What are the odds that BP males lock?

[EnutButter]

So... I've purchased a "male" fire earlier this year and it's around the 1200g range. I figure he'd be ready to breed to my females. I've tried numerous times to pair up with some known females but with no success. A bit frustrated over the matter, I tried to put it in the same bin with a known male that's currently breeding, just to see what would happen. I'm not so good with popping snakes so I never tried and I also dont have a probe kit to check its sex properly. I figure this would be a good indicator, or at least give me a good idea. I've also read that this may stimulate breeding behavior, if anything.

After the first hour, no thrashing or pushing against each other. They were actually huddled together in the corner. I went out for a couple of hours and this is what I saw upon my return:



I've read that males CAN lock with each other, so maybe someone can shed some light on this for me. Could this be a fluke? or do I have a female in my hands? If it's a female, is this lock detrimental to her future breeding? The fire is a 2010 animal.

Thanks for any insight.
Erick

[Domepiece]

They will lock from what Ive heard. More likely you got yourself a female though. Just pop the thing and get it over with. Goodluck

[KatStoverReptiles]

I'm thinking he's a she. I, personally, haven't had a whole lot of success at popping older snakes, so I'd find someone to probe him (her) for you.

[EnutButter]

Thanks, all.

Alright. I think we can close this thread. I just went downstairs to pop both of them. What better time to actually practice my popping. It's a SHE!

I had popped the spider male's hemipenes to confirm I'm doing it right and the fire definitely has no hemipenes.

WOW! what a wonderful surprise!

[Domepiece]

Thanks, all.

Alright. I think we can close this thread. I just went downstairs to pop both of them. What better time to actually practice my popping. It's a SHE!

I had popped the spider male's hemipenes to confirm I'm doing it right and the fire definitely has no hemipenes.

WOW! what a wonderful surprise!

Cant complain about getting a female. At least you got her paired already, heres to fire spiders.

[Zombie]

In my experience, when I put the uninterested male in with a male that's already been breeding, the breeding male has always locked the uninterested male. This is just my collection, but it has happened religiously every time. Then the uninterested male usually gets with it and starts breeding. If not, whenever I placed them back in with a different/same male then the uninterested male gets with the program and the wrestling and thrashing begins. I have thought a few times that I must have sexed incorrectly and for sure they were girls, but 2nd time in with another boy they fighting always begins (at least here). Hope it works out for you...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk

[T&C Exotics]

The only way to guarantee that the fire is a female is if it either gives you eggs this year or if it is probed. There are many many many times I have seen someone say "this is a female" and I prove it and it is a male. Popping is NOT guaranteed in any way shape or form with it comes to females. Some males are harder to pop than others so you could still very well have a male fire.

[jfmoore]

If you had put your ear close to the cage, you would have heard her saying, "Wow, finally, this is GREAT! I like other girls and all, but this idiot was getting on my last nerve pushing teh gay sex on me when I just don't roll that way."

[EnutButter]

The only way to guarantee that the fire is a female is if it either gives you eggs this year or if it is probed. There are many many many times I have seen someone say "this is a female" and I prove it and it is a male. Popping is NOT guaranteed in any way shape or form with it comes to females. Some males are harder to pop than others so you could still very well have a male fire.

Thanks. I will definitely keep that in mind. I will get a probe kit to double check, but after popping the other 3 breeder males I have in my collection (just to be sure I'm doing it right), I'm leaning more towards the female side for this one.

More importantly, I dont want to try locking her up again. I'd like to put more weight on her before attempting any further breeding. If she ends up coming up with something from that one lock (slugs/eggs), then it'll be a bonus and no more lingering questions.

[Domepiece]

The only way to guarantee that the fire is a female is if it either gives you eggs this year or if it is probed. There are many many many times I have seen someone say "this is a female" and I prove it and it is a male. Popping is NOT guaranteed in any way shape or form with it comes to females. Some males are harder to pop than others so you could still very well have a male fire.

Not sure what you mean that popping isnt guaranteed, as far as I'm concerned its pretty effective and you can actually visually tell the sex, also Ive heard more storys of miss sexing with probing than with popping.