I am a male. how long can hpv remain dormant (i.e. not contagious) in my system before becoming active and contagious?

It varies for each: person. We don't know why HPV becomes active in certain people and not in others, but there is no way to predict whether it will cause warts on your genitals or not. A very important thing to remember is that as long as you have HPV, you can still transmit it, even if you don't have visible warts. That's why doctor's recommend condom use and the HPV vaccine for sexually active men and women.