Breeding Black Paks and Suphan cobras

[Toxica]

I currently have a 6 feet 0.1 Black Pak cobra (Naja naja) and an unsexed Suphan cobra (Naja kaouthia) that’s a solid 5 feet and that looks like a male through visually examining him. I would love to make an attempt at breeding these two snakes if I can get some helpful hints on doing so. I've only bred Western diamondback rattlers in the past and this will be a new experience for me, and I have five questions before I can get started.

1. Although I believe the Suphan cobra is a male by the look of it, I haven't probed it to be certain. I do have a probing set, and do have a little experience using these, along with proper safely gear (tube restraints, etc. My question is how far should the probe go in to determine the sex in regards to cobras? Do they go in about the same length as rattlers?

2. Secondly, I know cobras often times enjoy eating other snakes, including other cobras. Are there any tips to help decrease the odds of one eating the other during introduction of the cobras in a single enclosure?

3. In the past for the C. atrox, I would give the snakes a three month resting period with decreased lighting and temperature and without food. Then I would place the male in a smaller enclosure that would then be placed inside of a larger enclosure with the female for a period of about a week so they could slowly get use to each other. I then fed them good, then introduced the male directly in with the female and gently sprayed them down bi-daily with warmed water. Would this also be suffice for introducing the two Najas, or is there a better way?

4. With the Western diamondbacks I used a 4 foot long,
3 foot wide, and 2.5 foot deep enclosure. Is something like this suffice for cobras, or do they need more room when trying to breed them, since they do occasionally have cannibalistic tendencies?

5. Does anyone know what the offspring of a Black Pak X with a Suphan would look like? Is there a name for them?

THANK YOU ALL! It's hard finding good, up to date information on breeding cobras that goes in to any useful detail.

Thanks again!

 

[pythonjosh]

To my knowledge, there has never been a Naja hybrid. But I applaud you for attempting! Most baby Black Paks look very similar to their Indian relatives, but turn black as they age. It would be safe to assume the same with the Suphan hybrid offspring, with varying degrees of blackness.
As far as probing goes, it's safe to say that same scale count in a Crotalid would not be as equally accurate in any Naja. Short of probing the Suphan yourself, your only other option is either have someone with experience probing Naja to visit your place, or post a ventral pic of it's tail and post it here, and we can all take a guess. Cannibalism is unlikely with these species, however not impossible.
Your next issue is going to be the mixture of venom enzymes that the offspring will have. Maintain the same "don't get bit" rule you have with the adult cobras hehe. Kaouthia venom is known to have local hemo- or cytotoxins as well as the Elapid neurotoxins.
You are quite likely to get flamed really bad here or anywhere for posting interest in hybridizing Naja, or any venomous, as many (not all of course) venomous keepers like to keep things in the family, and like to enforce that belief upon others. There is a hybrid friendly forum out there made just for ppl who like to mix and match to discover what mother nature is hiding from us. Google Hybrid Haven and it is the first link provided in that search.
-Josh

 

[jparker1167]

i would not try to do that, i would bet that one of the cobras would try to eat the other, i dont think they would breed but if you want to try its up to you. i think it will end badly