Young males breeding successfully.... A closer look.

There have been a few threads over the years that discuss breeding young males. The point of this thread is to examine the topic in greater detail.

A good start would be for those with direct experience to speak up... Here are some questions... Please try to answer all of these questions regarding your experience before commenting. I am looking for first hand experience here... If everyone would go through and answer each question this thread would be very helpful to a whole lot of people including me!

1.) how old was your male?
2.) how much did he weigh?
3.) how many females did you attempt to breed him to that season?
4.) what were the approximate weights of the girls you bred him with?
5.) what was the end result with each female you paired him with?
6.) did you have any problems with the male during or after the breeding rotations?
7.) what comments would you like to contribute?

Thanks....

I'm just a small timer with only a few clutches under my belt, but I've had no luck with yearling males. Sometimes they can't figure it out, sometimes they do, but still haven't gotten the job done for me. I don't have the data with me, but I'll repost tomorrow and answer the questions above. Should be an interesting thread if you can get some data.

1.) how old was your male?My male was 6 months old
2.) how much did he weigh?he was at 340 grams
3.) how many females did you attempt to breed him to that season?4
4.) what were the approximate weights of the girls you bred him with?2900 grams, 2500 grams, 1800 grams, 1400 grams
5.) what was the end result with each female you paired him with?3 split clutches
6.) did you have any problems with the male during or after the breeding rotations? I stop breeding him because he was off food and started losing weight

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Originally Posted by chago11

5.) what was the end result with each female you paired him with?3 split clutches

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what do you mean by split clutches?

1.) how old was your male? 7 months
2.) how much did he weigh? 700g
3.) how many females did you attempt to breed him to that season? 2
4.) what were the approximate weights of the girls you bred him with? 2400g (proven) and 1200g (virgin)
5.) what was the end result with each female you paired him with? 2 clutches, 8 total eggs (5 and 3), all were viable and hatched healthy babies
6.) did you have any problems with the male during or after the breeding rotations? none
7.) what comments would you like to contribute? He went off feed from Nov to March, but only dropped 20g. 5 months after resuming feeding, he is over 1000g and doesn't miss a meal.

I bred 3 young males last year Smallest being 200g that was a pinstripe male. He knocked up one female at 2200 before hitting 300g. Hes a July 2010 hatch and now about 600g. None of the small males went off feed and bred very well 2 females each.

I have a male Fire i just acquired 2 weeks ago and hes a 2011 about 200g and has plugs. No girls for him yet so he may sit unless i find something.

Almost any mlae that is small I have and has plugs will breed for me. But since i breed 2 males per female the older one usually does the job as i assume they are releasing more sperm and blocking the lil guys. But ive had it other ways as well so not sure.

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/100_3778.jpg

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

what do you mean by split clutches?

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Split clutches means two bps fathered the clutch. So let's say you breed a pastel male and a spider male to a normal female and she lays both pastel and spider babies!

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Originally Posted by purplemuffin

Split clutches means two bps fathered the clutch. So let's say you breed a pastel male and a spider male to a normal female and she lays both pastel and spider babies!

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Well, I guess that adds another question that needs to be answered then...

8.) Did you only pair the female with the young male or were other males involved?

Please keep this thread alive!

Good information here. please post more:)

I agree with the above, we need more! Thanks for sharing everyone.

I don't have specific details to share but have bred young males. I have had some success but to answer your last question...Yes, I always back up young males with proven breeders just to make sure someone gets the job done.

I wish I could contribute, but our lone male is already 500g+, and it will be a while before our female is ready.

I'll probably resurrect this thread once one of her SPOG holdbacks is ready to go :D

1.) how old was your male?
- Not sure exactly, between 4-6 months
2.) how much did he weigh?
- 450g.
3.) how many females did you attempt to breed him to that season?
- 3
4.) what were the approximate weights of the girls you bred him with?
1500g to 2500g
5.) what was the end result with each female you paired him with?
- I witnessed locks with every female, but only 1 female layed a clutch..6 good eggs.
6.) did you have any problems with the male during or after the breeding rotations?
- No. He kept eating and is now around 900g.
7.) what comments would you like to contribute
- He was the only male paired with each female. I saw him lock with all three but think he only had enough "juice" for 1. It was also only the biggest female that layed a clutch, but she was not the first one he was locked with. I dont know if that means anything or not...

1.) how old was your male?
yearling, not exactly young, but he skipped a lot of feedings, so he was small.

2.) how much did he weigh?
400 at the start of breeding season

3.) how many females did you attempt to breed him to that season?
1 female

4.) what were the approximate weights of the girls you bred him with?
2,000 grams

5.) what was the end result with each female you paired him with?
I got 7 good eggs

6.) did you have any problems with the male during or after the breeding rotations?
He skipped a week of eating here and there, but that was pretty normal for him.

7.) what comments would you like to contribute?
I only put him in with the female for 3 days every 2 weeks. I was trying not to stress him.

In my first post I said the male was 4-6 months old. There was actually no way he was only 4 months. Definitely closer to 6 or 7.

I am not a large scale breeder, but I did breed a fairly young male this season.

