Never see a lock

I started putting my male in with my female for a few days but so far from the couple of times I've had them together I've never noticed them locked. He does seem to like to drape part of his body over hers, every time I check them I notice that, but I don't know if they're actually locking or not. I don't check them constantly or anything, maybe a few times a day if that. Has anyone else had this problem and still ended up with eggs down the road? I can't tell if they just aren't doing it or if I'm just missing it every time so far.

I never saw a lock two seasons ago but I got eggs.

I have had MANY clutches without ever witnessing locks, now I usually just go by the overall behavior of my animals for example if the snakes are both on one side of the enclosure, not a great sign, if the male is on the top of the female chances are he did or is about to do the deed.

After that is really about knowing your female, paying attention to low pressure and introduce your male when you know both animals will be the most receptive.

Some people don't pay attention and pair their animals over and over again (for too long and too often) and all it does is over work their male.

Breeding really requires you to be in tune with your animals and remember it's still very early if you use seasons the whole process is pretty lengthy.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

After that is really about knowing your female, paying attention to low pressure and introduce your male when you know both animals will be the most receptive.

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Not to derail the thread too much- Is there a guide or thread written somewhere about how to tell when your animals are receptive or what behaviors to watch for?

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Not to derail the thread too much- Is there a guide or thread written somewhere about how to tell when your animals are receptive or what behaviors to watch for?

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Well if both animals are avoiding each other and going on one end of the enclosure you will know that they have no interest.

You may observe

tail wagging

blood smear int the enclosure if you use paper

Finding the male on the top of the female

Now what is important to remember is that your animals will often be more receptive during cool front, low pressure, storms etc. It is also important to remember that the first couple of pairing don't always lead to copulation, however as the female will start developing follicles (which is important to watch for that) it will be more important than ever to introduce the male at that time and copulation will more than likely occur.

Now sometimes even with the right conditions and a female starting to build follicles the male might still not show interest, in that case there are a few tricks that may help.

The whole thing is really something you pick up little by little spending time studying YOUR animals, and usually the first year most people have no clue (I didn't) and pair often and up until ovy just to make sure.