Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Two males copulating with one female (center)

Congrats! hope you have offspring-those wont be hard to get rid of.
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norcalsnakemaster@comcast.net

What made you consider multiple males at the same time?

I found the mating behavior of these guys to be quite unusual... and to see multiple males mating at once, well, even more so.

Doug Taylor Reptiles

Combating males tends to increase copulatory activity in many species of snakes - ranging from boids to viperids. Going even further out, is the observations that tortoise keepers sometimes have - that multiple males increase reproductive behavior and possibly even egg fertility. If multiple males exist, why not cautiously use this technique to potentially increase success? Obviously, some species (such as Morelia viridis) are not good candidates for combating due to the lethal nature of these bouts.

Mostly I was intrigued that you had the guts to try 3 in a cage with ophiophagus snakes. I was nervous just putting my pair together. So much so that I checked in on them every couple of minutes until they were actually locked up. Then after an hour or two began checking on them every few minutes until they separated. All that for fear that one would try to eat the other.

Well done.

Doug T

>>Combating males tends to increase copulatory activity in many species of snakes - ranging from boids to viperids. Going even further out, is the observations that tortoise keepers sometimes have - that multiple males increase reproductive behavior and possibly even egg fertility. If multiple males exist, why not cautiously use this technique to potentially increase success? Obviously, some species (such as Morelia viridis) are not good candidates for combating due to the lethal nature of these bouts.