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I am about to give up

akaangela

akaangela

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I had a grand idea of breeding balls. My ultimate goal was to get ONE albino. I thought easy get two hets and breed them and get the snake I longed for a albino ball easy right? NO :( I have two beautiful adult females about 1800-1700 grams that I got that where poss het for albino And I got a male 1500g. I wintered them over and then put them togeather. I saw both tie. I got NOTHING, no eggs :( I don't know what I am doing wrong. They are all eating well. I also have two normal females (both about 500g) that I am raising to breed. But If I cant get the two adults to breed how will I ever get the younger ones to breed in a few years? I am so frustrated right now I told my roommate I should chuck it all in and offer to trade them all for an albino. I laughed because I know that even 2 adult balls and two sub adults are not worth a male albino (which I would preferr). So what should I try to get these girls to lay eggs? Shoot I thought snake breeding was simple.
 
One season miss is nothing to worry about. Really. Just go at it again next year. Next time I would buy all 100% het albinos though. as you could breed these and get no albinos. They could prove to be normal.

But do not give up. Breeding has it's ups and downs. If it all went perfect we all would have tons of babies every year.
 
Right - I have bred pythons on and off for years. Last season, I got nothing from a couple species I have successfully bred multiple times...and I didn't do anything different that I am aware of. There are several factors that come into play, but witnessing copulation is far from a guarantee of producing babies (or even eggs). If the female doesn't ovulate, the male isn't producing viable sperm, anything YOU do isn't going to matter. There are things you can do to help stimulate those things, such as temp cycling and making sure they are properly conditioned, but there are still no guarantees.
 
Thanks

I got my het male first (he is such a sweet boy) with the purchase of two large girls. Then I traded the 2 girls for a baby 100 het. At the same time of my trade I got 3 normal girls (babies). So my 100 het girl is not breeding weight yet. I figgured I could raise up the normals and trade them for another 100 het in a year or two, but I gave one to a friend. Then I got a killer deal on two adults (poss het). I figgured that I could get the experence of the poss het breeding before the 100 het girl was ready. So now I have 5 females and one male. LOL I found myself with more snakes than I know what to do with (I am sure no one here has ever done that ;) ) My two normal girls are not ready to breed (and too small to trade for a het female).

So my options are 1. try again next year 2. TRY and get a trade for 4 girls (2 poss het and 2 normals) and one boy (which I seriously doubt anyone would trade) or 3. Forget my dream of owning an albino.
 
Well IMO Option 3 is not an option. STICK WITH IT!!! lol

I would keep what you have. You have a lot of time into them and I bet you like the snakes. Just try again next season. It is not that far away. Really!!!

And there are so many great people here that you can post any questions and get answers quickly.

I say go for option 1
 
That makes me feel better. I was watching the girls and didnt see them ovulate. Which I thought was strange but though I might have missed it. I honestly thought that once mated they always laid eggs. Dose the humidy and temp affect if they ovulate or not? Can they ovulate at any time of year or just after cooling?
 
I really love my snakes :) All of them love to be held, eat great and are wonderful snakes. The only one that has a temperment issue is my 100 het female she can be a pain in the neck (but I still love her). The two big girls have wild patterns and just LOVE to come out and give me a squeeze :) I handle them often (I wondered if that would affect them ovulating?). The adult girls are gaining weigh fast and eat like pigs. They where born in 02 so they are 5 years. Is 1800 grams small for that age?
 
Did you see one tie? You should breed them repeatedly. Give plenty of chances. I don't handle mine while they are breeding or afterwards, but that's me and mine. I usually let the male breed the females a few times, not just once.
I bred over a dozen females this year(multiple males) and only got 4 to lay eggs. One clutch went bad, one hatched, two clutches still in the incubator.
Give it time, you have to have patience when working with ball pythons. Think of it as NEXT year those poss hets will be bigger than this year, and possibly lay even MORE eggs being bigger snakes.
Feed them and love them now, and next year go for it!
Wolfy
 
Cooling, shortening the light cycle to only 8-10 hours and multiple lock ups are ways to help your snakes get eggs. You've got all the ingredients to see your dream- stick it out, stay the course & you'll have not only an Albino, BUT one YOU produced! How sweet is that? From someone who's done it, I can tell you it's worth it.

