warmer and the enclosure
was receiving more sun
every day. I often observed
pairs disappearing into
hides together, but I
did not witness actual
mating in the open until
October 24 th . Housing
three males together was
always going to be a risk;
they became extremely
aggressive towards each
other and combat was
a daily occurrence. Due
to the severity of these
fights I often took two
of the males out of the
enclosure at a time to
prevent injury, allowing
the sole remaining male
to mate with all three
females for a day, before
swapping over the male
until the three of them had
all had their ‘private’ time
with the ladies. During
the breeding season I
had to be careful that the
big dominant male (Bolt)
didn’t eat all of the food.
I placed multiple feeding
bowls in the enclosure
so that the males could
feed out of sight from
one another. The females
displayed no agonistic
behaviours towards one
another and were fed as
usual. The three females
were observed mating
at various stages with all
three males, however they
all seemed to have their
preferences, as they were
observed mating with their
‘favourites’ far more often
than with the other two.
The longest mating period
observed was between
Bluey and Jenny; Bluey
didn’t let go for some six
hours. From both captive
and field observations, it
appears that the natural
mating season for T.
nigrolutea in Tasmania is
concentrated in October,
once they have warmed
up after overwintering.
Mating activity in my
captive animals has ceased
by mid-November.
Expectant mothers.
In the last 4-6 weeks of
the 3-4 month gestation
period my females
exhibited a remarkable
ability to conserve energy.
During this period, they
rarely moved more than
50-100cm every day. They
would emerge early in the
morning and select a spot,
usually under the picnic
table, where they could
effectively shuttle between
sun and shade by moving
only a few centimetres.
This behaviour would
continue uninterrupted in
sunny weather; in overcast
conditions, and sometimes
even in light rain, they
would bask in one spot
all day. During gestation
the females never foraged
for food, and only ever
moved away from their
preferred basking site if
they needed to get a drink.
They were out from very
early (sometimes as early
as 7:00 a.m.) until very
late (about 8:00 p.m.).
On overcast days they
were particularly fond of
the piece of corrugated
iron in the enclosure, as
it warmed up very quickly
and remained that way
for most of the day. It
did surprise me that they
chose to stay on top of
the corrugated iron and
seldom retreated beneath
it, where it would have
been just as warm and
safer from predators. I
have observed similar
behaviour among other
captive Tasmanian
reptiles, particularly the
Tiger Snake (Notechis
scutatus) and the She-oak
Skink (Cyclodomorphus
casuarinae), and believe
this may be because the
animals learn they are safe
3.