Combinable Enclosures For Breeding Purposes.

[africancichlidau]

O.K. we've had the should you introduce male to female, female to male debate so here's another twist.
If you had a twin enclosure, one above the other, which had a removable panel to allow free passage between the two sections would this be an acceptable method of introduction of the two sexes? You would have, say, male in the bottom, female in the top and at the right time you would just open the panel and let them find each other. Do you think this would work or do you think they would be too interested in their altered environment to show too much interest in mating?
The reason I ask is that I am building/converting a new, large enclosure this weekend, (unless I spend too much time at the Herp Shop), and was toying with this idea.

 

[Bryony]

toy away afro!
it sounds good to me...but i don't know anything.....
it would be more 'natural' to seek out a mate instead of playing 'connect 2'
lol
if it dosn't work out it would still be a mad enclosure

 

[Slateman]

wow, I would imagine that this should be ok Afro. That way the animals are not force to do or tobe in inv. they do not choose them selfs.

 

[BROWNS]

Sounds good to me afrofish.....great idea.

Any pics when you've finished toying around would be cool..

 

[Stevo]

Ive thought about this idea as well africa, it will be intersting to see what the experts say.

 

[peterescue]

Oh well, that counts me out.

 

[Fuscus]

I would imagine that it would be better than just plonking the male in the females enclosure. At least he could retreat if she got too intimidating.

 

[herptrader]

I did it once with an enclosure I now use for one of my Olives. Alas the enclosure is about the right size for one Olive python with the partition removed so I only ever used the partion once..

You can get away with one thermostat if your halves are mirror image, side by side and each half is subject to equal external heat sources.

I gave an old enclosure to a mate who put in a clear perspex partition, matching heat and basking lamps in each side, for his young bredli. They will need a larger home before they get to breeding size but were that not the case the partition could be removed for breeding purposes.

I have toyed with the idea of connecting two enclosures using large flexible tubes such as you can get for dust extraction when wood working. With a little imagination you could end up with quite the python playground if you wanted to.

 

[BROWNS]

I have made many of my enclosures with dividers for yearlings and sub adults so the dividers can be removed when the animals outgrow them...i have a few of these and run all on one thermostat and use one section of heat tape with glass sealed over it which works for each side of the divider if that makes sense...works well for me...

I like the tube idea herptrader...good if you only have a few animals..would you keep it natural looking or something a bit different?

 

[Sdaji]

The tube idea is a really good one, I actually saw it done with fish tanks a few years ago! It was really funky. I've thought about doing it with the herps but I think there's little more value than novelty so haven't bothered.

I think the idea can work, but in my opinion isn't worth the effort. Make sure the connecting space is big enough as a friend of mine had a side by side enclosure with a gap allowing the snakes to move between them, the female became trapped while the owner was interstate and I was called by the family to do the sad task of dismantling the enclosure to remove the trapped snake, which was in such a bad condition that it was close to death (the snake actually died within another 24 hours).

 

[Magpie]

The problem with tubes is how to clean them?
You can almost guarantee they will defecate it them all the time.
Removable divider for breeding should work though. Only problem I can see is maintaing a warm end and a cool end. Maybe a top and bottom cage would work fine.
Regarding Sdaji's point about the size of the space, I know someone who lost his female scrubbie during breeding; both snakes tried to get out of the hide at the same time and the hole was too small.

 

[africancichlidau]

The only thing concerning me is how everybody says the female loses interest in "doing the deed" if she has a new space to explore.
If I do this it will be an under / over setup as I already have the basic cupboard to start with. It's about 2.4 x 1 metre and the front of the centre shelf would hinge down and clip to the underside of the back section, giving about 200mm clearance so unless I use it for Anacondas I don't think there is a risk of trapping one of the snakes.
Thanks for your input guys and gals, the idea is now a go