safe" (although tiring) for males to breed several females.

I think the proper question is how reliable can one single male be with breeding multiple females. IMO it can be done with two or even three or more females but the problem lies with knowing what to do when. Females don't go around with signs labeled "I'm ready, do me now" so it's easy to be switching the male around to the wrong female at the wrong time. Work has been done with ultrasound machines to identify follicle size and use that as in indication of when to introduce a male and that seems to be very effective. One other option is a large communal cage with one male and multiple females relying on the male to pick and choose when the time comes.

Of course with multiple females comes the added risk of the male being to intent on mating to eat.

For myself, with BCI, I breed one male to one female in a given season. Simply easier. Added benefit of having totally different genetics between litters, not half shared.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Thanks you Dave, or should I say neighbor, for the information!