>I was recently given a very large female Northern Pine. She is big and beautiful - just under 6 feet long and almost as big around as a tennis ball.
>I have the opportunity to purchase a male. He is smaller, about 3.5 - 4 feet long.
>Can they be housed together? The cage is currently a 55 gallon tank, but I am building a 4'x2.5' enclosure. Is that large enough for two large Pines? (I will separate them for feeding of course)
They can be housed together if absolutely necessary. However, the female is so much bigger than the male that she is likely to keep him in a continual state of stress. IMHO, they would do better if housed separately. Even if fed separately, the female might smell the rodent on the male's body and decide that he is lunch. This sort of thing doesn't happen often, of course, but a small risk is still a risk.
>Is this male too small to breed this female? If he is too small, what are the consequences of putting them together? Will she not allow him to breed, or could she hurt him?
Sounds like the male is either in his second or third spring. At that size he's either close to or just barely sexually mature. Either they will mate, or they won't. If the male wants to and the female doesn't, then she will sling him off when he tries to get on top of her. I don't think she could hurt him, but neither one needs the stress involved in that sort of situation.
I've bred bullsnakes but not northern pines. My experience with bulls is that the male needs to go through two brumations before he is fertile. One brumation is probably enough for the female. While corns often breed without brumation, pines and bulls are much less likely to. Good luck.
Paul Hollander
