# Ball Pythons > BP Breeding >  Sperm Plugs?

## TheSnakeEye

Sorry for the crappy picture. But can anyone tell me if that is sperm? I think the red circle is dried up sperm and that the blue circle is pee maybe.....? I know it'll be hard to tell but maybe someone with experience can chime in.

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## jjmitchell

Yea the white stuff circled in the center is a urate. My eyes arnt good enough to see the other stuff....lol

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## TheSnakeEye

I'll try and describe it. It was dried up and hard, and clinging from his hemipene. It was stringy and thin, looked like an extra thin noodle. Most of it was an off white color with the end being a darker color.

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## joepythons

> I'll try and describe it. It was dried up and hard, and clinging from his hemipene. It was stringy and thin, looked like an extra thin noodle. Most of it was an off white color with the end being a darker color.


It sounds like its a sperm plug.If one comes from each hemipen side then its more then likely sperm plugs.

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## fullhouse

should we remove the hardened sperm plug manualy? or just let it be, when its breed it'll come off automatically?

do sperm plug makes hard to probe?

thx for any answer and info :Smile:

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## TessadasExotics

It really has nothing to do with sperm. It is actually just hemipene shed. Ball pythons do not produce sperm plugs. Unfortunately it is just one of the terms that we in the Ball world use incorrectly. It should be just fine if left alone or you could gently pull it off if you so desire.

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## TheSnakeEye

> It really has nothing to do with sperm. It is actually just hemipene shed. Ball pythons do not produce sperm plugs. Unfortunately it is just one of the terms that we in the Ball world use incorrectly. It should be just fine if left alone or you could gently pull it off if you so desire.


You are the first person I ever hear to say this... So if they do not produce sperm plugs, what is it that they produce that leads all these breeders to believe the male is ready to go?

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## TessadasExotics

> You are the first person I ever hear to say this... So if they do not produce sperm plugs, what is it that they produce that leads all these breeders to believe the male is ready to go?


It's exactly what I said it was in my post. It is actually just hemipene shed.  Ball Python females can be bred by more than one male during breeding season. More than one male can father a clutch with any given female. If male Ball Pythons actually produced sperm plugs then this would not be possible. Actual sperm plugs limit or prohibit another males sperm from fertilizing an egg. I think that the only snake that produces an actual sperm plug is the Garter snake.

It is this shed that the male produces that breeders believe to indicate that a male is ready to reproduce.

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## TheSnakeEye

> It's exactly what I said it was in my post. It is actually just hemipene shed.  Ball Python females can be bred by more than one male during breeding season. More than one male can father a clutch with any given female. If male Ball Pythons actually produced sperm plugs then this would not be possible. Actual sperm plugs limit or prohibit another males sperm from fertilizing an egg. I think that the only snake that produces an actual sperm plug is the Garter snake.
> 
> It is this shed that the male produces that breeders believe to indicate that a male is ready to reproduce.


So you're saying that all these large reptile breeders that say "already producing plugs" "ready to breed" "got plugs" are all wrong and are confusing sperm plugs with hemipene shed.

My understanding is that once they produce "plugs" they can breed. If what you say is true, how do we know when they are ready?

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## AGoldReptiles

In layman/hobbiest terms : yes it is what is called a "sperm plug".

Technically it is not. As stated above a sperm plug is a waxy deposit that a male leaves after mating with a female to prevent another males sperm from reaching the females oviducts.  Garter Snakes use sperm plugs.

What we see in Ball Pythons should be called a hemipenial "cast". It is dried up hemipenial shed,dried mucus with probably a dash of the reptilian equivilant to smegma.

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## TheSnakeEye

> In layman/hobbiest terms : yes it is what is called a "sperm plug".
> 
> Technically it is not. As stated above a sperm plug is a waxy deposit that a male leaves after mating with a female to prevent another males sperm from reaching the females oviducts.  Garter Snakes use sperm plugs.
> 
> What we see in Ball Pythons should be called a hemipenial "cast". It is dried up hemipenial shed,dried mucus with probably a dash of the reptilian equivilant to smegma.


Ok, so you're saying that this hemipenal shed is still an indicator for letting us know the male is producing sperm and can properly breed?

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## TessadasExotics

> My understanding is that once they produce "plugs" they can breed. If what you say is true, how do we know when they are ready?


