Black Mambas Mating Stock Footage 01

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Black mambas breed annually and mating occurs in the early spring, when male mambas locate a female by following her scent trail. After finding a potential mate the male will inspect the female by flicking his tongue over her entire body. As in other species of snakes and many other reptiles, fertilization is internal and the intromittent organs of the males are in the form of hemipenes. Females lay clutches of eggs with an incubation period of some 80 to 90 days.
Like most snakes female mambas are both oviparous and iteroparous. Egg-laying typically occurs during the middle of summer and egg clutches range from 6 to 17 eggs.
During the mating season rival males may compete by wrestling, not by biting. Opponents attempt to subdue each other by intertwining their bodies and raising their heads high off the ground. Observers have on occasion mistaken such wrestling for mating.
Black mambas are generally solitary, but not strictly so; as a rule they interact very little except in male rivalry during the mating season. However, black mambas are well known to share retreats occasionally, either with other mambas, or sometimes with other species of snakes. This stock footage was recorded by Heiko Kiera aka Ojatro in 2010.