Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a pair of 03 kankakee bulls from john cherry as most of you probably already know. My males is about 30in and the female about 27in. How old/long should they be before I attempt to breed them? Most people say atleast three yrs of age.

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I have:
1.1 Kankakee Bulls
1.0 veild chameleon
1.1 corns
0.1 az king
1.2. tiger sals
0.1.11 fox snakes
0.1.10 thamnophis radix
0.1 3-toe box turtle
0.0.1 gray tree frogs
1.1 Crotaphytus collaris
1.1 Crotaphytus binctores
1.1 Korean Ratsnake
1.1 Goini kings

Herpin,

the MINIMUM general rule we use is 5 - 6' and at least 30 months old. I would suggest that you wait till they are at least in the third season as egg retention is directly related to young snakes being bred in many cases.

Good Luck,

John Cherry
Cherryville Farms

...and, as John recomends, that slower method of NOT powerfeeding which results in a 3 year old snake being 5-6' in total length results in a snake that is usually not obese. I healthy snake with that level of growth will usually live longer, be healthier, and produce more eggs over the span of her life than a fat, power-fed snake that is bred too early. Obesity in snakes is also one of the leading causes of egg-binding.

John's right for more reasons than one. his advice is how started growing up my Pits years ago. I've never regretted waiting the extra year when needed.

Good Luck,
KJ

np

In the past I have used pit males that were as young as 22 months old. I got quite a few bad eggs from him from good females. But we did produce viable eggs at about a 60% rate on the clutches, where these same females were normally at 90% or better. I have had a good friend that does nearly exclusively corns say that he has successfully used tiny 14 - 15 month old males with some success also. It seems the females with egg retention are the major concern and we really suggest that the females be in the third year and at least 5' for most pits before you even attempt it for the sake of the animals themsleves.

Everyone needs to realize that even with adult healthy animals the rigors of breeding does cause stress and sometimes the animals will not survive attempted reproduction. In the past we have had previously aggressive feeding males never start to feed again after brumation, we have had females retain eggs and never recover from removal of the eggs. We have had females eat right up till the time of laying and then go off feed and never recover. Mother nature is a cruel old girl at times and it always seems that the more important an animal is the greater the chance of having a problem.

In our mind the major concerns when thinking of breeding are:

1. Age of the animal and maturity.
2. Size
3. Body condition - Obesity or overly thin are both a MAJOR concern
4. General Health

Good Luck,

John Cherry
Cherryville Farms