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Breeding weight & age

B&C Ball Pythons

B&C Ball Pythons

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Hello all. I'm sure this question has come up several times, but I'm seeking experienced input on this one. I've poured over this topic for months on end with very conflicting results. That being said, here's my question/dilemma.

We have a few '10 females that are growing very well with regular feeding every 6 days or so. These are healthy, muscular girls and not obese/power fed. If they happen to break the 1500g mark by Nov. should I breed them? Or should I give them another year to mature being that they are still relatively young in age. We are very patient and want our females to be healthy, but would also love to see cute lil heads pipping next spring/summer. We welcome your input/advice :thumbsup:
 
You can breed them and see what happens. Chances are some will go for you and others won't. I have bred females at 1200 grams and had good results. To this date all the females I have bred that were at the 1200 gram mark have not had any slugs and good healthy viable eggs. Of course they don't produce large clutches, usually 4-5 eggs. If they are in the 1500 gram range they should be fine, some mature faster than others.

I think alot of the big breeders breed at 1200 grams, they just try to tell everyone 1500 or more just so they get the advantage on the hobbyist like us and can hit those new combos quicker.
 
I have a 09 that I started breeding mid January 2011. She was cooled in Nov at 1200g's. She was locked up on a regular basis, hasn't eaten since her first introduction, no ovulation and it's been 27 days since her last shed (prior shed was in Nov, I think). She has been pulled from breeding for a month now but I really don't think she is gonna go.

With that said, I don't think she matured in time but there is still that slim chance. She hasn't lost a significant amount of weight, but she stopped eating the moment she was introduced and at four months of not eating, I kinda regret introducing her because she could have been heavier by now. Besides not eating, she has showed no other signs of being gravid and I really wish she start again.

I think weight is more important than age in regards to safety, but age is definitely more important than weight (to some extent) to get her to go. I don't think it will hurt them to try at 18ish months, but it might just set her back for the next season like my case.

Of course this is just my opinion and results may vary :)
 
If you keep all your snakes in the same room at the same temps they will go off feed anyways when you drop your temps to cycle, so you might as well try. They most likely won't gain any weight during the winter anyways. Of course, some will still eat but very few in my experience.
 
Just wanted to add that smaller females lay smaller eggs so I don't see why people say it is unsafe for them to lay a 1200 grams. I had 3 females right at 1200 grams last year that were bred and everyone of them laid perfect eggs, they were just a little smaller than the ones laid by my larger females. I definately would not breed at less than 1200 grams though.
 
greencountryreps said:
I think alot of the big breeders breed at 1200 grams, they just try to tell everyone 1500 or more just so they get the advantage on the hobbyist like us and can hit those new combos quicker.
Click to expand...

More like 1000g.....

Info from a few years back was always 2 years and 1000g, but 3 and bigger is better. Of course every new generation of breeders has to increase the minimum weight to show how "responsible" of a breeder they are. So 1000g becomes 1200, then up and up until one day you see someone who has yet to produce a single BP tell you that 1800g is the minimum and your wrong to say otherwise.

It was real funny with leopard geckos just a few years ago where breeding went from 30g to 35.... to 45....maybe 50. At one point I had someone tell me that breeding any female under 65g was "irresponsible and dangerous". I don't think I had a female over 60g and I had a lot of prime 5-6 yo girls.

Anyway, if you breed them small and at 2 you have a good chance that she will have a small clutch, skip the next year, and possibly never throw big clutches. But they are all individuals so it's hard to say what every outcome will be. I will say the more 2500-3000+ gram girls you have the smaller those 1200g girls start to look...... :yesnod::rofl:
 
thanks for all of the input! All great points that I will take into consideration :) I plan on using 2 different thermostats and only dropping temps for those we're going to attempt to breed while keeping the others at normal temps. I'm not going to drop my ambient, so hopefully those that aren't going to be cycled will continue to feed.
 
SERPENTS DEN said:
Personally I would give them another year before you breed them. They'll be larger, more mature and give you a larger clutch size.
Click to expand...

:iagree:

Bigger clutches mean better odds for hitting your goal morphs.


I've read about some keepers breeding females as small as 900g. I can't imagine that a female so small could produce more than a few eggs, if any at all. Bigger is definitely better here.
 
I think breeding anything under 1200g you have a chance of your snake possibly getting egg bound. I'd be terrified for my snakes well being. I usually like to start my girls at 1300g and have had great success. I've waited to start a couple at 1300, even tho at the start of season they were 1200+. A lil waiting never hurts.
 
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