Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So, want to be prepared and I worry too much...
How will I know if my male is getting the "job" done, and if I should switch him out with another if he's a no-go? Basically, if the pair were to act interested and courting behavior is observed, is it safe to assume he will figure it out? I don't want to stalk them. LOL

Thanks!

Male hogs are all about the girls. They love them to death. I mean, you would have to run them over to stop them.

Its the dang girls, sometimes they turn their noses up at some males.(joke)

If they are healthy, the male will stalk the female, nearly all the time.

Reproduction in reptiles is actually about female. In order to reproduce, she must form ovum, emit pheromones, and have the proper chemistry to keep the held sperm alive inside her.

Males will copulate even if they are not producing viable sperm.

The key to males is, enough time after brumation to develop sperm if it was shut down. In nature, males commonly seek heat several weeks before females. ALso, to much heat will kill the sperm. Males need to be able to get away from heat. Best wishes

Dear FR,
Since males seek heat several weeks before females in order to generate sperm if it has been shut down, should I pull the males from brumation some time prior to pulling the females. How much heat should the male be allowed in order to not kill his sperm or should he be provided a range and allowed to regulate himself? Also, what amount of humidity should be provided for the gravid female so as not to allow her to dehydrate? I have talked to some breeders who do not allow a heated spot for the male after brumation, but keep the room at a steady 82 degrees F and put the female with him so as not to have him on any heated
area. Thank you.

How many adults are we talking about? Thanks

Talking about six females and six males.
Thank you.

First, its hard to say why folks recomend this and that, like what you said. You should ask them why they say what they recomended.

My bet is, its not about the hognose, its about how they keep them. From what you say, they might be keeping them in tiny cages, real tiny. Or they have no idea how to use heat with colubrids.

I will say, most rack system caging is of poor design, The tubs fit in a tight spot that holds heat. Thats not a good idea if you want a range of temps.

With smaller snakes like hognose, all you need is a small area where the snake can heat up, at least 1/2 of its body. Or less! Snakes practice regional heating, that is, only heating part of their body, the part that requires heat. They only heat their whole body when they need to travel and have the ability to escape predators.

I do agree, heating males without their ability to control the amount of heat is not a good idea, they without question utilize heat, but they must also be able to get away from heat.

If they cannot get away from temps constantly over 80F, your running the risk of infertility.

The problem with BLIND husbandry is, you have to be right, exactly right. The problem with blind husbandry is, you find out your wrong with failed efforts.

You said 82F, thats a fine line between working and failure with males. If that is what you want to do, go for it.

In nature, winter body temps go down to near 32F, and the snakes are still active. Not out, but active in shelters. By the time they use the surface, surface temps are commonly over 100F and average 135F or more in sunny areas(basking areas)

So in nature, which actually means, what the snakes are designed to use, has a much greater range and a much greater ability to use a wider range then, 82F.

In fact, I know of no free ranging snake that shelters or stays at temps that hot(82F)(during the breeding season)

They in fact use much cooler temps and much warmer temps.

While that sounds complicated and 82F or any one temp sounds easy, offering a range of temps is EASY with colubrids, in all but the smallest cages.

Back to you, you only have a small number of adults, so to speak, but if kept right, will can have a huge number of neonates. I recomend, learning to keep them in bigger cages. And there are many reasons for that recomendation.

First with larger cages, its EASY to set up an excellent range of conditions, temps and humidity, shelters. Then you do not have to worry about, not hot enough, too hot, etc, like you do with tiny cages.

Also, with larger cages, the snakes actually behave, that is, they do things. Watching them do things is both fun and educational. The more you allow them to do, the more fun it is, and you still can make morphs to add to that fun.

Also, there are no rules that dictate you have to keep them all the same. You can indeed have learning cages and smaller cages to apply what you learned.

So in reality, without knowing anything about how you keep your animals, I or anybody cannot suggest what you should do.

