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Breeding Naja kaouthia
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by CFoley on July 11, 2004
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Can anyone give me some insight on breeding Naja kaouthia? I have an awesome decent sized pair, 1.0 albino, 0.1 het albino, and Im looking fwd. to a breeding project. From what I understand its not that difficult.
They are both highly aggressive, do I have to worry about cannibalism with these guys?
Thanks
Chris
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RE: Breeding Naja kaouthia
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by taipan_nuts on July 16, 2004
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Hi Chris,
When keeping elapids together, you need to be especially careful at feeding time. This is important for many reasons. First and foremost is your personal safety. Naja kaouthia often become quite excited when they first smell food. Often times you can observe "tail wagging" upon placing the first food items in the enclosure. This seems to be an involuntary response-an expression of excitement if you will. Naja kaouthia often approach any sort of movement quite quickly during feeding when the scent is strong in the air. If your specimens are large your own safety maybe compromised. Second, feeding two of these elapid snakes in the same enclosure will most certainly result in bites being exchanged with one another. This is unavoidable if you attempt to feed snakes together. The snakes will need to be seperated. Leave them be to digest their meals in addition to calming down as well. If the scent is still fresh on their bodies you may have another fight to break up between your snakes. Here is your breeding recipe for Naja kaouthia.
Feed your female heavily NOW! Make sure he is quite heavy. These nutrients will be necessary to nourish her developing embryos. Maintain your male on a "maintenance" diet. Keep him not too thin...not too heavy. A 5ft male will do just fine for breeding on a diet of a medium to small rat every 14 days. Lighten your feeding regimen in october.
Other herpetoculturists opinions will vary as to whether it is necessary to cool your Naja kaouthia for proper breeding. Many herpetoculturists have produced Naja kaouthia without cooling. I for one, prefer the cooling temps. Your ambient temps need to be around 80-85f now. As the days become shorter (photo manipulation may help but hasn't proven necessary) lower your temps to the low 70's. If temps dip down to 65 at night-they should still be ok. Begin introducing your male to the female in Nov. From Nov to the end of Jan I always try to keep the male inside the enclosure. I would leave my specimens together for 3 days then I seperate them for 2. I repeat the process as follows, except during feeding time. You will increase the liklihood of producing your animals if you use an additional male. You may observe varying degrees of courting behavior (rapid tongue flicking, chin rubs, mate guarding-male coiled on top of the female). During this time your female will shed multiple times within weeks of each other. This is your cue that ovulation is occuring. It is absolutely imperative to have a male (or multiple males) in the enclosure as this is your prime opportunity to insure max. fertilization. She will swell. You may even feel the ovarian follicles inside her, but you want to make sure to keep a male inside the enclosure. Many times hobbyists assume their snakes are gravid when they first feel these follicles assuming they are fertilized eggs. Many times this is not the case and the male is pulled out of the game too early. The end result often times is slugs. I cannot stress it enough....leave the male in, until you know your female is gravid for sure. The way you will know is that the swelling will move towards the posterior region of the body. She will act excited around her food, but she will eat less....or maybe not at all. When this behavior is observed....it is probably ok to pull the male. Wait for her to shed. Introduce a nest box of damp moss or vermiculite. Its common knowledge that you want to use 1:1 ratio by weight. To sum this up easier, moisten the vermiculite, and squeeze it until it is clumped together. Make sure the water doesn't drip from your fingers after squeezing the clump. Keep a shallow water dish in the enclosure. This will *help just in case she decides to lay in the bowl. Use a shallow bowl or a smaller one, but water must be present at all times. Make sure your female has plenty of room to move about her enclosure. This will allow her her body/muscles out, and may help(i think) prevent dystocia (binding). When the eggs are laid, remove the female immediately. Any eggs that are stuck together should be left that way. Take great care not to roll the eggs. The embryo will attach itself to a position in the shell. Turning the egg could kill the baby snake inside. Incubate the egg @ 84F, and they *should hatch in 60 days, but may take as long as 70 or so.
I encourage all keepers of Naja kaouthia to attempt to breed your specimens. It's easy. There is absolutely NO reason for anyone to buy cheap imported snakes. Naja kaouthia should no longer be imported in the United States.
Sorry for any typos....I have a class to teach, and I need to get going!
Ciao!
