Hi Eimon,

Good point, and it IS viable to think that there is that possibility. Again, referring back to what Allan was saying with regard to the unexpected/unintentional egg production, I don't think that he introduced any males to the females post egg deposit. I personally feed my females very well subsequent to egg laying, and have never had such an experience in almost 18 years of doing this. That's why I harped on the sperm retention factor, BUT, anything is possible. I was wondering if there might be any studies done on this, and I've dropped a line to a couple of friends who may know somethign about this type of research. If I get any feedback I will certainly post it. Again, I'm NOT looking to discredit any theories here, but my conclusion was simply rational enough to consider that any female would be hungry after egg deposit, whether captive or wild, to eat when opportunity provides. I completely agree that nature favors the strongest (i.e.: Darwin) and that in captivity our snakes have a greater advantage for food (and the variable there is the keeper, of course), but does that necessarily mean that is a factor in stimulating follicle production? It may very well be a combination of the two, but I'd like to know if there may be a more definitive answer to this.

Jerry Kruse

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