Males or Females

[TerrieL]

You guys that have several snakes and breed, do you generally keep more males or more females in your collection and why? I currently have a total of 6 - 2 Normal females, 1 female pastel. 1 male spider, 1 male pastel and a male yellow belly. Think I might want to add a lesser to my collection but not sure if I should add a male or female

thanks

[DavidMundy]

It's better to have more females than males. Males can father multiple clutches each season whereas a female can only get pregnant once a season.

[LLLReptile]

As DavidMundy very eloquently put it, it makes more sense from a breeding standpoint to have more males than females - females only lay eggs once a year, males can father multiple clutches.

If you just like having pretty snakes, and don't care about breeding them as a goal, then having males would work. Males of most morphs cost significantly less, making them an inexpensive way to get a really pretty snake!

-Jen

[chet1028]

I am no expert, but I am guessing that most breeders would keep more males than femailes because you can breed multiple males to one femaile in a breeding season. Plus you can sell the femaile hatchlings for more than the males. And males can be bred at a much younger age and smaller size than femailes so the ROI is faster.

[Andybill]

I am no expert, but I am guessing that most breeders would keep more males than femailes because you can breed multiple males to one femaile in a breeding season. Plus you can sell the femaile hatchlings for more than the males. And males can be bred at a much younger age and smaller size than femailes so the ROI is faster.

It would make more sense to have fewer males simply because they father more than one clutch.

[snakesRkewl]

More females than males

You can breed 2 or 3 males to 10 females and get 60 to 80 eggs, try that with 10 males and 3 females

[TerrieL]

Thanks for the responses.