Dr. Edward J. Freyaldenhoven
University of Texas/Biological Sciences
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RE: Breeding Naja kaouthia
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by taipan_nuts on July 17, 2004
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Some keepers swear that misting aids in "setting the mood"; however, it isn't vital to success for Naja kaouthia. I still feed during the cooler periods I just don't do it as heavily as I do in preparation for the season
Example: Mid Nov.... my temps may be
78-80F during the day
68-70F at nite (sometimes even lower)
Lower temps have proven necessary for many species for hermone production necessary for reproduction. This is why we hibernate/brumate North American Colubrids. Such is the case for many boid and other species as well. Lower temps trigger hormone production necessary for ovagenesis (production of ova) and spermatogenesis (production of sperm). Photoperiod and environmental manipulation may help w/ some species, but it isn't necessary for this species.
Both snakes are fed seperately, of course, but I'll offer a regular maintenance diet. The male will be fed appropriately sized prey in proportion to his size every 10-14days. The female is fed every 7 days during the warmth of the day. Naja have fast metabolisms, and food will be passed rather quickly....even during cooler temps. Take care to avoid offering large meals, which leave lumps in the intestine. These meals are too large. Your female needs to have adequate fat stores to support the developing embryos.
January 30th- I resume normal temps 85F day - 78-80F at night. By this period, if you have been constantly introducing your male or multiple males.... your snake should be gravid. If she isn't displaying symptoms, you may continue to resume introduction of the male all the way until March. Take great care to observe your female's feeding patterns. This is a big indicator of gravidity. Her appetite should be that of a burm, but may lessen or cease entirely as she becomes gravid. If this is the case, you may wish to keep the male introduced but less often and warm your temps back up. The warmer temps will speed up gestation. Another indicator that your snake is gravid is that she may not let the male copulate w/ her. He will still try. She may thrash her tail as he tries to line up his vent w/ hers. Take care to observe her swellings. If it shifts towards the vent the snake is most certainly gravid.
Don't get discouraged if your snake's don't produce in their first year. Many first time breeding females throw slugs (or high ratio) in their first breeding. I am a big believer in using multiple males to increase one's chances of success. Many keepers get 1.1 of a given species, and they automatically assume that they are going to have offspring. Success occurs many times w/ single pairs, but sometines it doesn't. Copulation doesn't mean conception. Remember that. The more times your snake gets bred the better your chances are for offspring. In many cases w/ selective breeding (such as piebald ball pythons) gentic tracking is absolutely necessary. In the case of Naja kaouthia it really isn't necessary to track your genetics. The thing you want to make sure is ...is that you have offspring. Consider picking up an additional male........or another pair. You can rotate your males out with the other two.
I know that I have laid a detailed procedure out. Don't feel intimidated it's really not that hard to breed this genus. They are quite prolific. You have to have two healthy animals. That's the key. If your snakes aren't healthy, they won't reproduce .....guaranteed. In summary here is your basic procedure.
Now until Oct 30
Male provide maintenance diet
Female feed heavily
Maintain temps @ approx 85F
Nov
Male provide maintenace diet
Female feed less (smaller sized items are ok)
Temps :78-80F during the day
68-70F at nite (a little lower is ok)
Begin introducing the male to the female
Dec
same procedure (or until gravid)
Jan
same procedure (or until gravid)
Feb
raise temps back to around 85F and resume female's normal feeding schedule. Increase your chances of success. Use multiple males!!!!!
Captive probagation is the "be all...end all" to herpetoculture. This is what herpetoculture is all about. It's fun and absolutely necessary to towards conservation of the species. Make a valuble contribution towards the species and the hobby right now. BREED YOUR SNAKES!
Good luck!
Dr. Edward J. Freyaldenhoven
PS This is a general "template" to producing most other snakes. Always treat gravid snakes like fine "CHINA". Be very gentle when handling them, and do it as little as necessary.
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RE: Breeding Naja kaouthia
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by CFoley on July 17, 2004
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the female is a good 5-6ft, how HEAVY should i be feeding her and how often? I tend to do a med-large rat every 6-7days or so. How much should i increase that?
Chris
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RE: Breeding Naja kaouthia
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by taipan_nuts on July 18, 2004
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The current feeding regimen will suffice. You might want to bump it up or give her a little extra. It's kinda hard, (but not impossible) to overdo it with cobras. Their metabolisms are so fast. Make sure to keep her in a large enclosure where she can move about. This will aid in digestion in addition to providing extra space for the courting male. Adequate fat stores aid in the production of ova, and more importantly provide nourishment for her body and the developing embryos.
Dr. Ed
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