The Ever Present Dangers in Breeding *Updated 15 Jan 2011*

So, last night I was thawing out some rats in the back of the house for everyone, even the breeders. I was going to separate the two males I had courting females because one of them has been breeding almost non-stop for nearly three weeks and I figured it would be good to give him a break and the other one can only convince the female about 50% of the time to give him a chance. So, I was going to offer small meals to everyone, separate them for a few days and put them back in.

Well, while I was doing some maintenance cleaning on the cages when I heard this thud on plexi-glass in one of the cages. I looked down and out of no where, Artemis had struck at Icarus, grabbed him behind his neck and was trying to constrict him. After flailing around a bit, Icarus got away and my husband and I were able to quickly separate them, but immediately I noticed something was wrong with Icarus.

When I picked him up, he only loosely coiled his tail around my wrist and when I set him down in his cage, he kind of laid over towards his side a bit. I gently flipped him over and he was slow to correct the lower part of his body. I felt along his body to see if I could feel anything broken, but I could not, so I was hoping he was just shaken up by it. I gave him a small rat and he ate it as aggressively as he normally eats his food.

Today I went in to check in on him and found him in this position.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYZLF7N2peY

After that first video, I noticed his tail keeps doing this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svGNfjCS_dw

I think he has spinal or nerve damage. I am not sure and I have to wait a few days to get him to the vet because I have still not recieved my worker's comp checks and I have been out of work for nearly a month now.

He seems to be moving around okay still and he did keep that rat down so ... I'm hoping he can still thrive. Just probably won't be able to breed anymore, but, that's really not my major concern about him right now.

Anyone else ever here or have a female go off on a male like that after breeding with him for weeks?

I'm not sure what is wrong, but will keep my fingers crossed for you, Diem. Good luck!

Unfortunately, that is a hazard of feeding two animals in the same enclosure. I've done it myself, and have occasionally had some (minor) issues. The fact that they had been breeding really doesn't count for anything - procreation and feeding are both instinctual, there's no emotional barrier to prevent such incidents.

Hopefully, Icarus will make a full recovery.

Harald, from what i gather, the attack was while she was cleaning, not feeding.

I had a red-tailed green rat pair do this during breeding. I was passing by the cage and happened to notice that the female had the male's entire head in her mouth and appeared to be trying to swallow him.

I reached in there and grabbed each snake around the middle, whereupon the female "spit out" the male and turned her aggression towards me.

I separated them immediately, put some ointment on the male's wounds, and watched closely for a few days. He recovered fine, but I still have no idea why the female went ape like that. They weren't on feed at the time and husbandry conditions were the same as always.

I guess it's just one of those freak things? I hope your guy recovers.

Originally Posted by Utta

Harald, from what i gather, the attack was while she was cleaning, not feeding.

The rats thawing out may have had something to do with it? Or maybe he pulled out at the wrong time.

Originally Posted by deborahbroadus

The rats thawing out may have had something to do with it? Or maybe he pulled out at the wrong time.

DEB! not much makes my let out a huge chuckle, but that was just WRONG!

Yeah. I was not feeding anyone yet. I had just put the rats in the bath tub when I had moved into the snake room.

I had been told I could feed them together if I out a barrier in there but Art's feed response is entirely too aggressive for me to have wanted to risk it. Plus she had not eaten in a while so I knew she was going to destroy it.

Icarus is still moving around like he is looking to breed he is just kind of ... Lop sidedish while he does it. -.- Probably gonna' end up with a special snake but if he can thrive with an impairment I will keep him around as a pet. I just hope Art is gravid at this point. I think she is but we all know what that means with boas.


And Deb my thought was maybe she was just tired of him being around, taking up room in her cage and not doing any of the cooking or cleaning.

Originally Posted by ShadowAceD

Yeah. I was not feeding anyone yet. I had just put the rats in the bath tub when I had moved into the snake room.

I had been told I could feed them together if I out a barrier in there but Art's feed response is entirely too aggressive for me to have wanted to risk it. Plus she had not eaten in a while so I knew she was going to destroy it.

Icarus is still moving around like he is looking to breed he is just kind of ... Lop sidedish while he does it. -.- Probably gonna' end up with a special snake but if he can thrive with an impairment I will keep him around as a pet. I just hope Art is gravid at this point. I think she is but we all know what that means with boas.


And Deb my thought was maybe she was just tired of him being around, taking up room in her cage and not doing any of the cooking or cleaning.

Yeah, that's probably what it was.

Originally Posted by Utta

DEB! not much makes my let out a huge chuckle, but that was just WRONG!

See YOUR mind went there, but MY mind was thinking of the barbs on the ends of the penes and maybe he hurt her and she just reacted?

**Well, that's MY story, and I'm sticking to it!