Stupid question

[JEWSKIN]

Ok so I've never intentionally bred any of my animals. I run a Reptile Rescue and adopt out to appropriate homes once they've met my standards. well I had two females in a cage together when surprise on girl was actually a really big boy and two 16hr lock ups when I wasn't expecting it....dang needing sleep lol! Well so I started looking more into the breeding stuff since I'll probably have some gorgeous little ones. Everything I read said 6wks to 6 months after fertilization she'll lay but she'll shed just before she does..... The last lock up was feb 4 and well she's already going to shed and still has an awesome appetite......can anyone help me here? I so wasn't ready for this and well i need an estimated when and wether or not I should incubate or just let her do her thing....bp are the only ones i've never dealt with

[Danounet]

Everyone is going to tell you to use an incubator to be in the safe side, for the eggs and the mom, she will not eat as long as she is coiled with her eggs, thats about 50+ days.

I have not breed any BPs yet, so Im not sure what small incubator will suffice, but when you do find one, it should be running at a steady 88 degrees.

Also thank you for doing such a good deed! Im sure it is time consuming

There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers! What came before? the snake or the egg?

[Evilme5229]

I think you have some time to wait her to make sure shes even gravid. I don't remember the time frames, but you should look at the signs. Hugging the water bowl, staying the cool side of her enclosure etc.

Just because they are locking doesn't guarantee that you will be having a clutch. Your male sounds like hes up to pair weight wise, but how about your female. Females breeding also has to do with weight, if shes on a the small size 1000 grams or less, she might not go as far as breeding.

If you have no intention of actually breeding them, I would separate them to decrease your chances of ending up with a clutch. Theres lots to preparing that you have to do before your suppose to be breeding. I would start looking into incubators, cost, and all the necessities just in case she does go. But I would just do some reasearch until you know shes packing. lol

[Evilme5229]

Everyone is going to tell you to use an incubator to be in the safe side, for the eggs and the mom, she will not eat as long as she is coiled with her eggs, thats about 50+ days.

Alot of ppl use hova-bators. You can check out big apple pet supply. They have one. Theres a couple different models, depending on price.

http://www.bigappleherp.com/Hovabato...4Pa38Ta38Sax10

[DemmBalls]

If you are "rescuing" these snakes...why would you house two random snakes together? Have they been properly qt'd? What if one snake is sick or is carrying mites? It just doesn't make much sense to be a "rescue"...yet be so careless with the animals. I'm not trying to sound harsh or anything...i'm sure the animals are in a better place than they were. You might just want to do a little more research and be more careful. Good luck!

[JEWSKIN]

demjor19- first I'd like to address your statement....yes I am rescuing these animals both were probed female the two I had probed male were in another cage. Every animal I get does get a full check up I wasn't born yesterday I just don't breed bp, the only snakes I've ever bred were hots hun. Danounet, Evilme5229- Thank you and well she is staying on the cool side of the tank and has kept coiled since the two lock ups, aside from eating, also swelling steadily about 2/3 her body length thus far. She's also about 3 1/2 to 4 foot long and definitely meets the weight requirements as did the girl that turned out to be a huge boy almost the same size.

[Evilme5229]

If shes eating, I would be feeding her smaller meals, because if she starts to accommodating eggs its going to be harder for her to feed when she has eggs in there. Breeding age means shes probably on Medium rats, so smalls should be good enough until thoughs eggs are outta her.

I would look at incubators, checking her on regular basis, and just keep feeding her the smaller meals if she will take them. Once you know 100% that shes going to go, I would start the investiments of getting prepared. I would say do it now, but since your not planning on doing this on a regular basis, i would avoid the cost until you have too.

[JEWSKIN]

Thank you again as soon as she sheds I'll post a pic or two of her. She is a stunning snake with almost flame like patterns on her sides and beautifully spotted belly I've never seen anything like her before.

[mr. s]

These are a couple sites that may be helpful to understand timing. I hope you can learn something from them. Best of luck.

http://www.ballpython.ca/gallery/breeding.html

http://www.8ballpythons.com/journal/...ngcalendar.htm

[DemmBalls]

demjor19- first I'd like to address your statement....yes I am rescuing these animals both were probed female the two I had probed male were in another cage. Every animal I get does get a full check up I wasn't born yesterday I just don't breed bp, the only snakes I've ever bred were hots hun. Danounet, Evilme5229- Thank you and well she is staying on the cool side of the tank and has kept coiled since the two lock ups, aside from eating, also swelling steadily about 2/3 her body length thus far. She's also about 3 1/2 to 4 foot long and definitely meets the weight requirements as did the girl that turned out to be a huge boy almost the same size.

I understand and appreciate what you are doing. So many animals out there end up in crappy homes, so it's nice to see other people out there helping them (I just rescued a 5+ foot girl last weekend). I wasn't trying to come down on you in any way...I was just stressing some concerns (of which you answered). One other thing to note is that BP's are mostly a solitare animal in the wild and housing them together is not always a great idea (although some on here have done it successfully). I guess that's a call on the keepers part.

Unfortunately I have no hands on advice to offer on the breeding questions, but I do wish you the best of luck!