Snake copulation

The Snake copulation - the first of four steps to fertilized eggs.

The snake copulation (in German it calls Schlangenknoten) is the act of reproduction in snakes.

The term Schlangenknoten comes from the fact that the two sexes wrap their tails around each other like a knot.

This structure is like the paracord lanyard snake knot.

The mating behavior is initiated by the male animal.

But until then, some preparations must be made in the terrarium to signal the female that it is time for reproduction.

Then, within about four weeks, the female begins producing hormones that signal the male that he is ready to mate.

For this reason, I place the males with the females for the first time about four weeks after the start of the first changes.

If the changes in the terrarium have achieved the desired result, copulation will already take place on the first 48 hours of mating of the two sexes.

The excited male follows her chosen one until she gets involved with him.

There is no extensive courtship behavior in the green tree python. However, numerous scent marks are set, which can be seen as white spots on the decoration when dry.

When mating, the male crawls up and between the turns of the female and wraps his tail around hers.

The area around the cloaca is carefully scratched with the help of the anal spurs.

As a result, the male Morelia viridis now tries to reach the partner's cloaca with his cloaca.

The cloaca is the common opening in the body for the digestive, sexual, and excretory organs.

If the female raises her tail a little, nothing stands in the way of a successful mating.

The male animal inserts one of its two Hemipenes - the male copulatory organ - into the female's cloaca.

Now it can transfer its sperm directly into the female.

The Hemipenis that is on the side facing the female is always used during mating.

Even if one of the two Hemipenes were lost, the male is still capable of copulation.

A mating can last a few minutes, but also more than 24 hours.

Mating usually begins at night and can continue well into the following day.

In addition, the green tree python mates several times and this for weeks.

I could count more than 10 copulations in six weeks.

But the number of copulations says nothing about the success or failure of a mating.

Other factors play an important role.