If someone is keeping a male and female anything, and they do not breed, they are doing something wrong and I am sure it would be a safe bet to think it has nothing at all to do with the atmospheric pressure......
I would not be so quick to take that bet, nor would I be willing to bet against it, but I would be willing to research the possibility. If someone was replicating virtually all the other known important factors that take place in this species environment, and decided as you have that barometriic pressure most probably had nothing to do with breeding success or failure, they could be missing an important environmental trigger for the breeding cycle, especially if barometric pressure followed a particular yearly pattern over and over again, year after year. Barometric pressure here in the USA, in the particualr locations where these snakes are being attempted to be bred, may not mimic those of the locales in South America where this species is found.
Atmospheric pressure would have to be the same here in the US as in south america at one or more periods of time..... All it really takes is a nice thunderstorm to change atmospheric pressure...... If you allow your snakes to cycle, they will breed.....
Ah, therein this statement lies a potential key to understanding the subject of Bushmaster breeding. You say that if someone 'cycles' a bushmaster pair it will breed (I say pair becuase you mentioned pair in your post, but they may require a trio to facilitate breeding). Regardless of the number of males per female required to encourage successful breeding, I wonder what are the cycling requirements you speak of that would apply to Bushmasters? Is it possible that cues received from barometric pressures are what causes them to cycle? Certainly the barometric pressure here in some parts of the USA or other parts of the world may mimic those of the home range of this particular species of Bushmaster, but does the barometric pressure here (or anywhere you attempt to breed them outside their native range) sufficiently reflect the barometric pressure conditions found in their home range?
What I mean is, could not these snakes be affected by a prolonged period, say 6 months or so of certain daily barometric pressures, and then by 6 months or so more of differing pressures that cause the animal to sexually cycle? Now combine the changes in barometric pressures that would accompany a rainy season/dry season cycle, with possible subtle light changes from one season to the next, and with temperature changes from one season to the next, and with food availibilty from one season to the next - and maybe barometric pressure being a cause or trigger of cycling does not seem so far fetched. Barometric pressure affects animals such as amphibians, and it affects mammals People included) so why not affect Bushmasters?
If I understand correctly, this particular species is found in rain forests. There are not many rain forests here in the USA, with the exception, I think, of the northwest so it may be hard to tell in most locations where breeding attempts take place. A nice thunderstorm to change barometric pressure for a day or just a few hours may not be enough to cycle a Bushmaster. They may require prolonged periods of certain daily prevalent barometric pressures in order to cycle. In fact, it may be the low barometric pressure associated thunderstorms that cycles them to breed just as easily as it could be the high pressure of the dry season (hope I got my pressures right).
Of course, barometric pressure may have little if anything to do with their breeding cycle, but it is an interesting hypothesis. I certainly would like to hear more on the subject. In that regard I emailed Mr. Dean Ripa, a professional breeder of Bushmasters, to ask him if such is the case. I'll let you know what he says when and if he replies.
Best regards,
Glenn B