A male can and will breed whenever he feels the urge to. Just because they are producing "plugs" does not mean that they will breed. We do not know when they are ready, only they do. Males have been reported to breed as early as like 300g or even a little smaller. Personally I don't think they should until they reach 500g. If a male goes off feed during breeding at 500g and he is bred to hard or he stays off feed for too long it can have a negative impact on him. Imagine that if he was only 300g.

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## RichsBallPythons

Picture is a Urate not a plug at all.

Sperm Plugs will look like a dried up Snot coming from the tip of each Hemi connected in middle like a wishbone

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## TheSnakeEye

> Picture is a Urate not a plug at all.
> 
> Sperm Plugs will look like a dried up Snot coming from the tip of each Hemi connected in middle like a wishbone


Lol I guess you didn't see the other circle or the description of it posted.

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## RichsBallPythons

I dont go off descriptions as they can be misleading. I go by the picture there. And i dont see a plug. Need better pictures

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## TheSnakeEye

> A male can and will breed whenever he feels the urge to. Just because they are producing "plugs" does not mean that they will breed. We do not know when they are ready, only they do. Males have been reported to breed as early as like 300g or even a little smaller. Personally I don't think they should until they reach 500g. If a male goes off feed during breeding at 500g and he is bred to hard or he stays off feed for too long it can have a negative impact on him. Imagine that if he was only 300g.


Please do not take what I am going to say in a bad way (I know it's hard to "hear" people's connotation through a forum) but I already know all that. My question was if that was a sperm plug. You said they don't produce plugs, so my question is if the hemipenal shed is an indicator that he is physically ready. I know they can breed early and all that. And since we don't speak snake, I can't ask him if he's up for it. But I just wanted to know if that dried up stuff maybe he was producing sperm. I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they can't just produce sperm fresh out the egg. The same way humans, dogs, and many other animals aren't just born ready to go. They have to be ready physically and their internal clock has to be ready too.

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## TessadasExotics

> Please do not take what I am going to say in a bad way (I know it's hard to "hear" people's connotation through a forum) but I already know all that. My question was if that was a sperm plug. You said they don't produce plugs, so my question is if the hemipenal shed is an indicator that he is physically ready. I know they can breed early and all that. And since we don't speak snake, I can't ask him if he's up for it. But I just wanted to know if that dried up stuff maybe he was producing sperm. I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they can't just produce sperm fresh out the egg. The same way humans, dogs, and many other animals aren't just born ready to go. They have to be ready physically and their internal clock has to be ready too.


hmm that's what I am trying to tell you. Just because they are producing plugs doesn't mean that they will breed. It is not known for sure that if they are producing plugs that they are producing sperm. It is a good and general consensus that if they are producing plugs then yes they can and are able to breed. Like I said though this is in no way a guarantee that they will or can breed.

Some pics of sperm plugs found here on BP.net

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## Sammiebob

I have a random question for this three year old thread, can ball pythons "ejaculate" without being inside a girl? Because I was introducing my male and female future couple and he got a little excited and put out his hemipines and 'plugs' came out. Is this him getting excited? He was crawling all over her but she is a few hundred grams shy of being ready so I had to remove him. But can they ejaculate outside of a female?

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## Alicia

> I have a random question for this three year old thread, can ball pythons "ejaculate" without being inside a girl? Because I was introducing my male and female future couple and he got a little excited and put out his hemipines and 'plugs' came out. Is this him getting excited? He was crawling all over her but she is a few hundred grams shy of being ready so I had to remove him. But can they ejaculate outside of a female?


One of the glorious tidbits from the Barkers' ball python book (http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Pythons-H.../dp/0978541103) is that they do not, in fact, ejaculate. At least, not in the same way mammals do -- their sperm swims through channels along the hemipene he's using on their own power. So, can a male release without being inside a female? Sure. I can think of no physical reason why he couldn't.

Hemipenial casts pop out whenever a hemipenis is everted. If there's enough material to have formed a cast, it's coming out with the pene.

Hopefully of all my wording made sense.

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Sammiebob (10-15-2014),snakesRkewl (05-05-2015)

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## Sammiebob

It did. Thank you so much!

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_Alicia_ (10-15-2014)

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