$2000 Meal

[Pauls_Pythons]

Earlier today I received this photo from a fellow hobbyist who was attempting his first breeding.
Using his male Axanthic BHP with a friends Axanthic female which were introduced a couple of weeks ago.

Unfortunately said female was actually a male and after 2 weeks decided to eat its cage mate/prospective partner.

Since this pic was taken the deceased snake has been removed from the aggressor so at least only one dead animal to go with a lot of regrets and an expensive lesson learned.

 

[Flaviemys purvisi]

Oh damn.

 

[Bl69aze]

$2000 mistake*

 

[Chipewah]

Lesson #1; Make sure you know what sex your animal is so it doesn't get eaten by you mates when you try to breed them together.
Sadly, a snake paid the ultimate price for it.

 

[Bl69aze]

Imagine finding out your partner was a guy all along as you try to get it in.. eek!

And then he eats you for poking where things should not have been poked

 

[Foozil]

That sucks, sorry to hear.
And why does every thread have to become turtle related?

 

[Nero Egernia]

I've seen this post floating about on Facebook. This is the exact reason why I don't house my snakes together, even though a lot of people say they've done it for years with no problems. I don't want to come home one day to find one of my snakes eaten or dead. But accidents do happen unfortunately. Sometimes they can be easily avoided, while others can't.

 

[Ramsayi]

Nothing to do with the sex of the animals involved.If they were cooled properly then the last thing on their minds would be eating.

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

Nothing to do with the sex of the animals involved.If they were cooled properly then the last thing on their minds would be eating.

From an eating perspective I agree 100%.
When I was contacted the 1st question was regarding cooling only to be told that despite them being introduced cooling had not yet commenced!
Add to that the larger of the 2 was fed a week prior to this incident so was obviously nowhere near ready for breeding.

The only thing I would add is that snakes combating/fighting is not as uncommon as people think and even females can & will turn on their prospective partners.
I had a male last week that went off his tree when he was put with a particular female he has mated with the previous 2 seasons.......just not yet ready I guessed. Nope, he wanted a different female who he is hapilly mating with. (Maybe the older girl was too much of a nag??)

 

[Neil j]

.sorry I posted a snap shot from fb of an olive eating an olive I deleted it cause of the names involved. Unfortunately usually both die.

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

.sorry I posted a snap shot from fb of an olive eating an olive I deleted it cause of the names involved. Unfortunately usually both die.

Yes typically both animals end up dead. Im guessing due to the size of the meal and temperature not being conducive to digestion in the case of breeding animals.
In the case above the 'food item' was removed so the loss though hefty was lessened.