Best Wishes- Deb
 
I saw them tie only once but I wasnt checking often because I didnt want to distrube them. The up side is that if the big girls keep eating like they are they will be 2000 g before next year. I am not powerfeeding the smaller girls so they will most likely take till the 09 to be breeding size. Thanks for the support.

DSCN0092.jpg


DSCN0080.jpg



these are my girls
 
Keep hoping

Well I decided to keep all my girls. I weighed my largest girl and she has gotten up to 2100+ :D The other adult is about 1800 and one of my younger girl is 700+ they are all doing well.

I was surprised when I weighed faith and she tipped the scales over 2100 today.
she is the second photo :p
 
I know this post is a little old but you stated that
I wintered them over and then put them togeather
Click to expand...
I place males and females together 1 week after I start cooling and continue for several weeks or until I notice ovulation. Males remain with the females for 3 days and then are removed for 3-4 day and offered food. I think you may have been a little late pairing them up
 

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Thank you Jason. I LOVE your albino in the photo. Made me drool all over my computer ;) I keep telling myself one day, one day I will have a beautiful albino just like that one.
 
Angela, if you want it badly enough, you will find a way to make it happen. An albino is what I wanted before I got my first ball python -- but that was back when they were more expensive. 2 years later, I happened to be given a great deal at the right time, and was able to buy my girl. She was a tiny little thing at 82g and only a few weeks old -- now, 15 months later, she's 996g and should be ready to go by next season. She was well worth the wait, because she is everything I wanted in an albino. Great contrast, hasn't faded or lightened, eats like a champ, and is completely sweet and docile.

If I were you, I would either trade off the entire albino project (adults and juvies) to get a visual albino (I see many for $650-$800 right now), or trade off the females to get 1-2 100% het females. I don't like the gamble with possible hets -- but for some people, it's fun. Do what you enjoy, and you will eventually get there. :)

Also, usually it takes more than one lock for a female to concieve. The male may shoot blanks the first time, you never know. I generally start pairing my animals in October/November/December -- they ovulate by January/February, lay by April/May, and hatch by June/July. That's how last year went, and I was following the same recipe this year until this virus put everything on hold. Many people cool and light cycle their animals or stop feeding, but others don't and find the same success. I personally don't do anything, they base their feelings on the light change with our Wisconsin seasons, and that is enough. My temps stay the same -- the animals can cool themselves if they choose by staying on the cool front area of the rack and/or around their water containers, which is what they did last year. I would think Oregon would be the same or similar. I continue to offer food unless an animal has refused for one month straight -- then I stop offering until spring (males) or until eggs are laid (females). I put males into the females' tubs for 3 days, or until I see a successful lock -- I generally check all paired tubs once a day to look for locks and haven't missed any yet. When they're done, or at the end of the 3 days, I remove the male and return him to his tub for a rest period -- usually 3-5 days. It depends on if he eats when offered on the 2nd day -- if he doesn't, then he gets 3 days to rest...if he does, then he gets 5 days to rest and digest. Then he gets placed into a different female's tub for the same process to start all over again. Usually I only give a male 2-3 females. Once he's locked or spent 3 days with one and then had his rest, he goes in with the next one. Then does his thing, rests, and goes in with either the third or back to the first one. This is how I keep going until I see the female ovulate -- then I stop pairing with her completely. Again, this is simply how I do it and last year all of my pairings succeeded and had healthy clutches. It started working out perfectly this year too -- many of my females had already been bred quite a few times already so even though I have stopped all pairing, they may probably still ovulate and continue on.
 
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