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Retained Semen in snakes.

Tim66/corns

Tim66/corns

I have no Accent
Hey everyone!
Once again I have a question a lot of you I know will be able to answer for me.
I have recently heard that some females can actually retain semen?
If this is true, and you always breed said female to the same male there would not
be a problem.
But what happens if you decide to switch to a different male the following year.
How would you know they would all be the new males offspring.
And just for curiosity has anyone ever had a female lay a fertile clutch from semen
retained from the previous year without having been in contact with the male.
Just something that has been picking at me and I have not found answers too.
Looking forward to all answers on this.
Thanx Tim.:D
 
Tim66/corns said:
I have recently heard that some females can actually retain semen? Yes, this happens quite regularly. Snakes have the ability to retain the semen until they are ready to fertilize their eggs. I assume you are referring to the instances where up to a year later they fertilize. Yes, there is evidence that this can and does happen.
If this is true, and you always breed said female to the same male there would notbe a problem.
But what happens if you decide to switch to a different male the following year. If you're worried about it, I would personally make sure to breed to a male that would produce noticeably different offspring from the previous year. There is the suggestion that brumation and/or summer temperatures influence the ability to retain sperm. I tend to get my brumated females down to 50 degrees (sometimes high 40's) and have never had an instance that suggests sperm retention. I think those that have experienced may have not brumated or brumated at higher temperatures. There is the possibility that warmer temperatures through late summer kill off retained sperm as well. :shrugs:
How would you know they would all be the new males offspring. You'd only know if the male you use would produce noticeably different hatchlings, otherwise you wouldn't know.
And just for curiosity has anyone ever had a female lay a fertile clutch from semen retained from the previous year without having been in contact with the male. I haven't
Just something that has been picking at me and I have not found answers too. It's kinda like a scab isn't it?!?!
Click to expand...
Answers in bold. Hope it helps.

D80
 
Thanks Brent! :)
You cleared that itch up quite nicely for me.:)
I just found it fascinating that they are able to do this. I knew it was possible in Fish.
Wonder what other creatures can do this?
OOps started another itch. :)
 
I understand it can happen, but the few times I haven't bred my girls, even only for their second clutch (not the whole year), they laid all infertile clutches.
 
Brent, do you believe a snake could retain viable sperm for an entire year? Wouldn't you think that there would be an "expiration" date on the life of the sperm?

I'm learning about this, too. Good Question!!

Wayne
 
medusacoils said:
Brent, do you believe a snake could retain viable sperm for an entire year? Wouldn't you think that there would be an "expiration" date on the life of the sperm?
Click to expand...
Wayne, Wayne, Wayne! You're too busy having fun picking on me that you're missing the "good parts"!!

Tim66/corns said:
I assume you are referring to the instances where up to a year later they fertilize. Yes, there is evidence that this can and does happen.


There is the suggestion that brumation and/or summer temperatures influence the ability to retain sperm. I tend to get my brumated females down to 50 degrees (sometimes high 40's) and have never had an instance that suggests sperm retention. I think those that have experienced may have not brumated or brumated at higher temperatures. There is the possibility that warmer temperatures through late summer kill off retained sperm as well. :shrugs:
Click to expand...

You'd have to do a search for them, but there's a couple threads started a few years ago that specifically discussed the idea of sperm retention since hatchling results were waaaay out of line from what was expected. Like "not possible" out of line. A search for sperm retention may kick the cobwebs off them. I hesitate to post any links since the last time I did . . .

;)
D80
 
I've never bred a snake, however we caught a garter snake about 12 years ago. We had her for a year & a few months. She was never in contact with another snake during that time, but she had 11 babies. I had just watched a show on snakes that talked about "live birth" & sperm retention, so we kind of figured out what had happened. After that though Mom decided she needed to go back outside, along with all the babies.
 
Drizzt80 said:
Wayne, Wayne, Wayne! You're too busy having fun picking on me that you're missing the "good parts"!!



You'd have to do a search for them, but there's a couple threads started a few years ago that specifically discussed the idea of sperm retention since hatchling results were waaaay out of line from what was expected. Like "not possible" out of line. A search for sperm retention may kick the cobwebs off them. I hesitate to post any links since the last time I did . . .

;)
D80
Click to expand...

Based on this post, I guess we don't need the corn snake forum anymore, since everything thing is searchable. ;) That means all questions have been asked! No one needs ask any more questions! Stop the typing! Just stop it! We are closing up shop!!


LOL!
Wayne
 
medusacoils said:
Based on this post, I guess we don't need the corn snake forum anymore, since everything thing is searchable. ;) That means all questions have been asked! No one needs ask any more questions! Stop the typing! Just stop it! We are closing up shop!!


LOL!
Wayne
Click to expand...

What terrible timing! I was just about to post some pics of poop for everyone to look at... :grin01:
 
medusacoils said:
Based on this post, I guess we don't need the corn snake forum anymore, since everything thing is searchable.
Click to expand...
Thank goodness that wasn't what I was saying. I was just being lazy and didn't want to find those threads for you. I figured you were a big boy and didn't need the training pants. :poke:

D80
 
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