1250g--too small to breed?

[Eden Exotics]

I have a female that I just weighed, and she is 1,250g, a bit smaller than I thought, and I know it's recommended for them to be at least 1500. The thing is, I''m already in the cooling process...should I continue and attempt to breed her and see what happens? What are the dangers of breeding a female this size? Will she just not breed or will it cause physical harm to her?
One last question--If she is too small, can I still breed them this year, like in July or so?

[NIGRO51]

I would not.. There are many discussions on the issues of breeding too early.

[ElexisC]

I have seen many people start breeding at a low weight like that but feed heavy while pairing and end with high weights, I haven't bred them yet myself and I personally wouldn't do it that way, but I've seen it discussed.

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[NIGRO51]

Most of the motives for that are impatience and greed. The well being of the animal should always be first. Too many unscrupulous people in this hobby.

[Eden Exotics]

Well I don't need personal attacks on my character, it was a legitimate question. If it's not safe, I won't do it.
Could I breed her later on this year if she gets to the right size, or do you need to breed them in the spring?

[NIGRO51]

Sorry. That was not directed at you.

[NIGRO51]

As for the other part.. They could breed anytime of year but they will only do it if they want to.

I know a lot of people do not cool the snakes before breeding but that is probably because they use the natural climate changes. (I do this) If you were to try later in the year I would assume cooling would be benficial.

[ElexisC]

Most of the motives for that are impatience and greed. The well being of the animal should always be first. Too many unscrupulous people in this hobby.
Like I said I wouldn't do that personally, was just putting it out there that I saw it discussed and maybe it could be expanded upon, I believe a few of those people are in YASMB. And I would agree that it is just what you said. I have a female over 1500 and still haven't paired her yet.

[Big Borg Reptiles]

The idea behind pairing them when they're a little smaller is that breeding will stimulate the female's eating response causing them to put on weight faster. By the time they actually become gravid they're usually at a good weight.

That being said, I wait until they're bigger to breed. I have a couple females around 1300 that I paired this year simply because they're very stocky and I'm sure they can handle it. I know of people who start pairing at 1000 grams but to me it's not worth the risk. You get much smaller clutches and the odds of having complications are exponentially higher. Think of it as a 14 year old girl having a kid versus a 20 year old...much higher chance things will go wrong with a smaller female.

[NIGRO51]

There is no guarantee that they will start to eat more once paired. I have a few that willeat year round no matter what but there are a couple that stop once the temps cool.

[SPJ]

Its fine. If they have follicles, they are ready. I've gotten 6 eggs from 900 gram girls all the way up to 15 eggs from 4500 gram girls.

[ClarkT]

I'd echo loudly what SPJ just said, and add that a female's breedability has way more to do with age/maturity and health. Not just weight. I have a 3200g female that isn't ready. She's 6' long, and she should be at least in the 3800g area before she's fat enough. (She's been off and on feed for a year...ugh)

I've had 5 eggs from a 900g female. She was 3 or 4 years old at the time, and she wasn't getting any bigger. After breeding, she finally put on weight like no other. She was quickly up to 1650 grams and breeds each year.

As far as breeding in the spring, and cooling, it has been proven over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over..... that it's not necessary to cool them in captivity. Also that in captivity, they breed when they're ready, not when you cool them. They grow follicles when they grow follicles. They lay when they lay.

I breed them year round. Different females go at different times. Many of them lay within days of it being exactly 1 year from their last clutch.

Keep feeding your 1250g female. If she has follicles and looks healthy, pair her up. If she doesn't have follicles, just keep feeding her until she does. She may not have them until she's 2000+ grams.

One more thing... Follicle development might be stimulated sometimes by introducing a male into her cage. Not sure if that has actually been (or could actually be) scientifically proven.

[Big Borg Reptiles]

One more thing... Follicle development might be stimulated sometimes by introducing a male into her cage. Not sure if that has actually been (or could actually be) scientifically proven.

I was actually discussing this a couple days ago with someone. I firmly believe that being paired with a male promotes follicle growth. I think in the wild, if there no are no males around, why would a female waste the energy producing and growing large follicles? On the other hand, coming into contact with males would have the opposite effect and put them into "fertilization mode".

Just my theory.

[ClarkT]

It hasn't been my experience that it promotes or starts it, and that's with using an ultrasound. I do understand the theory/idea, and I agree that it makes sense that it would be the case. But in actuality (based on what I've seen) it has little to zero effect. The same has been true for "cooling" the females.

[Big Borg Reptiles]

I dont have the experience to argue that as I opted against using an ultrasound. I know someone who uses an ultrasound and doesn't pair until the females have decent sized follicles and I've also noticed that he seems to have a lower percentage of females go than I would expect. It could be the conditions as well, there are a lot of factors that could play a part.