Many individuals have recommended keeping multiple males and females together in a group during breeding season. This is both because of the difficulty in determining sex as well as the thought that combat between males will facilitate successful breeding. It is the opinion of the author that this approach can be counterproductive to success.

In the wild, Gilas demonstrate a structured social system including establishment of dominance through male-male combat. The hypothesis is that in free-ranging Gilas as well as in other squamate reptiles, the “winner” of these male-male fights gains access to females. However, in the typical captive group setting the dynamics of the male-male interactions are very different from what occurs in free-ranging Gilas. In a typical captive setup, males lack an avenue for escape. Dominant males will often fight one another incessantly at the exclusion of all other activities, including mating. Male combat can be a useful tool to stimulate a reluctant male to breed, but it must be managed carefully to be successful in the captive environment.

Gilas will breed successfully without male combat. I house the Gilas separately and simply introduce females into the male’s cage individually usually without any male-male pairing. Individual housing of the Gilas also facilitates their husbandry.

Animals are paired beginning the first week in April and copulation is typically observed by the middle of April (4-6 weeks after emergence from hibernation). Multiple females can be rotated through the cage of one male leaving each female in for several days. I will usually breed a given female several times.

Copulation has been observed to last from 15 minutes to as long as 2.5 hours.

For a complete description of the breeding protocol used with great success by Dr. Seward, see the second edition of Dr. Mark Seward's Gila Monster Propagation. Click here for more information.