Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I hear different things:
1) At the weight of 500 grams males start to produce sperm
2) At the age of 1 to 1 1/2 years a male starts to produce sperm

I have a male BP who is almost 2 years old and weighs 670 grams. But I've never seen sperm-plugs with him. I just had him probed again because I started to doubt if he really is a male. But he is!

What are your thoughts about male BP and producing sperm???

Naara.net

I've been keeping an eye on my young males and checking for sperm plugs after each shed. Based on limited data thus far, my collection suggests they start to produce sperm at an average of 550 grams. Of course, that does not mean they will breed for you! Hope this helps.

This is going to sound stupid but what r sperm plugs?

>>This is going to sound stupid but what r sperm plugs?

Thank you for saying that! I was thinking the exact same thing, lol. Most caresheets/people telling you how to breed usually only tell you about female age/wight/cycling requirements. I'm amazed I haven't read anything on Sperm Plugs until now!

So, to all you breeders out there, huh?
-----


-Irish
Email: animistdragon@sbcglobal.net
AIM: VoodooDragon137
YIM: [same as Email addy]
3.3.1 Ball Pythons

The problem is that I now what they are, know what they look like but since English isn't my main language I don't know how to explain it!

I will search on some English sites and in my books (I'm sure it's in there somewhere) and see if I can find a good explanation.
Naara.net

Here's a part of the book that comes with the "Dr. Mark Seward's Ball Python Breeding-video" made by Dr. Mark Seward with Colette and Dan Sutherland:

"Checking for Sperm Plugs

Perhaps you have a young male and you want to know if he has started producing sperm. This can be accomplished by checking for sperm plugs. A male that is producing sperm will typically have sperm plugs. During copulation, these sperm plugs are expelled as the male everts his hemipenis. Check for the presence of seminal plugs, by applying pressure to the base of the tail, much the same way as you would evert the hemipenis when determining the sex of a snake. Simply roll your thumb along the ventral surface of the tail moving towards the vent. This will easily expel any sperm plugs that are present. Refer to the video for a demonstration. "
Dr. Mark Seward's Ball Python Breeding