What did i do wrong?

[jfaria1891]

i know its impossible to know for sure but last year during the season i paired up my ~1600g female normal to my ~800 gram pastel male saw a few locks and one definite lock. but no luck. both snakes are in perfect health they only go off feed during breeding season when they are being paired and never a bad shed or anything like that. now i didn't have a thermo that did a night cycle, i read something like the night cycle is what makes the females ovulate so to me that seemed like the clear reason why, i just ordered a herpstat 1 for the night cycle capabilities so i can drop night temps. obviously ill be trying again this year. is it possible one of my snakes could be sterile? could it really be a simple fix like having a night cycle? is there any other tips that the seasons breeders can give? yall make it look so easy lol.

oh and i gutted a wine cooler and made a kick butt incubator using the 12 inch flexwatt with several computer fans that i can adjust the speeds of from a dial and the hole 9 yards.... now if only i could get some eggs to put in it!

[Ladybugzcrunch]

One of the snakes was not ready.

[jfaria1891]

maybe they were the correct weight but just not old enough? i had had them about a year before i paired them and had got them at ~400 male and ~700-800 for the female and fed them small rats every 5-7 days to bulk them up. in any case as soon as my herpstat comes in im setting the night cycle and getting the ball rolling now they are both atleast 2 years old so fingers crossed. i have not a clue how old they were when i got them but i trust the breeder i got them from that they weren't older snakes that were underfed so its possible one of them was still too young i suppose.

[iCandiBallPythons]

I actually had one pairing a few years ago that I paired early fall through the following winter, I saw plenty of locks but nothing ever happened. 11 months later she laid a clutch, I never saw the ovulation.

[Crazymonkee]

A drop in temp is actually not necessary, bps breed year round without dropping temps. I'd say one or both weren't old enough

[jfaria1891]

I actually had one pairing a few years ago that I paired early fall through the following winter, I saw plenty of locks but nothing ever happened. 11 months later she laid a clutch, I never saw the ovulation.

haha dont say that ill be looking in her bin every day now XD

A drop in temp is actually not necessary, bps breed year round without dropping temps. I'd say one or both weren't old enough

i have seen that also but iv seen so many people saying its needed, it cant hurt so i'm going to do it anyway. and that's what i'm hoping, she may have not been old enough or maybe put on the weight too fast so she weighed enough just wasn't old enough. fingers crossed because my other girls aren't big enough to breed yet and id really like to get some eggs this year seems like such an amazing experience lol i want it i know its just a normal to pastel nothing special but i figured i should go through at least one simple clutch before i move onto crazy morphs

[BHReptiles]

i have seen that also but iv seen so many people saying its needed, it cant hurt so i'm going to do it anyway. and that's what i'm hoping, she may have not been old enough or maybe put on the weight too fast so she weighed enough just wasn't old enough. fingers crossed because my other girls aren't big enough to breed yet and id really like to get some eggs this year seems like such an amazing experience lol i want it i know its just a normal to pastel nothing special but i figured i should go through at least one simple clutch before i move onto crazy morphs

Actually, it can hurt if you aren't careful. Changing the temps up can open the door for a respiratory infection. You don't need to drop temps and it'll be safer if you don't.

It sounds like one of your snakes just wasn't ready. Even though they hit a certain weight doesn't mean they will breed. I'm in the same boat. I have a female that was bred all last season and never laid. Give your girl time. She'll give you eggs when she's ready.

[angllady2]

Unfortunately, ball pythons do not read the books that say when and how they are supposed to breed. They do it when they are ready, not us. I do know it takes pretty much a full year from beginning of pairing until eggs pipping. Females will pair for 4 to 8 months before they decide to ovulate, and even then if something doesn't feel right to her she won't. From ovulation to laying takes a month, but it can be as long as 2 months, and from laying to pipping is another 2 months.

Most females will pair up pretty much any time of year, and temp drops are not needed. When she's been pairing for a good while, and starts putting on size, then starts refusing food it's usually a good sign. If she then moves on to refusing the male, it's a good indicator she's doing her thing and getting her eggs building.

My biggest female went through all the motions her first year with me. Right up to ovulation, then changed her mind. It happens.

Gale

[jfaria1891]

this is odd when i did all my research last year everyone was saying temp drops are a must now it seems the mood has swung to not dropping i guess its one of those whatever works kinda things. im excited for this year i was really bummed out last year i was playing smooth jazz when i paired them and everything trying to make sure everything was perfect. hopefully shes ready this year.

oh and gale what would be signs of her refusing the male? just not getting locks? or will she actually avoid him and stay on the other side of the bin?

[angllady2]

Most females will just not lock. Other girls get a little irritated with an eager male, and she'll stay as far away from him as she can. Rarely, she'll get so upset by the presence of a male when she's getting closer to the egg thing she may actually throw her body around and trash the tub in an effort to get him to leave.

Lots of people do night drops, lots of people don't. The main thing we are trying to tell you is not so much "Don't do this!" but more, "This isn't necessary in order to successfully breed." It is mainly a matter of experience and preference, as well as being prepared for what can go wrong, as well as right. Being a little too loose with night drops can easily result in an RI, especially in a very cold and/or damp climate.

I have an import female myself, three seasons I've had no luck getting her to lay. She locks, but doesn't really build or anything else. So this time around, I'm going to bite the bullet and try night drops with her. The trick will be, she's in a rack with 5 other girls who don't need the night drop. So it's going to take some planning on my part.

And try Barry White. That always works for me.

Gale