Personally, I love to watch others work, so, I try to let the snakes do what they are good at, I mean, what millions of years of evolution has taught them. I mean, let them do what they do. The reality is they like doing it.

Telling them what to do, like offering one temps(82F) puts the responsibility on you the keeper. Which is why this forum is so nasty. Its all about being right or wrong, as in, your right, no your wrong. Or you think I am wrong, Or the old, you think I am dumb etc. I guess in you look at it rationally, the only dumb thing is thinking we know more about being a snake, then the snake does.

Their lives depend on being right. So they rarely if ever make mistakes. All you have to do as the keeper is given the some ability to make the right choices. And staying at one temp like 82F is never a choice they would make naturally, Why?

Have a great day, thanks for the conversation

Thank you FR.

Dear FR,
Since keeping the room at a constant 82 degrees might cause infertility in the males, what is your suggestion for the ambient temperature of the room( which naturally will be the temperature of the cool end of the enclosure if the enclosure is long enough)and what do you think about not giving the male a heated area until after they are finished breeding.Otherwise what temperature would you suggest for the warm area for the males? Thank you.

Good mourning, Please understand, Its not about 82f, thats the problem. ITs a borderline temp thats a tight balance between success and failure.

Its so much easier to have the room(ambient) temps be cooler, and then have a small hot spot. Hot spots for small snakes are best somewhere around 100F at the hottest. And that spot does not have to be very large, something like one small corner. Whats important is, that heat is provided in a way the snake will use it.

Some snakes prefer the hotspot to be under shelter(kings) other snakes like rattlesnakes like a basking spot and a covered hot spot.

Hogs like both. They use hidden hot spots well and love to use a basking lite.

Heres a real thought, when you say 82F for a room temp, that is more or less meaningless. Thats if your saying you have your room set by air temps. The reason is, temps do not work that way. If you have air temps at 82F in the winter, the actual mass temps where the snake is sitting is cooler. In the summer its hotter. Those room air temps can be off as much as 5 or 6 degrees depending on where you live. But they are never accurate.

To actually learn about temps, buy a good( some are not all that accurate) temp gun. Then temp all the temps in your room. They measure mass temps and relate to snakes much much better then air temps. They measure mass temps of the object your pointing at.

THe point is, what your doing is difficult and risky you have to be exactly right. You have to do all the things to make sure temps are right. If you miss, its not good. If your heater or cooling/a/c/thermotstat, malfunctions, its bad. Its all about you. And over time, you will have stuff happen.

If you allow the room to be cool and provide a warm/hot spot. There is a huge range the room can experience and still be fine. And the best part, if the hot spot is above what the snake needs, they simply sit a little farther away.

If your room is too hot, say 85F or more, there is nowhere for the snake to go to maintain the right temps.

Consider, snakes are expert at picking temps, its what they do on a minute by minute basis in nature.

Using this approach, it puts the important decisions on the snake and as mentioned, they are expert to the smallest detail. Best wishes and good luck

Ha...that's why I'm planning on using my craziest male, first hog I ever got in fact, he goes after anything that moves...calm, excellent pet when he's not close enough to detect another hognose...LOL

Thank you sir, as always

To be honest, I do not see much in the way of actual copulation. Lots of courting and such but hardly see actual locks. I have gotten eggs from every hognose pairing so far. I do not removethe male until the female is visually gravid. It is very obvious when a female is gravid.

Females have a good way of letting males know they are not ready to copulate (lots of tail flicking and hissing) and for the most part, they get the hint. Most ales will try hard even if the female is not receptive but will stop their advances after a few days. Once the female is receptive, the male will know and start courting again.

My snakes are paired up as soon as they are out of brumation Pairs an be together for a month or 2 before the female is receptive. Most of my males want nothing to do with food until they are paired with a female.

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much Gregg, very informative!
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You ever talk to me like that again...and I'll turn your balls into earrings. Understand?

Go for it.