Riordan's First "Date"

We introduced Riordan our 06 male YB to Dori our 05 female normal tonight and it seemed to go really well right from the get go. I sat and quietly watched them and saw Riordan repeatedly climbing on top of the much bigger female (he's 698 grams, she's 1,579 grams as of earlier today).

Then I got to watch the most incredible thing! Dori started waggling her tail. I've never seen a female snake do this and from what I've read this means she's interested...correct? She made several passes by him, waggling madly right in his face basically. :) Hopefully this bodes well for her accepting him and a lock for them in the future.

What an absolutely wonderful experience to watch them. What other courting behaviours should we expect to see from our pairs? What do you all look for other than the obvious locking up?

Congrats! I'm not sure about the waggin tail thing I've heard it go both ways??

Just seeing that the males are interested gets me siked up. Last year the males that showed interest, I got eggs from and the ones that didn't show any interest I didn't, so your on the right track.

:)

The tail wagging cracks me up!!! I've seen a few of mine do it a couple of times.

i wanna see a wag :(

congrats jo!!! any pics?

Congrats...

Those are two hot snakes. You must have very high hopes.

I watched my first two mate and was just in awe of them.

I know when I put Zoltan in he'll poke his tail straight up and patrol around. From his vent to his tip, poker straight... I know... it is too obvious to draw a comparison.

He usually strolls up and down the side of Olive, then lines up tail to tail, but with his face pointing the other direction.

Again, congrats on the lock.

Bruce

Both of my girls have been doing the wagging this week.

Jo check them tommorrow morning they will most probably be getting it on.

Okay you know you are a ball python freak addict dweeb when you stumble out of bed at 5:30 in the morning to go check your paired snakes BEFORE you even put your beloved coffee on! LOL

Well they aren't locked this morning. Riordan is on top of Dori and their tails are close by not locked yet. I'm assuming this is a nice progress. Hopefully Riordan will figure out what girl snakes are all about. We're going to leave him in for three days, then out for four for a feeding attempt and a rest, then back in for three and so forth.

Which leads to my next question actually. We'd like to use Riordan on three females total this season (Dori, Orlah and Brannagh). I was thinking of putting him this week with Dori, next week with Orlah, the week after with Brannagh, then back again with Dori and so forth. Will this work okay? Three days with each female, four off to rest each week and a full week off after one full rotation (so basically three weeks of the breeding cycles then a full week off each month). I'm just concerned that this allows him enough access to each female but also that we allow him proper resting time since he's a first time breeder.

I'd love some opinions from breeders who use one male on multiple females.

Jo,
It sonnds like he is on the right track. Alot of times, you will see your male with his tail by the female's tail, and his tail will be rolled slightly, with his underside touching her tail. I hope that makes sense.

Also, your breeding schedule sounds pretty good Jo. The way we work it is like this. I put my male in with his female on Monday afternoon, and take him out on Wednesday evening. He gets fed on Thursday and goes back in with the next female on Friday. He comes out Sunday afternoon when we clean. After his full rotation, he will get a week off. I like to do it this way, so that my females get bred every 3 to 4 weeks. I like to get 2 breedings in a month, but sometimes they are spread out a little more.

So I don't need to give him a full four days out after being in with a female for three days, Tim? The way I've got it scheduled he'd only be with each female once a month for three days per female.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

So I don't need to give him a full four days out after being in with a female for three days, Tim? The way I've got it scheduled he'd only be with each female once a month for three days per female.

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Once a month should be sufficient, but I like them to get more copulations than that. That is me. As long as you are keeping a good eye on the health of your male, I don't believe he needs that much time off. I have not had a problem with giving my males 1 to 2 days a week, but I do give them a week off after cycling through their Harem.

Thanks Tim. I really do appreciate you and the other experienced breeders stepping up to help us newb breeders. Even though we went through this last year and I've read every darn thread here on breeding and have sites by the truckload saved....well I still feel I have a million questions/worries.

I imagine enough successful breeding seasons and this feeling of stupid/excitement/losing your mind temporarily passes....right? :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

I imagine enough successful breeding seasons and this feeling of stupid/excitement/losing your mind temporarily passes....right? :D

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After one season, you'll feel like a pro. No worries.

Well Riordan's figured it all out LOL. He unlocked from Dori last night after about 9 hours locked up then got back to work on her and was locked up again with her when I got up early this morning. If he ever lets go at some point today he's heading back to his own enclosure for a couple of day recoup time then off to romance Orlah next.

Then comes the biggest female of his rotation this year....Brannagh. I still think I should put a sticky note on her "VENT IS THISAWAY!" That's a lotta long big snake for him to figure out! :rofl:

I'm so excited for you, Joanna! I thought that this was Oliver's fifth rotation with Echo, but it's actually his sixth. Since he only has one female, he goes in once a week with her. Probably overkill, but hey - as long as they are both healthy and both eating, I figure it can't hurt.

I'm thrilled we're going through this process at the same time Robin (doesn't that always seem to happen with us though *freaky twilight zone music). :D

We're just waiting on Malachi to finish his shed then he like your Oliver will be mated with a single female this year (Kyna). I hope he does as well as your Oliver is obviously doing.

I'm sure that he will Joanna! I thought I gave Winston the double whammy, when in fact, I gave him a triple whammy. I put Bailee's shed in with him the night before going in with Sierra, then the cold front with rain rolled in, and then Sierra was in shed herself (recommended by the Barkers).

I almost didn't put him in with Sierra when I saw she was in full blue, but then remembered their advice and figured it wouldn't hurt.

I'm sure that Malachi will figure it out this season!

Awesome, Jo! My female, Bela, did the tail-waggy last year when paired with my pastel.
It is tough for me to recommend how long you should breed and rest your male. I play it by ear (or eye..) and just watch his weight and I do it so that he eats at least once every 10 days or so. My male pastel did not go off food while breeding successfully last year, and my spider has not gone off offered food this year. He is a bit of a lightweight (as opposed to my fattie pastel) so I tend to give him a nice 3-day break with food. I keep him with each of 2 girls for roughly 3 days on end.