Will my Male be ready?

[afsports430]

I have a 9 month old albino ball python that i purchased 4 months ago. He has been a decent feeder until recently when he started pounding small adult mice. On the scale( non-trusted) scale it says he weighs about 250 grams. Last week he pounded down 3 small adult mice and i am currently in the process of switching him over to small rats because i understand they are a better meal. He is extremely tame and looks very healthy. I have taken some pictures of him 2 days after his last feeding and some feeding pictures of him about 3 weeks ago. ( I will post these at the bottom). He is currently about 2 1/4 feet long and his spurs. I will soon have a het albino female that will be at least 1500 grams so i am not worried about her, but i wanted to know if he would be ready to breed for me this fall if he keeps having consistently good meals. I feed him once a week, and give him 2 mice. This last week he easily ate the second one and started looking for more so i gave him a 3rd one. I hope from the pictures, you guys can get a good idea of his weight, growth rate and size. At the time of the feeding pictures he weighed in the 150 gram range. My question is if he will be rady to breed this late fall.
Thanks for any help,
Aaron
Here is the address to my pictures http://s1114.photobucket.com/albums/k540/afsports430/

[mues155]

Thats hard to say, if hes 250g he needs to gain at least 500 more grams in 4 months. That seem a little stretched. And he wont even be a year old by this breeding season.
The rule of thumb is at least a year and at least 700g for a male to breed. But ive heard of younger and lighter males being successful.
You can at least try? The female may lay and she may not. But its hard to say. You dont want to be power feeding the little guy just to try and pack on the grams either, thats unhealthy.

[mues155]

Oh wait sorry my bad i read that wrong, I thought you said he was 4 months old! ok 9 months old...well he should be sexually matured by november but it will depend on his weight, the more weight the better because males will go off feed as well as the females.
You could always just do a late season, start in january and just do the breeding season normally if the male is a little on the light side.
Sorry about my misread.

[Simple Man]

I wouldn't bank on that male being ready in a handful of months. I have several 2010 snakes that have put on his entire weight in a few months! I would worry about getting him consistantly eating before you worry about breeding. What are you going to do when an already small inconsistant eater goes off feed to breed? Sometimes you can lose a small male trying to breed too early. He might produce plugs but you should seriously consider if breeding him is a wise choice if you care about the snake at all. Just my $.02...

Regards,

B

[RichsBallPythons]

Males need female stimulation to start producing plugs at young age.

My male pin was proven before he hit 400g, producing plugs at 300g. And hes now a year old at 650g. All males are different, and as long as the little guys breed well and eat well, no harm done.

[deathadder1069]

Yes even at 500 g they can be ready so just keep feeding on your schedule and you should be ok, just keep in mind that some will gain weight and like one of mine, has not gained much even though he eats all the time. Also, dont go into a powerfeeding mode as that wont be healthy for your animal and being that theyre captive animals, you really dont have to think you have to breed by late fall, breeding for captives is different so even early spring would be ideal, unless youre on a schedule of your own. Good luck

[afsports430]

Alright thanks guys all of the imput was very helpful, im sure once i get him on rats he will start putting on plenty of weight, and i will probably end up doing a late season just to be safe, as far as his feeding consistency, i think i worded that wrong, he was a normal feeder when i first got him, taking one mouse every time ( hes only not taken any once.) But for the past month or two he has been eating fine and pounding them down, it was probably something to do with him getting accustomed to his new home.
Thanks guys,
Aaron