A few Detail questions about pairing

[yzguy]

I just wanted to get a few people’s opinions on some paring questions.

1) How long do you leave them together? (2-3 days?)
2) What if they are locked up when you go to separate? Disturb them and come back to see if they unlocked? Wait? Or just separate them?
3) How often would you like to see the female mate? (once a month?)
4) Do you put them together more if you don’t see a lock?
5) How much rest should the male get between sessions with multiple girls? (at least a couple days? A week?)
6) How long can the females hold sperm? (I think I read somewhere a year, but if so, why do we have to keep introducing the male?)
7) When you put them together, do you move the male to the female or vice versa? (I had read move the female to the male, so the male is in his comfortable enclosure as he is the one that really needs to be proactive.) Or does it not matter?

[sho220]

I just wanted to get a few people’s opinions on some paring questions.

1) How long do you leave them together? (2-3 days?) 2-4 days
2) What if they are locked up when you go to separate? Disturb them and come back to see if they unlocked? Wait? Or just separate them? Just wait until they're separated. Don't try to separate them as you may hurt the male.
3) How often would you like to see the female mate? (once a month?) at least a couple times per month, however you won't always catch them "in the act".
4) Do you put them together more if you don’t see a lock? Nope
5) How much rest should the male get between sessions with multiple girls? (at least a couple days? A week?) a week or so...
6) How long can the females hold sperm? (I think I read somewhere a year, but if so, why do we have to keep introducing the male?) Don't know...have read at least a year...
7) When you put them together, do you move the male to the female or vice versa? (I had read move the female to the male, so the male is in his comfortable enclosure as he is the one that really needs to be proactive.) Or does it not matter? I usually move the males into the female enclosure. Not sure if it matters though.

My answers are in bold...

[SlitherinSisters]

My answers are in bold...

Ditto. Those are the basic practices of most breeders I would say. It's fairly easy, try not to over think it and worry yourself

[Blue Apple Herps]

My answers are in bold...

These answers are spot on.

I personally leave together for 48 hours, if I don't see a lock after 48 hours I separate and try again in a couple of weeks. I will also pair every 2 weeks, but sometimes will stretch that out depending on the male. I, too, only like to breed males once a week, so if he's breeding 3 females, then they'll get paired every three weeks, but if 1 or 2 females then every other week.

I also pair until they won't lock any more. I'm bad at catching ovulations, etc so I just let me tell them when they're done for the season and I either am about to get eggs or not.

My biggest advice is don't get obsessed with what is "normal" or "typical." I had a pair that locked once, didn't lock again, and I thought they wouldn't go. Well 4 months later I had eggs. I've had a girl lay during her "pre-lay" shed 30 days early, I had one lay after her second pre lay shed.

My point is, there are always going to be exceptions and its easy to start to get obsessed if everything doesn't go by the book. Every year there are a zillion threads of people posting "ZOMG!! She shed 31 days ago, I thought she was supposed to lay 30 days after her shed?!?!?!! So long as they're healthy, just let them do their thing. They've had plenty of time to perfect, you are just there to shepherd it through the process.

[Chico30Colt]

[QUOTE]My point is, there are always going to be exceptions and its easy to start to get obsessed if everything doesn't go by the book. Every year there are a zillion threads of people posting "ZOMG!! She shed 31 days ago, I thought she was supposed to lay 30 days after her shed?!?!?!! So long as they're healthy, just let them do their thing. They've had plenty of time to perfect, you are just there to shepherd it through the process./QUOTE]

I agree with most of whats been said especially this. Most people freak out thinking they have to constantly breed their snakes, and everyone has their own way of breeding but I learned from and big breeder that it doesn't matter how many times you breed your snakes. I go by the system of making sure what ever female Im breeding gets bred by a male once a month. They retain the sperm for a long time so breeding them over and over and over again isn't going to increase your chances. If they are ready they will go if not they wont. The problem comes when people aren't patient breeding is a long processes easily over 6 months just to get eggs so the best advice would be to relax and not stress out.