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Will a gravid female remain receptive to males?

S

SnakeNutt

New member
This topic came up at a reptile store yesterday, when we were trying to determine whether one of their adult females was gravid or not (history of the snake was basically unknown). When palpating her underside, I could feel some small lumps, but they were not big enough to feel like decent-sized eggs, so I think she was possibly just ovulating. We tested her receptiveness by putting a male with her, who was very interested, and she ended up flagging her tail and acting receptive. We did not let the male breed her, however, as I wanted to breed her to one of my own males.

OK, so my basic question is -- if a female corn is receptive, does that mean she has NOT been inseminated already? I have bred horses for years, and I've had some mares that would continue to "show heat" and act receptive (at 4-week intervals) for a couple of months (one even for five months) even after she was ultrasounded and proven in foal.

Or, put another way, how long does a female corn continue to put off those "come and get me, big guy" pheromones after she's been bred? Or do those scent signals immediately shut off once a female has been inseminated?

Update -- I just put the female with my selected male (who is interested, but does not seem as aggressive about it as he does with females who I know are not gravid). And although she's "flagging" just a little, she's doing everything in her power to evade him. So, is it likely that she was recently bred and is still just putting off "left over, lingering" pheromones? Or is male snake like many male men -- doesn't care if she's pregnant or not (i.e., wants it anyway)?

Liz
 
Hi Liz,
I know you will get better answers here as I am new to this whole snake breeding thing but I noticed with my albino okeetee that she was very receptive 3 times to my chosen male and the 4th took her some convincing. I figured she was for sure gravid at that point even though the male was still plenty interested so I stopped putting them together. She has since laid 22 eggs one was a slug and one died off within a few days but the rest are wonderul. This female has recooped well enough that she is being bred back to another male (2 times so far) and seems to be acting the same way with him as with the first male. I have another very stubborn female that has refused all 3 of my adult males though they have all been VERY willing to mate with her, to the point where one actually tried to "rape" her and I haven't placed her with a male since for fear she will be hurt when I'm not watching. As for your girl not being all that interested in your chosen mate for her, give her a day or two and try again. It took one of males over 30 minutes to convince yet another female of mine that he was "the one", she finally bred with him 4 times and should be dropping eggs soon.
 
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