I am curious to know if there are any pet snake keepers (not breeders) out there who have kept a male and female snake together resulting in the pair breeding, without intentionally going through the brumation process. If so, what type of snake, live birth or eggs, and did the babies survive?
I don’t have a personal story to share with snakes but I am sure this has happened many times! I would even see pet stores with several adult corn snakes in the same cage! I did volunteer at a reptile rescue and the iguanas would cohabitate a huge greenhouse and they would always be laying eggs, (no kind of human or temperature intervention whatsoever) which would be fed to the water monitors they also had! I thought that was pretty wild! I would like to point out though, unlike other types of pets most responsible snake owners don’t cohabitate snakes with a very few species exceptions. The truth is even snakes that are not prone to cannibalism do not like competing for resources in a relatively small space like a enclosure, and may get stressed out-which leads to illness and a lot of problems.
Oh yes I do so agree with you on the dangers of keeping multiple snakes in the same habitat/enclosure. My 2 boas, male and female, grew up together in a 4 x 2 x 2 Boaphile and I was so blessed that all they did was mate and not maim one another. No more will I ever do that again!
Not snakes but still an amusing story.
Why you should always let someone knowledge and in charge of care looking over the supply sheets at any vendor dealing with live animals:
As a teen, I used to work for people that owned 3 pet shops inside shopping malls. I worked at one mall primarily, but they started asking me to help once a week at the other location.
The assistant manager there knew I would be excited about the reptiles they ordered. So of course, they show me the list and chatter off what they ordered. A leopard gecko, a water turtle (assorted but usually RES) and 2 tokay geckos.
“2 what?”
“TOKAYS! They look badass”
“They ARE badasses and no one is going to buy them. They’re aggressive as hell”
“It’ll be fine!”
It was not fine.
They would bite anyone trying to get in and do anything to the habitat aside from misting or refilling water. 6 months later they had eggs and became even more snappy than usual. If they did hatch, they must have eaten the offspring, but no one would do anything with them but me.
Eventually someone came in and was excited about the breeding pair of tokays and how much we wanted for them.
The assistant manager gave them a box and a hand towel and said, “if you catch them, they’re yours.” So pretty good deal for that person in the end.
I house a pair of Rhamphiophis together and, in doing so, managed to prove them to be a 1.1 when I flipped up one of the hides and discovered eggs
I bought a 1.1 of Dasypeltis and the male passed not long after and then, about three months later, there were babies crawling around the enclosure. Found the hatched eggs when I was tearing the cage apart making sure I had located all of the little buggers
Neither of these are species that require brumation, but I do seasonally cycle (temp, lighting, food, moisture, etc) all my animals in a manner similar to their native environment
Thank you for sharing your experience! I have learned my lesson and will never make the same mistake again but at the same time, with advice from knowledgeable people, I was able to nurture 11 little boa hatchlings, get them eating, and ready for new homes. It’s a lot of work and thus, I have an new appreciation of what breeders go through whether it’s a hobby or a business.
I do not consider either of my experiences “mistakes” per se.
I intentionally housed the Rhamphiophis together because 1) there is anecdotal data that would indicate they are at least somewhat gregarious and 2) I had them sexed by shed and the results were an inconclusive but tentative confirmation of it being a 1.1 and since the species is not commonly bred in the hobby I wanted to try and work toward a CBB population
The Dasypeltis I housed together for the same reason, I was just completely unaware that they had paired off in the short time they were together.
I house many other animals together as well. I have 1.1 bredli, 1.2 Calabar, 1.1 alterna, and 2.3 Candoia bibroni australis all housed as groups. There is definite intention to get offspring from some of these animals and with others, while there is no specific intention I am not going to be upset if they do breed
Yes I understand your position completely. I suppose I should have worded it differently and not used the word mistake. I just wasn’t expecting to see little heads popping up under “mom”.
It is glorious to see new life in anything! Those 11 little babies gave me great joy and put a smile on my face in a world where everything else seems to be upside down!