Smallest female successfully bred?

[RideRed12]

Thank you guys so much, this knowledge is priceless. Honestly can't believe how awesome this is, if only I could make it into a full time job.....

[ClarkT]

A question I have to go along with the small females breeding is: How many of you have had females die because breeding/egg development/laying/etc was too taxing on their system? And if you have had this happen, what age and size was the female before/during breeding? Any experience there?

[RideRed12]

This is addictive...what did I get myself into?...

lol totally off subject but I agree. ^

[BallsUnlimited]

normally for me its 3 years old and 1400 grams.. this year i took a 2 year old female cinny that was 1200 grams but has size on her bc she is short. i wanted to do my own test and i bred her to my cinny. she was glowing for a few weeks an ovyed an is entering her pre lay shed. ill update as things progress.

[loonunit]

I paired a 1200-1300 gram 2007 female last season and got 5 good eggs from here. Healthy as a horse, very active climber, but a dedicated mouser. She got up to 1600 grams before ovulation, was back down to 1350 gram right before laying, and dropped all way down to 900 grams after laying. Kind of alarming! But she's back up to 1500 grams this year, and I feel 4 huge follicles in there.

I also paired a 1300-1400 gram 2008 female last season, saw lots of locks, but got zilch. I think the younger snake simply wasn't ready.

Do people give females a year off now and then? I think maybe I should give that 2007 a break next season.

[snake lab]

If they dont put on good weight i give a year off but normally they get back on the horse pretty quick

[ClarkT]

This thread has some great info. Still wondering, though, how many that have bred smaller (900-1200 gram) females have had the female die from breeding them too early/small/young? Is it a really low percentage? If so, is that because most just don't breed at that size? Or would it be because it's less of a problem than most make it out to be? I always have a lot of questions...

[WingedWolfPsion]

I haven't bred any that size, so can't comment.

[MarkS]

I've never had a small female die from being bred. I've had two females die while gravid. both were over 2000 grams, one was very old and had produced clutches for me in the past and one was on her first time.

[ClarkT]

Not that it's a statistical amount of info, but MarkS's experience supports an argument that the size plays no/less of a role...other health/genetics issues might trump size... certainly interesting.