| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| cherry-milkshake |
Posted - 18/07/2009 : 02:37:01
Will a male and female snake who live together necessarily always mate? I posted a few days ago re probing as I was unsure of the sexes of three out of the five of my snakes, two of whom live together and have done so for about two years - having never had any signs of eggs or mating I assumed they were either two males or two females. Not having access to someone who can reliably sex them for me atm, out of interest I held them both together tonight and compared thier tails. I know it's not nearly 100% accurate, but there was def a marked difference in shape directly after the vent (one tapering straight away and the other more gradually). If they are indeed a male and a female - what would have caused them to have never mated?? There is also the possibility that they may be related - but I doubt that would be the problem? Also, if they did mate would that have the same consequences as it would in mammals i.e birth defects etc? (I'm guessing not and it's done as standard practise to accentuate traits anyway but perhaps I'm wrong)
Cheers, Han x |
| 2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| eeji |
Posted - 18/07/2009 : 21:07:16
the problem with inbreeding (in ANY species) is that defective recessive genes lying in a heterozygous state have more chance of pairing up in related animals.
how old are yours? they may be too young to breed yet or you may have 2.0 or 0.2 |
| lee2308 |
Posted - 18/07/2009 : 10:57:24
inbreeding in snakes is common and not a problem,as for the breeding i dont know why not,thet might still be the same sex |
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