Sperm plug regeneration

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Originally Posted by MattZ BallZ

sperm like any other animals sperm including our own as soon as it comes into contact with oxygen it dies, and the hardening of the sperm with snake results in the sperm plugs, so these sperm plugs are not viable sperm but it does get deposited into the female but usually gets expeled the next time the female deficates.

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I'd have to agree with LadyOhh on this one....if this were true, I would not be a mom...LOL

They teach you this in biology class, but think ejaculate protects alot of the sperm from actually having contact with the air. which is why you were able to become pregnant and quite possible for viable sperm to be in the sperm plug after being popped, maybe. Or at least thats my hypothesis about it.

I can now tell you that a 5 year old male that is a proven breeder many times over (weighs about 1000 grams) does not kick out another sperm plug after 2 hours. I will check again in the morning, and let you know. If he does have them in the morning, then I know it it will take between 2 hours and 10 hours. I will then try to narrow it down between thos time periods.

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Originally Posted by muddoc

I can now tell you that a 5 year old male that is a proven breeder many times over (weighs about 1000 grams) does not kick out another sperm plug after 2 hours. I will check again in the morning, and let you know. If he does have them in the morning, then I know it it will take between 2 hours and 10 hours. I will then try to narrow it down between thos time periods.

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I checked again this morning (it's been 11 hours), and I did not get sperm plugs from either pene. I'll check again this evening (it will be about 23 hours when I check). Update to come this evening.

Very interesting question. As an aside, but kind of in the same vein, I've been considering getting a microscope so that I can check for viable sperm. Also, because I think it would just be neat to be able to examine some of the different cells up close. Curiosity, I has it. :oops:

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

I mean they are being used in breeding... Ergo needing them, which is why I am not popping them.

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Sperm plugs have nothing to do with getting a female gravid. I pop the plugs from a lot of my males before putting them with females. Sperm plugs are not viable sperm, just a waste product. The males obviously have to be producing sperm to fertilize the follicles, but the sperm plugs that you see have nothing to do with it. Snakes ejaculate while locked up just like us humans.

I like the experimentative spirit of this thread!

A few questions have occurred to me...

1) - Does popping a male to check for sperm plugs affect how fast he will regenerate one? Maybe the stress will cause him not to regenerate as fast, and/or maybe small amounts of the beginning of a new plug gets expelled that the person doing the popping might not even notice, but it would slow down the regeneration.

2) - Do we even know for sure that a sperm plug has sperm in it, viable or not? Sometimes things get names that are not 100% accurate, and it certainly isn't anything I've researched in that much detail.

3) - I also wondered if the sperm plugs are actually useful in the mating process, or if they are just kind of there, due to extra production. Even if there is not viable sperm, there could be lots of other ways it helps. Perhaps when it gets deposited inside the female, it helps to make the pH or other conditions inside the female more sperm friendly or some such thing. Or maybe their usefulness is to protect the hemipenes while inside the male's body.

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Originally Posted by kc261

I like the experimentative spirit of this thread!


3) - I also wondered if the sperm plugs are actually useful in the mating process, or if they are just kind of there, due to extra production. Even if there is not viable sperm, there could be lots of other ways it helps. Perhaps when it gets deposited inside the female, it helps to make the pH or other conditions inside the female more sperm friendly or some such thing. Or maybe their usefulness is to protect the hemipenes while inside the male's body.

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The only use for them is to possibly "plug up" the female to block other males sperm from fertilizing the females. I am not sure if that is actually a confirmed reason for them, but I have heard it theorized in the past. If you look sometimes after breeding you can see the end of the males plug still stuck in the female.

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Originally Posted by pfan151

The only use for them is to possibly "plug up" the female to block other males sperm from fertilizing the females. I am not sure if that is actually a confirmed reason for them, but I have heard it theorized in the past. If you look sometimes after breeding you can see the end of the males plug still stuck in the female.

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Right, which is why I don't like messing with them...

I honestly have not played with them enough to check to see if there is any viable sperm in a plug, but I'd rather play my cards close to the vest...

I'd like to know if they do have any viable sperm in them as well, but that seems to be another type of experiment that some people cannot participate in ;)

I know this info i gave is correct and im majoring in bio, also i was kinda mistaken, the sperm on the outside of the entire amount dies within seconds of contact with oxygen, but the sperm still inside the rest survives but nit for lond it dies within 20 min and with snake sperm because there isnt as much as lets say a human, it dies relitivly quicker than a mammels sperm and so after a mae is done in most cases he will have some left over on his pens and it will die and dry up to become plugs