[WFTR]

I'm in the process of learning some reptile anatomy because I'm hoping to breed pythons within the next few years. As someone has already stated, most reptiles have two organs which are called hemipenes. They don't work together or consecutively as far as I know. I suspect that they have two for the reason that this article describes. In the wild, one likely becomes damaged occasionally, and a second allows the animal to continue breeding. Another interesting point with snakes is that the sperm travels in grooves on the outside of the hemipene. When the snakes aren't breeding, the hemipenes withdraw into a snake's body in an "inside-out" manner. When the snake is ready to breed, the male will evert one hemipene and insert it into the female. He'll secrete along the outside of the hemipene so that the sperm travels along the hemipene into the female. What might have happened to this iguana is that the muscle that pulls the hemipene back into his body has become damaged. I suspect that the writer of this article has taken quite a bit of poetic license with his description of this poor guy's problem.

Bill

[Delta 21]

I've always wanted a Hemi.

[Titan Magroyne]

Thanks for the info. All the same, it doesn't sound like fun for poor Iggie.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

So... when an iguana is not quite in the mood, do you say his hemi is a semi?
Then you show him Demi:



Would that make his hemi semi Demi quaver?

Sorry, it's very late...