Odd female behavior

[hognoseenthusi09]

Hey everyone, I have recently run into behavior problems with a potential breeding female.

About 2 weeks ago I bought a juvenile male and my adult female seemed very excited about him being around. So I started getting her on a shorter feeding schedule from once a month to every other week in preparation of breeding. After feeding her this week I walked in 2 days ago and she exhibited signs of wanting to feed again and began to strike at the top of the tank. Thinking this a bit odd I bought her a small weaned rat and left it at that. But now I am worried because she now does this everyday when I come in.

So here are my questions
Has this happened to anyone else
Is this a bad sign and should I breed her?
Should I go back to once a month feeding until the behavior changes

[bcr229]

How much does she weigh, what size feeder are you offering, and why were you feeding her monthly?

[hognoseenthusi09]

I haven't weighed her recently but probably on the side of 1000 grams if I had to make an educational guess. I was feeding her a small rat and she showed no signs of wanting more before I bought the young male. Was feeding her monthly previously because of size of the feeder and no signs of wanting more than one meal at a time

[bcr229]

To get a 1000 gram female up to breeding weight I'd offer a "largish small" or "smallish medium" rat once a week.

This time of year the females often start pounding the food since they're gearing up for breeding season.

[hognoseenthusi09]

Thanks for the advice. I haven't put her through brumation or anything like that, just has her heat lamp, heat rock, and subject to the temps of the room. Just thought it odd for her to decide at random because of my male, who can't breed yet, she wanted to start eating in earnest

[bcr229]

1) Ball pythons don't brumate, they are a tropical species. They don't even need to be cooled for breeding.

2) Remove the heat rock and use an under-tank heater + thermostat for belly heat. The heat rock will eventually burn your snake.

I would strongly suggest before you put the male in with the female that you head over to ball-pythons.net and do a LOT of reading.

[Big Borg Reptiles]

Is this a bad sign and should I breed her?


Ball pythons (snakes in general) never NEED to breed. Worst case scenario she'd go through the full process and lay some unfertilized eggs, but I know people with 15-20 year old pet snakes that haven't been bred for 10 years.

As was said, she's probably just extra hungry due to the time of year. If you have her in an aquarium (which is what it sounds like) she probably senses the temperature drop recently.

I personally wouldn't consider a female ready to breed until she's around 1500 grams, but that's a big debate with breeders that I don't want to get into :P

[Dbz4246]

Personally, I think your husbandry is lacking a bit. That should be your priority IMO before breeding. It will stress the female out when breeding, and proper husbandry will help with that.