Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I put my adult male in with my adult female for the first time and observed a very odd behavior. The female started wagging/flopping her tail back and forth upon smelling the male. Any time they came in contact, she did this. I removed him and put them together the next day, just to see what would happen. As soon as she smelled him, she began the tail wagging again.

Has anyone else experienced this behavior in females? Does this mean she is not receptive/interested in breeding, or just this particular male?

Any feedback/anecdotes would be appreciated.

Thanks for your time,
Scott

Scott,

Receptive female snakes of many species will do this when exposed to a male. I believe they are "wafting" their cloacal pheromones to the males. This is usually a good indication that she is ready to breed, although this late in the season the male may not have any viable sperm.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, TX

Thanks Chris,
I had just placed the male temporarily in the female's cage while cleaning his. It wasn't an attempted introduction.

In regards to her behavior, I have read and witnessed what is referred to as "bucking" from female reticulated pythons and was curious if this was a similar occurance? My female hog's tail wagging was more of a forcefull flopping back and forth from the cloaca - caudally, as she cruised around the enclosure.

I have never worked with any other Hog's, so I am learning their movements and behaviors through the 1.1 chocolate colored adult pair and a 0.1 red yearling that I currently house. They are a very rewarding and entertaining species to interact with.

Scott

It would be great if you could get digital video of this behavior and post it on putfile.com so that we can all see it. It seems like it would be easy to get the behavior again on cue for the camera.
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