Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I wanted to see if anyone can give me some insight on the period of time when sperm within the female becomes not fertile.

Or when does a breeder feel confortable introducing another male after copulation observations have been made but no ovulation/follicle development "swelling".

Thanks, Ken Diehl

some people will tell you that a female ball can hold viable sperm for years.....some would say 1 some 3..some even more......

so.all the wild collected females that are brought here should only be bred to co-dom and dominant morphs to make sure that there is no wild sperm creating babies when hets are needed?....right.......

......I use only virgin captive born and bred for hets......that way I know 100% they are het.....

...I personally think a female will hold sperm for months..well.......we actually prove it when a femle breeds then ovulates months later and drops after that....proves they hold or at least 2 to 4 months......

I think that they really won't hold sperm from year to year in captivity USUALLY ......they knowthere are males around and don't need to hold ......

in the wild some species will probably hold sperm for years due to the fact that they don't see a male always in a year's time......and they know it.....

female bodies are fabulous things...they can detect and rop non-viable eggs weeks before the good eggs are dropped.....how?....they can detect non-viable eggs from a group and push them aside and hold the good eggs for incubation....how do they know?.....they do though.

good luck
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"...I personally think a female will hold sperm for months..well.......we actually prove it when a femle breeds then ovulates months later and drops after that....proves they hold or at least 2 to 4 months......"

I could have used that part a year ago!
(Grew some gray hairs over that issue last season.lol)
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Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.

First....I wanted to Thank the Ball breeders for yout thoughtful insight.

In all honesty, I am not a Royal Python owner, I am a Chondro breeder that is "challeged" with this topic as you attempt to continue the the genetic lineages that you desire...and be honest from the marketing perspective. I beleive numerous Ball breeders have contimplated this same question when considering "when" to throw in a Back-up male or revise the breeding project if a female does not take. I post frequently om the Morelis viridis forum, I have copied your responsing and "tagged" them onto my post, titlied, Sperm Retention....I truly hope you do not mind, but I beleive the chondro folks could gain insight from yoour experiences......PLEASE continue posting if you have any experience in this subject!!

Below is my original post on the chondro forum:
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I was wondering if anyone can give me some insight to the duration of time a female may hold fertile sperm for future fertilization activities.

This sound question was raised by Kathy and others (including myself) on what period of time is beleived to pass before a secondary male can be introduced and a high degree of confidence can occur that a particular male fertilized the clutch.

My June 2005 clutch was a result two male introductions that were observed to copulate with the female. I know this breeding practice is not the norm, and is some cases may be frowned upon. This season I will be more persistent on dedicating certain males to certain females. I do understand that some breeder actually give a female a one year "breeding" break to ensure that the male introduced that season is truly the sire to the clutch. Any thoughts or real experience on this issue? Thanks for reading.

Ken Diehl
Central Texas

no grey hairs...well .mine are already grey...

pick a girl and pick her mate...breed them till she drops....

in the words of Alan ....."I breed till I see the eggs on the paper.".............(mulch actually)

breed them to the same male (or morph).....all winter (and spring) long.......
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