New Guy Breeding

[Andrew Larson]

I have an 09 male bumblebee that has been cooled down for about a month now and he has shown no interest in the females. He is around 600 grams. Hot spot in the day is 87 and 77 at night. This is my first time breeding balls and I have not seen him locked with a female or anything indicitive of breeding at all. I have heard putting two males in with a female will get them a little more excited about breeding. What should I do to get him interested in the females?

[gsrept]

the female may not be ready or the male still being young himself may not be keep trying is the male eating?

[Bob O'Brien]

Is he producing plugs?

[Ultimate Pythons]

He is a little small on weight. I always breed my males when they reach at least 800g and females at 1400g. What is the females weight? Also you need to check the male and make sure he is producing sperm plugs (you can search you tube to see how to do this).

To answer the question about two males in the tub with the female, yes you can do that and see if he sparks up... The down side to this is the other male might breed with her and you come out with the wrong morphs (been there done that).

Anyway just check for plugs and keep introducing them together every couple of days for 24 to 48hrs at a time. Make sure and continue to offer food once a week for the little guy. And keep your fingers crossed. I have heard of people getting males to breed that small, so good luck man.

[The Python Lab]

When I started I went by a method of another fellow breeder. I keep them at 92* and don't bother cooling, keep feeding as regular ( maybe a smaller prey then normal )and mist their tubs 2x a day. In my experience, when they are ready they will. I have noticed that some just seem to be more aggressive breeders then others. ( example: my male cinnie and albino would breed with a garden hose, male pastel made one or two feeble attempts his first year, this season, guess we shall see ) 3 days together, pull, attempt to feed, and the biggest part don't stress over things you cannot control. Best of luck, I'm sure he will breed for you when he and her are ready.

[SIGNATURE DESIGN EXOTICS]

hey dorsey do you cool at all? and do you continue to breed all year until they go? just wondering cause i was thinking of not cooling this year and trying to get other breeders opinions. thanks

[gsrept]

I have a friend that does not cool it just takes females longer to ovulate.

[SIGNATURE DESIGN EXOTICS]

thanks for the info raymond. i think not cooling could be a plus cause i could just start breeding when females are of size and could get eggs throughout the year.i dont mean breeding a female more then once a year but have diff. females going at diff. times. this way your always getting that next surprise.(x-mas all year anyone? hell yea)lol

[Matt2979]

Don't get discouraged yet. It's still really early. I bred 20 females last year and I've only JUST begun pairing for this season. Actually, I've only paired a single pair of BP's so far and that was just a couple of days ago.

Like it was mentioned a few posts ago, don't try the extra male with your humblebee. Unless he's also a ghost, you can't be sure that your babies are 100% het (unless the dam is also ghost). If they don't lock within a week, I usually separate and feed a couple of times. Re-pair them later and just keep an eye on them. IMO balls are much easier to breed than boas and you should see some success if you're persistent.

Good luck!!!