males when mating (sorry beginner)

[shmotz666]

can one male mate with a few females? or will he be too tired after he's finished? if so how many females can one male mate with during a season? thanks!

[Unregistered]

well it depends on species but from what i know most male colubrids can and will mate with more than one female. It really depends on the individual but most will mate around 3 times sometimes more sometimes only once. I had a group of 4 cornsnakes 3 female, 1 male and almost every year I would get eggs from each female, sometimes even a double clutch.

[vanderkm]

Certainly with corns a male can breed multiple females. Worth giving him a couple days off in between to recover. Also worth having more than one male to deal with multiple females because if the male is in shed when females are ready, some may not be willing to breed. The receptive time for females is pretty long, but nice to have some options.

mary v.

[shmotz666]

thanks for your replies. most helpful! cheers!

[Tigergenesis]

What exactly is a 'double clutch'?

Thanks!

[Jeff_Favelle]

What exactly is a 'double clutch'?

2x a single clutch. ie. the 2nd clutch of the same season from the asme animal.

[Tigergenesis]

so in other words after the female lays one clutch she mates with a male again and produces another clutch of eggs? I didn't know if that is what it meant or if it meant the female lays eggs and then later lays eggs again w/o mating again (as if she retained sperm and used that).

[vanderkm]

Can happen either way - some individual females, when well fed and in good condition, will be more likely than others to lay second clutches in the same season. The chances of a fertile second clutch are increased if the female is bred again after she lays her first clutch, but many will lay fertile with retained sperm.

A second clutch can provide a chance to breed to a second male in the same year, but I would be reluctant to do that unless you could tell the offspring of the two males apart by color because of the chance that some of the second clutch will be fertilized by new sperm and some by retained,

mary v.

[Tigergenesis]

How soon after laying the first clutch can she mate again?

[Tim_Cranwill]

Within days.... sometimes she will go into a shed cycle soon after laying. If that's the case, pair them up after she shed.

She should be fed heavily if you are going to try for a 2nd clutch.