Sperm plug regeneration

I was curious to know...

How soon does a Sperm plug after being popped regenerate fully?

I honestly was going to do a test myself, but all of my males are currently needing their sperm plugs, so I haven't had the cajones to do it.

Anyone hazard to experiment or that actually knows?

While I'm not 100% sure, I popped my Albino male around 15 days ago and he had regenerated his sperm plugs as of yesterday. I actually think they probably regenerate faster than that (or not). :D

I'll start counting for how many days it takes him this time. I'll also try the experiment with my Super Pastel and Normal male. Seeing as I'm only breeding my Black Pastel this year.

I'd like to know for myself.

I have noticed that some of the big boys that I used just for kicking my males into breeding earlier in the season had sperm plugs after about twenty four hours, but after checking my small calico he had some one day and 3 days later still didnt have any more (what a waste huh). So think it could be very dependant on size, age, sexual maturity and the individual snake. But it would be kinda nice to see if anyone has payed more attention to actual time vs. just what I have ran into in my short amount of time.

Sounds like an interesting experiment. I wonder if the rate of sperm regeneration can effected by their age and weight?

Although I can't substantiate it, I believe they regenerate them within a matter of hours. I frequently pop males before putting them in with females. They will still lock up within a few hours. I have quite a few males that aren't breeding this year, so I will try a few tests over the next 2 or 3 days, and I'll let you guys know how things go with a more definitive test.

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

I was curious to know...

How soon does a Sperm plug after being popped regenerate fully?

I honestly was going to do a test myself, but all of my males are currently needing their sperm plugs, so I haven't had the cajones to do it.

Anyone hazard to experiment or that actually knows?

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Can you explain what you mean that they need them? I didn't know that they needed them.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Can you explain what you mean that they need them? I didn't know that they needed them.

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

Does anyone know if the sperm plugs are viable and capable of producing babies or is it like extra that they just have there? And they put new sperm or whatever while copulating?

Hm, good question....since they are MALE, I would think after they had a nap and a beer, they're ready again :P

Actually, I would very much like to know the answer to this myself....I'm not breeding (EDIT: my snakes :D) this year so perhaps a little experiment is in order...hmmmm.....

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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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OK! I thought maybe you meant that they wouldn't be successful breeding without their plugs. I've taken plugs from one breeding male to put on the back of a female with another male to stimulate breeding (it's worked)!

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Originally Posted by OhBalls

Hm, good question....since they are MALE, I would think after they had a nap and a beer, they're ready again :P

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That's what I was thinking ;)

I think we should all do a test with records of when checking and so forth. I didn't think I was the only one who wanted to know..

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

That's what I was thinking ;)

I think we should all do a test with records of when checking and so forth. I didn't think I was the only one who wanted to know..

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I have three males of different ages I can check....one is a late 07, one is three and the other is 8 yeard old....I know they all are producing sperm....would be nice to check different ages to sperm producion as well.....

I wonder how often it's OK to pop them to check....

As long as you do it right, I don't see it being an issue popping them frequently.

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

That's what I was thinking ;)

I think we should all do a test with records of when checking and so forth. I didn't think I was the only one who wanted to know..

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What all kinda information are we recording? Age, weight, obviously when they had sperm, how often we checked, and what else?

I would say that would be it..

Maybe environment?

If they are cooled prior to this point could have some effect to correct?

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Can you explain what you mean that they need them? I didn't know that they needed them.

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Originally Posted by Fearless

Does anyone know if the sperm plugs are viable and capable of producing babies or is it like extra that they just have there? And they put new sperm or whatever while copulating?

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That is a good question. Is the Sperm Plug actually used for conception? I to was under the impression that it was a build up of extra or surplus sperm. I have had several viable clutches fathered by my male pastel who I still have yet to find sperm plugs in. I find sperm plugs in the younger males all the time just not him but he keeps producing beautiful babies.

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Originally Posted by Fearless

If they are cooled prior to this point could have some effect to correct?

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I have not cooled because I was not going to breed them this year....but I just checked and they all gave plugs.....thats pretty gross...LOL...though I did notice, my old guy (bred last year with offspring)...plug was considerably harder than the youngest

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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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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Okay... Where did you get that information?

Because I know for a fact some of that is incorrect.

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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

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

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

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??? I'm not sure I understand how that helps in a captive situation.

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Originally Posted by pfan151

??? I'm not sure I understand how that helps in a captive situation.

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It may not, but I'd rather allow it to stay there if there is any benefit to breeding rather then remove it. (Better safe than sorry)

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Originally Posted by pfan151

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.

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On a side note, snakes do not ejaculate like we do. Actually the sperm enters the cloaca from the testes and travel up a groove in the hemipene and into the females cloaca.

Lastly, an update on the male we were checking. He did produce a sperm plug after 23 hours from the initial popping. So, he reproduced it sometime between 11 and 23 hours.

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Originally Posted by muddoc

Actually the sperm enters the cloaca from the testes and travel up a groove in the hemipene and into the females cloaca.

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Ejacute may be the wrong word. What would you call that process? The point I was trying to make is that the males transfer fresh sperm into the female while locked up and that the sperm plugs are not what fertilizes the follicles.

[QUOTE=OhBalls;979268]Hm, good question....since they are MALE, I would think after they had a nap and a beer, they're ready again :P

OMG thank you so much for that!!!

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Originally Posted by pfan151

Ejacute may be the wrong word. What would you call that process? The point I was trying to make is that the males transfer fresh sperm into the female while locked up and that the sperm plugs are not what fertilizes the follicles.

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Ejaculating is defined as ejecting semen or sperm. I'm not sure what the proper terminology would be for how it works in reptiles, I just didn't want anyone to get confused.

As far as the subject of the post is concerned, I will agree with you that the sperm plugs do not actually fertilize the follicles, however, regeneration of sprem plugs should give you a pretty good estimate at how fast they regenerate sperm(i.e. how soon they can copulate with any guarantee of actually being successful at procreation). I hope that wasn't too confusing.

I'm in the same boat as John Van.

My understanding is that the build up of sperm plugs has nothing to do directly with fertilization.....I would think though that it does indicate a few things to the breeder...

A.) the production of sperm (e.g. whether a young male could sire offspring)

B.) the rate of sperm production (based on the frequency of plug regeneration)

C.) actual copulation with the female (meaning if he has plugs after being with a female then most likely he didn't breed her even if they did appear locked at one point)

Hope that makes sense? And helps :)