Just how taxing is the act of breeding in a younger/smaller male??

[4theSNAKElady]

I have heard a lot on this forum about avoiding beeding females too young...and it makes perfect sense, because they need that extra body weight to produce the eggs, which is very taxing for the girl....but what about the guy???? I mean, it's not like he "providing" a whole lot to the mix.....The reason I'm asking is that I have a beautiful lil guy that will be 17 months exactly the first week in Jan., and I am anxious to breed him. If he is at least 500g, do you think it would be ok for me to try him out???...or is this too big of a gamble?..or too much stress on him???...I don't want to hurt him in any way....

[elevatethis]

From what I've read on various breeders' websites, most breed males at anywhere from 500-650grams without a whole lot of worry.

Its not about them 'giving up' any wieght in breeding effort per se, but more like if they do refuse food all season, will they have the body mass to handle the fast.

In your case, you shouldn't have any problems getting a male up to anywhere from 500 to even 1000 grams in 17 months. I've got a fall '05 male which currently weighs in at about 550 grams, and he's not the strongest feeder either.

[Adam_Wysocki]

Breeding is WAY more stressful on males than females. Young male ball pythons will breed themselves to death if you let them ... in most cases healthy males in their second winter over 750, 800 grams will do fine if you rest them regularly ... younger/smaller males are extrememly easy to over breed to the point of them contracting severe URIs.

FWIW, I know of more than a few pinstripe, mojave, and lesser males that have been killed from being overbred at a young age.

To me, the bigger worry is with the males! A female that is too small likely just won't breed or just won't lay eggs if she does breed, no harm no foul. Males that are too small get sick very very easily when breeding even with great amounts of rest.

Be careful with those young/small males!!

-adam

[4theSNAKElady]

Why is it way more stressful on the males??????

[Adam_Wysocki]

Why is it way more stressful on the males??????

Because they expend a lot of energy courting and breeding the girls ... if you watch them, they are constantly crawling, spurring, etc ... females do a lot less work.

-adam

[xdeus]

Because they expend a lot of energy courting and breeding the girls ... if you watch them, they are constantly crawling, spurring, etc ... females do a lot less work.

-adam

I was going to say that, but I didn't want to get

[4theSNAKElady]

Smart man X.......I didn't really think of it in that perspective.....I have seen "the process" before, and the male does do a lot to get the girl to "agree with him"...all she seemed to do was "twitch" a little.......even though it doesn't "look" to us like a lot of energy is being spent, I guess for the snake who has a limited energy reserve for the season, every little bit of energy is precious.......Now, my next guess would be the male wouldn't be taxed as much for a smaller breeder who is only rotating one male to about three girls....but for someone like you, Adam, I bet your boys are pooped by the time March comes around...LOL!! Thanks for the info!!! good stuff..