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Female rejecting ALL suitors for two consecutive years.. hormonal problem?

snowgyre

snowgyre

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I've had a female pastel for the past three years and have been trying to breed her for the past two. She was somewhat of a rescue, as the prior owner hadn't been feeding her enough and at five years old the snake was only 742 grams. In one year I had her up to a respectable 1888 grams.

Last year I tried to breed her. She actually got into snake combat with the large 1200 spider male I put her with. I paired them once a month starting from October, monitoring them closely for signs of aggression, and she finally locked with the spider on April 15th, 2011, but I never had follicles, and ovulation, or eggs.

This year I tried pairing her with the same spider male and a younger calico male. Once again she has rejected both of them. At the beginning of the year (October-November) she combated the male spider. In early March she actually accepted my male calico's presence. He flirted with her for two days (rubbing his spurs along her body), but again no lock. I put him in with her since then and he tries to get out of the tub as fast as he can, so I'm guessing she's fallen back into non-receptivity again.

She is definitely female. I probed her twice, on both sides (just in case she was gynadromorphic), and she definitely doesn't have any hemipenes. I'm about ready to give up on her as a breeder and sell her off as a pet to someone. It really kills me because she's a nice large female and she's the only pastel I have, but apparently has no interest in breeding. She's kept in the same AP rack as my other female breeders, so care/husbandry is identical to several successful models.

Has anyone had a similar issue with nonreceptive females? I'm wondering if maybe she has a hormonal issue? I really just have no idea what's going on.
 
could be through the neglect that her reproductive system never developed. It sounds more like its her though. If she is combative to the whole breeding process it could be messing up her hormonal production. Not to try and be funny but, womens stress effects their menstral cycle. Unfortunately there is not a snake wisperer that can reason with her (much like me ex!) so you either keep trying of sell off and buy a female pastel proven for around $400 and be in the game for sure.
 
I would try her with more males. I'll have to find the thread but I had a similar problem last year introducing a spinner male that also lead to an attack. After that, they would never pair. She was resistant to males for several months after that and eventually took to a different male. I almost wanted to blame it on the spider gene. I wish I could give more detail but cell owns.
 
Nick, I would do that, but my collection is pretty small. I only have three adult males and one is a het pied, and creating a bunch of possible het pieds isn't really what I want.

Randy, I really don't think she's underdeveloped, although that's an interesting idea. Just wish she would breed! My colony is so small that I really don't have room for a nonbreeding pet animal.
 
maybe try doing a breeding loan of her to someone local you know. Try and see if a different male or environment will help open her up to the breeding idea. If not, move her along and look for a proven breeder. I may let go of a dozen or so proven breeder females this year.
 
I would pop the snake and make for a fact, probing is fine usually but seeing the organs will give you a 100% confirmation.
I have never had a female actually combat a male, run away yes, maybe push him a little with her midsection, but that's about the extent of it.
Assuming it is a female, A big male might be in order
 
Vanessa, do you have any females you can rotate with her?
I did this with rabbits & I've done this with female BPS... you can put her in with a girl who IS developing follicles & it should get her to kick in... just a few days & 2-3 times should do it.

Just a thought if you're not willing to give up on her yet & it sounds like she's got the size.
 
Deb, not this late in the season, no. Wish I had thought of that earlier though.

Jerry, I'm not good enough at popping babies that popping an adult would be nigh impossible for me.
 
Some females aren't receptive if they aren't in "that mode". In the absence of follicles, breeding efforts are largely wasted anyway.
It might be worthwhile to try a good, old fashioned, light/temp cycling, and/or some manipulation of her feedings, to stimulate the hormone development.
 
Going on what Jerry said, I'd double check that it's a female. I bought a female and raised "her" up for a couple years to find out the hard way she was a he. In retrospect, I should have checked immediately upon buying the animal and will do that from now one. Hard lesson learned.
 
Bo, thanks for writing. I have double and triple checked the girl myself with probes on both sides to make sure she isn't a weird gynadromorphic animal. She probes female on both sides, so I have no doubt she's female.
 
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