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 #2065346


Russell55
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 Interesting observation needs your comments.

Something interesting has happened a couple of times and I want some input from other owners of more than one milksnake. I have a 4 1/2’ male Black milk snake and a 2’ female Black milk snake. If I or my wife has handled the female and then attempts to handle the male, even after washing our hands between handling, the male becomes very agitated and strikes at our hands. Yesterday, after holding our female and then thouroughly washing my hands, our male struck my finger and "wrapped" my hand as if to swallow it. I had to hold his head under running water to get him to let go. He had never been aggressive before we got the female, and is fine as long as we haven’t held her before we take him out. Has anyone else had any similar experiences? He doesn’t act scared or defensive. More like uncontrollable excitement and hunger. I know that Milks eat other snakes but is this aggression normal? What about when she is old enough to breed?
08/30/09  03:11am

 #2065497


Peter54
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   Message To: Russell55   In reference to Message Id: 2065346


 Interesting observation needs your comments.

This behaviour is not uncommon with aggressive feeders within the Lampropeltis complex, such as L. getula californiae, L. triangulum hondurensis, L. t gaigeae and a few more.

To avoid this behaviour ruining breeding plans, just see to it that the snakes are about the same size when attempting to mate them and also see to it that they are well fed prior to the attemted mating session. Supervise at all time when keeping them together. Biting will occur from both parts, that’s normal, but if the biting turns violent with blood and tight curling up occuring, you must intervene.
08/30/09  04:56pm

 #2065551


Russell55
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   Message To: Peter54   In reference to Message Id: 2065497


 Interesting observation needs your comments.

Hey Peter, Thanks for the info. I had a feeling it was something like that. And we will definately wait untill our female is much larger before putting them together.


Thanks again.



08/30/09  06:36pm

 #2065784


Lovin2act
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   Message To: Russell55   In reference to Message Id: 2065551


 Interesting observation needs your comments.

And just to chime in a little on mine, I have noticed my 4ft male being agitated now whenever I have been handling my 4ft female prior to handling him. Not to the point of biting me, but he gets in that weird type of movement where they stop and go constantly and he looks like he wants to take my head off when I get in his way. So yeah I think he is gonna be excited to get at her one day in the future :-) Both my blacks have been shedding like crazy though...almost every 3 weeks it seems they are going blue.
08/31/09  10:01am

 #2065818


Russell55
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   Message To: Lovin2act   In reference to Message Id: 2065784


 Interesting observation needs your comments.

Lovin2act, I am seeing the same thing with our Blacks. They both seem to be shedding a lot more frequently than 6 months ago. He used to shed about every 4-5 weeks, now it’s about every three to 3 1/2 weeks. I live in Texas and we’ve been getting 100 plus degree temps for over 2 months, so that might have something to do with it. We ended up getting a separate window A/C unit just for the "snake room" in order to keep them cool and not have an outrageous utility bill.
As to the aggressive behavior in our Black male, it only happens if we’ve handled the female first. I haven’t noticed any particular reaction from the female if we interact after having handled the male, though. But she is more excitable and jumpier than he is anyway, so it’s hard to quantify.
On a side note, how long can I expect it to take for the 24" female to reach a reasonable breeding size? She has gone from about the thickness of my pinkie finger to about the size of my index finger in just over two months.
08/31/09  11:46am

 #2065859


Lovin2act
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   Message To: Russell55   In reference to Message Id: 2065818


 Interesting observation needs your comments.

I am in SoCal and we too have been having some crazy hot weather! So as you indicate this may very well be the culprit to the increased shedding here. I am doing my darndest to keep my room cool without having to run the a/c and send me to the poor house! That’s a good call you made there with the separate a/c unit. I may have to try that if things keep up this way here with the heat.

Funny I have the opposite with mine, my female is really relaxed and care free while my male is always on the move in his cage and pretty hyper when he is out. Even right after he eats and has a huge bulge in his belly, he is out cruisin around while my female will go to her hide and crash out for several days. I have them both eating small f/t rats and they seem to love them over having multiple mice at each meal.

As far as breeding size, I have been advised by other breeders of black milks that they need to be at least 4-5 years of age before breeding or else you risk alot of bad eggs and possible egg binding in the females. Now I just got into black milks so I knew nothing of them a few months ago, so I cant say these things with any certainty myself, but I trust what they are telling me as they have good reputations in the forums they post in. I asked them about growth rate regarding these blacks and was informed that due to them being a colder climate snake, they have a slower growth rate than most warmer climate animals. Therefore taking longer to be fully mature and breedable. So I figured that made pretty good sense there and I dont plan to try for at least a year and a half or two myself. Both of mine are 07’s. Sounds like your lady is off to a great start though and is growing like a weed there!!! You will have to post some more pics soon :-)
08/31/09  01:52pm


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