Breeding soon, have a quick question for reinforcement of knowledge.

[pythontricker]

How long do I leave the two in there together for?

[jeffh231979]

2 days on 2 days off

[snakesRkewl]

I do 3 days in and then 2-3 days out and offer small prey items when separated.

[FIREball]

If they are not locked within 24hrs I pull the male, if they are locked when I check I leave them until they are done

[dpratt]

This is my two cents: Although breeding methods may vary this is what I recommend. Before breeding, males should be 500 grams and 6 months; females 1200 grams and 18 months.

(1) In November, introduce your male to the female; courting and copulations usually occurs within hours. (Note, no intromission occurs and your BPs should still be eating.) Keep day temp at 85-88 and night temp at 73-75; belly heat not needed.
(2) December through February, the breeding cycle. Place the female and male together for two days, then separate them for a week, and repeat. At this time, egg follicles should be developing in the female and spermatogenesis in the male. It's important to maintain good conditions during this time so that all eggs become fertile. Your BPs should still be eating, but feed them smaller meals. Keep day temp at 85-88 and 73-75 at night; belly heat not needed.
(3) March through July, bring temps back to normal, 90-95 during day and 75-80 at night; belly heat should now be provided. Most males won’t eat now due to interest in the female. Again introduce the female to the male and observe the male’s behavior. The male should pause to smell the female as she glides by him; once he determines she is full of developing eggs his interest peaks and he will approach the female, rub his chin on her back, followed by tactile alignment and spur scratching, then copulation. Make sure actual intromission has occurred; that is, the male will lift the female’s tail and place his tail under her tail and the male may place a body coil on top of the female, just anterior to the vent; the lifting of the female’s tail should force her cloaca open for the male to copulate in her. Continue introducing the pair together for periods of two days once a week, until the female becomes visibly gravid (i.e., carrying eggs). Once you see the female is gravid, cease introducing the male to her, but only if you are absolutely certain. To determine whether she is gravid: (a) her body will fatten; (b) she may lay belly-up inside her hide; (c) the bottom 1/3 of her body will be bigger than the rest of her; and (d) run your fingers along her belly for bumps—developing eggs. If still unsure whether she is gravid, you can always continue introducing the male to her until she lays eggs. (Note: BPs have been mating in the wild without our help so don’t worry so much about separating them.)
(4) Egg-Laying Box: Provide a place where the female can lay her eggs, such as a Rubbermaid box filled half-way with dampened Sphagnum moss. Do not add too much water to the moss, it should be only lightly dampened. You can place the box under the heating pad to provide humidity and warmth.
(5) Incubator Box: The next step is a personal choice, but I would recommend the following: Once the eggs are laid in the box with Sphagnum moss, remove the eggs and place them in an incubator box. Keep the incubator box at 88-92 degrees and keep the humidity about 60%. What goes in the incubator as bedding? Mix vermiculite (can be found in the garden section of Wal-Mart) with water so that when you pack the vermiculite into a ball and squeeze it in your hands, a drop of water is released from the ball of vermiculite. Place the vermiculite in the incubator box and place the eggs on top of the vermiculite and cover with a lid without holes. Then, once a week open the incubator box to circulate the air and check for rotten eggs. (Note: White dry eggs are fertile and yellow-brown wet eggs infertile; I recommend removing infertile eggs from the fertile eggs as the infertile eggs may cause the good fertile eggs to mold. Yes, it is true that fertile eggs have natural fungus inhibitors, but infertile moldy eggs smell bad and foul the air the fertile eggs are breathing.)
(6) Clean Snake Cage and Female: You want to completely clean your snake cage so that the egg smell is completely gone; also, wash your female with soapy water to remove the egg smell from her body. Why? If the egg smell remains on your female or the cage, your female snake may end up incubating your water dish and refuse to eat.
(7) Aug-Nov, if your snakes have been refusing food, begin feeding your male once a week and your female smaller than normal meals every three to four days while slowly increasing in size.

I hope this helps Darin (dpratt).