Sperm Plugs?

[TheSnakeEye]

Sorry for the crappy picture. But can anyone tell me if that is sperm? I think the red circle is dried up sperm and that the blue circle is pee maybe.....? I know it'll be hard to tell but maybe someone with experience can chime in.

[jjmitchell]

Yea the white stuff circled in the center is a urate. My eyes arnt good enough to see the other stuff....lol

[TheSnakeEye]

I'll try and describe it. It was dried up and hard, and clinging from his hemipene. It was stringy and thin, looked like an extra thin noodle. Most of it was an off white color with the end being a darker color.

[joepythons]

I'll try and describe it. It was dried up and hard, and clinging from his hemipene. It was stringy and thin, looked like an extra thin noodle. Most of it was an off white color with the end being a darker color.

It sounds like its a sperm plug.If one comes from each hemipen side then its more then likely sperm plugs.

[fullhouse]

should we remove the hardened sperm plug manualy? or just let it be, when its breed it'll come off automatically?

do sperm plug makes hard to probe?

thx for any answer and info

[TessadasExotics]

It really has nothing to do with sperm. It is actually just hemipene shed. Ball pythons do not produce sperm plugs. Unfortunately it is just one of the terms that we in the Ball world use incorrectly. It should be just fine if left alone or you could gently pull it off if you so desire.

[TheSnakeEye]

It really has nothing to do with sperm. It is actually just hemipene shed. Ball pythons do not produce sperm plugs. Unfortunately it is just one of the terms that we in the Ball world use incorrectly. It should be just fine if left alone or you could gently pull it off if you so desire.

You are the first person I ever hear to say this... So if they do not produce sperm plugs, what is it that they produce that leads all these breeders to believe the male is ready to go?

[TessadasExotics]

You are the first person I ever hear to say this... So if they do not produce sperm plugs, what is it that they produce that leads all these breeders to believe the male is ready to go?

It's exactly what I said it was in my post. It is actually just hemipene shed. Ball Python females can be bred by more than one male during breeding season. More than one male can father a clutch with any given female. If male Ball Pythons actually produced sperm plugs then this would not be possible. Actual sperm plugs limit or prohibit another males sperm from fertilizing an egg. I think that the only snake that produces an actual sperm plug is the Garter snake.

It is this shed that the male produces that breeders believe to indicate that a male is ready to reproduce.

[TheSnakeEye]

It's exactly what I said it was in my post. It is actually just hemipene shed. Ball Python females can be bred by more than one male during breeding season. More than one male can father a clutch with any given female. If male Ball Pythons actually produced sperm plugs then this would not be possible. Actual sperm plugs limit or prohibit another males sperm from fertilizing an egg. I think that the only snake that produces an actual sperm plug is the Garter snake.

It is this shed that the male produces that breeders believe to indicate that a male is ready to reproduce.

So you're saying that all these large reptile breeders that say "already producing plugs" "ready to breed" "got plugs" are all wrong and are confusing sperm plugs with hemipene shed.

My understanding is that once they produce "plugs" they can breed. If what you say is true, how do we know when they are ready?

[AGoldReptiles]

In layman/hobbiest terms : yes it is what is called a "sperm plug".

Technically it is not. As stated above a sperm plug is a waxy deposit that a male leaves after mating with a female to prevent another males sperm from reaching the females oviducts. Garter Snakes use sperm plugs.

What we see in Ball Pythons should be called a hemipenial "cast". It is dried up hemipenial shed,dried mucus with probably a dash of the reptilian equivilant to smegma.