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Should I be breeding her?
So here's the story:
A couple of years ago I bought a female spider, -08 and about 1200grams. When I got her she ate pretty good, skipped just a couple of meals. She started to gain a good girth and size overall. Then all of a sudden she stopped eating, which is pretty common among ball pythons. Nothing to worry about, I thought. From December to August she ate NOTHING. 8 months, not one single rat. This was last year (Dec 2011 - Aug 2012). She was 1700 grams in August 2012 when she started eating again.
She started eating on a regular basis 'til December. Then again, she stopped.
Now, August 2013 she started eating a rat I left in the tub. Just like last year. I expect her to stop in December again.
Now to the point of this thread:
She obviously have a thing going on, eating for 4 months (Aug - Dec), go off food for 8 months (Dec - Aug). She looks healthy, perhaps not fat and juicy, but not skinny neither. I was thinking of breeding her this season, starting in November, but I'm not sure that's a great idea since her eating habits are kinda weird. If this is the case, then I will never be able to breed her, because she will probably continue this "thing" over and over again.
So now I need some other opinions on this. If I breed her and she lays a clutch, most females will start eat like crazy to gain lost weight from laying the eggs. But will she make it? Today she weight 1900 grams, just started eating. Another weird thing is that she doesn't seem to lose any weight during those months off, and is currently only on her cool side. The temps are right, I've checked. It's like she is trying to tell me that she is okay with only 4 months straight feeding, then off for 8 months. I mean, she knows how to eat, that's not the problem. She just doesn't feel like she need it. Opinions, please !
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