1.) how old was your male?
- 8 months.
2.) how much did he weigh?
- 350 grams.
3.) how many females did you attempt to breed him to that season?
- 3.
4.) what were the approximate weights of the girls you bred him with?
- 1500g, 2300g, 3600g.
5.) what was the end result with each female you paired him with?
- 5 Eggs, (7 focciles felt - still waiting on eggs), 10 eggs 1 slug.
6.) did you have any problems with the male during or after the breeding rotations?
- No. He went off feed for 2 weeks but then went back up again. Hasn't refused a meal other then that.
7.) what comments would you like to contribute?
- I would like to add that this male is a Butter Spider.

Thanks!

I'll add my minimal experience.

1. How old was your male -- under a year, not 100% sure of exact age

2. How much did he weigh -- 450 grams

3. How many females did he breed -- 2

4. What did the females weigh -- 1300 grams, 1150 grams

5. What was the result of the pairing -- one female took, she laid 6 eggs, one slugged out, the other 5 hatched. One female didn't take. Out of 5 eggs, we got 2 morphs and 3 normals.

6. Did you have any problems with the male -- He ate sporadically throughout the season, mostly smaller meals, but he bounced back fast and hard and is more than ready for the upcoming season.

Gale

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

8.) Did you only pair the female with the young male or were other males involved?

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My females were only paired with that one male.

Im gonna tweak my answer a little. I do breed younger males and usually i wIt till they are at least 550 grams. Ive had younger ones go in the past and either got sluggs or very little satisfaction out of the pairings. I never breed girls any smaller then 1500 grams and on the dlip with males once a male gets over 1700 grams hes out of my collection. I have found that the perfect combos is an 800 gram male to up to 2500 gram girls. Now my huge girls over 3000 to 4300 get paired with bigger males.

One in particular from this season was a het for albino that was 7 months of age. He weighed in at 310 grams as of the first breeding I witnessed give or take a little. He was only bred to a het fro albino female that weighed 1610 grams. The result was 4 eggs that hatched recently , but no albinos from them this year.

So I have a question about the young breeder males.

Were they housed around just males, mix, or females?(or by themselves)

All my snakes are housed individually. I do not like keeping any of my snakes in a communal setting.

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Originally Posted by snake lab

...with males once a male gets over 1700 grams hes out of my collection.

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I don't want to hijack the thread, but why? :confused:

1.) how old was your male? - Was a July hatchling, started rotating him into breeding in November, so 5 months
2.) how much did he weigh? - 243 grams when first paired
3.) how many females did you attempt to breed him to that season? 2
4.) what were the approximate weights of the girls you bred him with? 1500ish & 1200ish
5.) what was the end result with each female you paired him with? - Both laid 4 egg clutches, all eggs hatched 100% healthy
6.) did you have any problems with the male during or after the breeding rotations? - Nothing serious, if he skipped a meal then he would not be rotated back in until he ate again
7.) what comments would you like to contribute? - just make sure the small male keeps eating and stop rotating him in if he stops eating

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ted1025

1.) how old was your male? - Was a July hatchling, started rotating him into breeding in November, so 5 months
2.) how much did he weigh? - 243 grams when first paired
3.) how many females did you attempt to breed him to that season? 2
4.) what were the approximate weights of the girls you bred him with? 1500ish & 1200ish
5.) what was the end result with each female you paired him with? - Both laid 4 egg clutches, all eggs hatched 100% healthy

?
6.) did you have any problems with the male during or after the breeding rotations? - Nothing serious, if he skipped a meal then he would not be rotated back in until he ate again
7.) what comments would you like to contribute? - just make sure the small male keeps eating and stop rotating him in if he stops eating

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Were females around him while growing up(not in his tub), or just males, or mix

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Originally Posted by KingPythons

Were females around him while growing up(not in his tub), or just males, or mix

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I have two 5-slot racks stacked on top of each other and a I have 2 males and 8 females in those two racks where he was housed. The one female he bred was one tub above or below, I forget and the other was about 4-5 tubs above him

Here are my answers, in regards to my now 2 year-old Mojave, Julius... he was a daddy before age 1, so he qualifies as a young stud. ;) Fyi, I also witnessed locks from my pastel around 4-5mo, but nothing resulted from them - so I won't include him in my response.

1.) how old was your male? About 8 months at first copulation, in April 2010.
2.) how much did he weigh? 800-900g (he's a fatty - now around 2000g)
3.) how many females did you attempt to breed him to that season? Two
4.) what were the approximate weights of the girls you bred him with? 2500 & 1900g, approx.
5.) what was the end result with each female you paired him with? One 6-egg clutch from the larger female, nothing from the smaller girl - but he successfully bred her this season!
6.) did you have any problems with the male during or after the breeding rotations? Nope... he was a pig then, and he's still a pig today. :D
7.) what comments would you like to contribute? Not much more to say, except that early breeding was successful for this particular boy... my other attempts either didn't lock, or didn't produce any eggs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KingPythons

So I have a question about the young breeder males.

Were they housed around just males, mix, or females?(or by themselves)

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Mine are pretty mixed, and I've moved them around over the years... so I don't remember who he was near last year, but probably both males & females. I've actually seen Julius fight with another male, when I put them on my floor during a quick cleaning - he was doing most of the "fighting," so I guess he doesn't like having competition! :oops:

Last season I tryed a couple males that were around 500g to a 2000 g normal and got no results..... just a practice run for them. I believe the female was the reason for no sucess because she had bred multiple times with a pastel adult male........ no eggs, no slugs.. and she even looked like a minor ovulation at one point.:mad: