Cats and mice!

[nemesis]

Hey all,

A few weeks ago my male corn decided he wanted a piece of my female corn however she wasn't having any of it! He chased her around the cage for ages, with her even climbing up onto the strip light to get away from him! They have cohabited for around a year now and although they mated a few times last year, this is the first time we've seen something like this happen. I understand it can be quite common for the male to chase the female, but I was a bit worried that all that cat and mouse behaviour would be stressing her out, so I moved her out into a smaller vivarium.

I decided that as they were both due a shed, we would give them both some time to chill out and get their shedding over and done with. I tried putting her back in with him just now and within seconds of her entering the vivarium, he was chasing her around furiously again!

Is this all just playful foreplay or could it genuinely be stressing her out? I've heard arguments for and against cohabiting and would prefer to keep them together, and would also like them to mate again this year, but not if it's going to be bad for her. Please advise! :shrugs:

Many thanks in advance!

[lyndy299]

I would think it would be stressing her out. I don't want to get into an argument on cohabbing however, if the female becomes gravid, you will need to seperate. If it were me I would think about keeping the two seperate anyway. You are more likely to get a good mating response.
Don't take my word as final. I'm sure some of the more experienced breeders will stumble across and help you out.
Hope you get it all sorted out...good luck with the breeding.

[dionythicus]

If your female isn't ready to breed then this is definitely stressing her out. He can persist for weeks or months. Males don't know when to say when.

I don't know why you want to keep them together. It seems likes you're experiencing one of the big reasons to keep them apart. They aren't social creatures, they don't need companionship, and with all this male harrassment, your female's health could decline. I advise you to separate them permanently and put them together only when she's ready to breed if you're certain you want to produce a clutch of babies. Which begs these questions and observations...

How old are they? Is she big enough to safely produce a clutch? You should separate them for the time she was gravid, but if the males is still in with her, she might double clutch, which could be dangerous if she doesn't recover well from the first clutch. He will continue to harrass her. Do you have an incubator? So you know where the babies will go (pet stores, friends, internet sales) once they hatch?

I'm not trying to be hard on you, but it seems like there are many possibilities you haven't realised yet.

[nemesis]

Thanks for your reply. Our snakes mated successfully last year and we have already got our bases covered for if/when we get eggs again this year. I definitely don't want anything to affect either of my snakes' health, however I've just found it surprising how this has happened this time around.

As soon as he started chasing her last time, I seperated them again and will do so for the time being. How do people who do co-habit their snakes cope with incidents like this?

[starsevol]

You really should not co-habit your snakes AT ALL.