Breeding Question

[mudfreckles]

All my females have gone off feed so they're telling me it's breeding time now. The problem is one is 1100 on the dot empty. She is a 2008. Is it appropriate to breed her or do I need to wait. I was hoping I'd hit over 1200 but she went cold off feed to soon. :( I don't want to jeopardize her health. This is my first breeding season I want everything to run smoothly. My other ones are 1500 and 1600 grams so I'm confident they'll be fine.
I greatly appreciate your input.


Thank You

[Pythonbreeder99]

She will be fine, she will only lay the amount of eggs apropriate for her size. worst case she will just lay fewer eggs or a few slugs.

[Melinda]

Have you kept the heat on? My females don't go off feed unless they are gravid or the heat is off and temps are low.

Many breeders consider less that 1200 grams a no-no. I also do not breed less than 1200 grams. I also won't breed over 1200 grams if the condition of the animal is iffy.

[gsrept]

I would agree with Melinda, also sounds like your temps are low if they are off feed. If you know how to palpate you should feel folivles building if they are truly ready to breed, other wise it is just lack of heat they are off feed. good luck

[bradleymoore]

or maybe she is just being stubborn. being off of feed doesn't necessarily mean lack of heat.

[Bob Kite]

I would have to agree that breeding an 1100 gram female is not worth the risk, I personally don't like to breed any female under 1500 grams, JMO.

[mudfreckles]

Their thermostat is at 92 I have Animal plastics CB70 tubs. it's probably 86-88 or so in the tub. Maybe i'll bump their heat up and see what happens. i hope she'll get another 5 meals in by November and then she'll be set. Thank you so much for the help!

[Melinda]

or maybe she is just being stubborn. being off of feed doesn't necessarily mean lack of heat.

Completely agree if it was only one female off feed, however IMHO with all her females (3) off feed, it's a bit weird. I haven't experienced many females going off food in preparation for breeding.

Your temps sound ok, how long have they been off food? Are the males also off food? Is is possible they are all going into shed?

[mudfreckles]

They're definitely not in shed. All females that are over 800 grams went off feed along with 2 males one is 720 grams the other is 870 grams. I have a ten high rack. This all happened 3 weeks ago. I have 1 baby in that rack(200 grams) that is eating just fine in that same rack. It's weird. We bumped up their heat 2 degrees this morning. The one I wanted to eat ate but the others are still not interested. I thought maybe as they get bigger they can sense the change in seasons even in the buckets?