Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone,

When is the best time to introduce the male to the female? Both have been brumated and the female is back on food, but I can't seem to find much on when you should actually introduce the male. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Stephen

What would be the harm if you put them together now? Or keep them together?

I have neonates that grow up together and adults that stay together and so far, no problems. Oh except, the male is so intent on attending the female, he forgets to eat. So I take him out and put him in a cage by himself, feed him two, three days in a row, then back together they go.

I have to wonder if what I am doing is harder, or what your doing is harder? Its not about right or wrong, except if keeping them apart causes you to miss a cycle.

At least, when she is ready, the male will be there.

There are methods to tell shes receptive, but it takes a bit of experience. The females form ovum, When they become receptive, and that can be palpated.Best wishes

Hi.

Has the female shed recently? That could be an indicator that she's becoming receptive.

Good luck!

She has not. I have been watching her closely since she has been out of brumation (1.5 months), but still no shed or palpable swellings.

Mine has been out for almost the same amount of time as yours. I only had 1 pair in brumation. My male started his shed cycle almost instantly. Like yours, my female hasn't shed at all. However, I have witnessed copulation a few times. I put my male in after my female eats for a few days then seperate them. Usally it's just a day apart from each other.

while snakes can breed without the female recently shedding, my best pairings are within a few days of her shedding.
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Thank you,
Kevin Rhodes

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I actually just yesterday had a female lay a clutch of 14 eggs. This female was paired with the male right out of hibernation. Three days together then i remove the male and feed both. after a day or two i put them back and start the process again. I never actually saw any interest from the male. Now this female just shed for the first time out of hibernation and it turned out to be her prelay.
I also have females where the lockup doesn't happen until after she has shed at least once or sometimes even a second shed. So I place my males in with them continually until i know for sure that a female is gravid or i witness a lock up. This method seems to work well to cover all bases.