With the arrival of spring and good weather, snakes begin their mating season in April and May. An important task during the winter period is to prepare a mating plan based on pedigree and ancestry data. The aim is to select the most suitable individuals for breeding, combine them in pairs to avoid inbreeding and maintain genetic diversity in the breeding stock. When planning, we consider previous reproductive performance (i.e. how many offspring each individual has produced and the condition of those offspring), as well as the body weight and age of the individuals. As well as pairing the females remaining in the breeding programme, we also pair individuals intended for release so that their future offspring can be released into the wild in their designated habitats.
The males, kept in groups, have shed their skin by this time and spend all their time looking for mates. They do not accept food, so we do not attempt to feed them. There is constant competition and ritual fighting between them for the females, as the winning male has the privilege of mating with the chosen female.
When it comes to captive breeding, we’re the ones who put the pairs together. We watch for signs that the animals are ready to mate, such as the females coming to the surface and the males having finished shedding their skin. Once the breeding pairs have been formed, the selected male and female are placed in one terrarium. The males immediately begin their courtship, and mating often takes place on the same day in undisturbed conditions.
Experience in recent years shows that 95% of the selected females become pregnant. This spring, we formed 40 breeding groups and paired another 30 females intended for release.
