New member BP breeding questions.

[Ranegyr]

Hi, This is my first post and i was hoping someone could give me a little help. First of all, i love my two BP's and have no intention of breeding for profit. My maternal instinct in kicking in and since i refuse to have more human kids, baby snakes will do. Plus my girlfriends sister wants one bad. She also wants to be a vet so that's good.

I am not confident that my current setup and situation will end up with hatchlings next spring/summer. Any input either good or bad will be greatly appreciated. Here is what i have. He is 5 and she is supposed to be 2 but she is kinda small. Both are very healthy but never fat. the tank is 30 gal tall. i have pine bark floor with a large water dish. 1 big cave style hide for both, some rocks and driftwood for asthetics. humidity is usually always 60%, i mist to 80% - 90% every few days. temp is 85degrees day and 75 at night. i only heat with standard flukers lamp and 60watt bulb on a timer 12/12. i dont like that it's 12 inches away form where they bask but he seems to like it. she is only nocturnal, he plays all the time. i never see her basking in the warmth. they seem relatively happy with the tank, but their behavior is what concerns me most. like i said, he is very active day and night while she stays hidden most all the time. She has recently started coming out at night but that's after the timer light goes out. she seems relatively disinterested in him. i do see them sleeping together inside the hide, but other than that, there isn't much affection going on.

okay, sorry that was so long-winded.

so, with all the stuff in the tank, is it too busy? there is not much floor space other than what's in the hide. but, i've always been told and read that BP's like it that way. Cozy!

i figure she might be young. she is almost 2 feet long and has a diameter of just under 2 inches. she looks and eats great, rounded and healthy. she is just a lot smaller than he is. he is 5 ft and midsection has the diameter of a baseball. does her size matter? i know the weight suggestions for breeding but i have not had her weighed. lady i got her from said she was over 2yo. i think she should be bigger at 2yo. either she was underweight for a while or she is younger than i think.

how is the ambient light from the family room affecting their day/night cycles. should i put them in a darker enviroment and use the lamp exclusively?

they stay together all the time. is that bad? i have a 55 gal tank that is empty, but i think they will be uncomfortably open in that tank. then again, are they together too much? i could custom divide the 55gal which is what i planned if she actually got pregnant. i was going to put the babies in there.

both are very tame. my 2yo safely holds both on her neck and loves them. i try to have daughter/snake/mommy bonding time with both snakes at least once a week. is that a bad thing if i want her preggers?

so, i think that's about it for now. i love my babies and want them to have babies of their own. they seem to love their home but should i change anything? please let me know.

and i love this site. i've already found so much helpful information. thanks to all of you.

new member Kerry

[anendeloflorien]

Whooo, where to begin...... I'm going to try not to sound like an arse here but you've GOT to make a few changes.....

#1 They should DEFINITELY be in separate enclosures! The female sounds like she is still WAY too small to be laying eggs. If she were to have them she would most likely become egg-bound which can be FATAL! The "cuddling" and "snuggling" they are doing is actually them vying for dominance which can be extremely stressful for the snake.

#2 Temperatures and humidity. 50% humidity is what you should be shooting for, any higher than that and you are putting them both at risk for a respiratory infection (another reason you should keep them seperate, if one gets sick the other one will too RIs are viral!). You do NOT need to have a nighttime drop in temperatures. Temps should be approximately 92 degrees on the warm side and 80-83 on the cool side 24 hours a day. Lamps are unneccesary and actually do more to stress the snakes than anything. They do not require UVA or UVB light (despite what the pet store people will tell you to try and sell a $20 light bulb). The best thing to heat the tank is an undertank heater CONTROLLED with a thermostat.

#3 are you prepared with an incubator in case the female does lay eggs? It takes a fairly specialized incubator to properly hatch ball python eggs. The temperature and humidity MUST be closely monitored or your eggs will go bad extremely fast.

Sorry if I come across wrong I just want to see your snakes get the best care they possibly can.
BTW Have you considered getting a couple of actual snake cages? Reptile Basics makes some great ones, they come with heat installed and a light if you should choose to view them. www.reptilebasics.com you can ask Rich (the owner) anything you'd like and he's very quick to respond to questions and their product is AMAZING!

Good Luck!

[truthsdeceit]

I'm definitely no expert, I've never bred either but have been thinking about it.
But from what I've researched:

a) Snakes tend to not like being house together, the 'cuddling' you see is them competing for the best hide spot.

b)Your female sounds too young/small. Female balls are almost always bigger than males and should be plump and healthy before attempted breeding.

c)There's the natural cycle to be thinking about, such as a cooling period. (this one I'm not too clear on)

As for your setup, I've read that BP's don't absorb heat through their dorsal scales. Being nocturnal and all they don't tend to bask, instead they soak heat up through their bellies so no worries that she doesn't bask and that he spends time away from the heat lamp.

shoot for 50-60% humidity.


But like I said I'm fairly new to the snake world.
Anyone else want to help us out??

[Wh00h0069]

I am pretty busy at work, so was unable to read the entire post.

First things first. Check this caresheet out: http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules/...warticle&id=59 It was put together very nicely, and should explain everything that you need to know to properly care for your balls pythons.

One thing about breeding, the female should be at least 1500 grams. Most females breed in their third year. Some breed in their second year. It sounds to me like your female it still way to small.

Hope this helps.

[anendeloflorien]

You should check the ball python caresheet here:

http://ball-pythons.net/modules/Sect...warticle&id=59

that will be your best bet to check your husbandry against and will give you way more information than I ever could with my limited time and knowledge. Please don't let me scare you away! Like I said I only want what's best for your animals (as I assume you do since you're on here for help!).

[starmom]

...
I am not confident that my current setup and situation will end up with hatchlings next spring/summer. Any input either good or bad will be greatly appreciated. Here is what i have. He is 5 and she is supposed to be 2 but she is kinda small. Both are very healthy but never fat. the tank is 30 gal tall. i have pine bark floor with a large water dish. 1 big cave style hide for both, some rocks and driftwood for asthetics. humidity is usually always 60%, i mist to 80% - 90% every few days. temp is 85degrees day and 75 at night. i only heat with standard flukers lamp and 60watt bulb on a timer 12/12. i dont like that it's 12 inches away form where they bask but he seems to like it. she is only nocturnal, he plays all the time. i never see her basking in the warmth. they seem relatively happy with the tank, but their behavior is what concerns me most. like i said, he is very active day and night while she stays hidden most all the time. She has recently started coming out at night but that's after the timer light goes out. she seems relatively disinterested in him. i do see them sleeping together inside the hide, but other than that, there isn't much affection going on....

Do you have a weight on the female? Weight would be one indicator of readiness to breed (at least 1500g). Also, many people wait until the female's third winter. I would not breed unless weights are known and you are pretty certain that this female is old enough.

Now, as for the living situation....
Two snakes in the same environment is typically not suggested. It sounds as though the male is stressed out since he is active all day long and ball pythons are nocturnal.

Also, you say you have only one hide and this is trouble. Each snake needs a hide on the warm side and a hide on the cool side of the tank.

Temps on the warm side should be about 92-94F and cool side needs to be about 82F. Ambient temps need to be about 82F.

No need to mist to raise the humidity if the humidity is already (relatively) constant at 60%.

Here's a link that you can check out with lots of info on glass tank set-ups: http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=56846. Also, I would not use the 55g as it is really too big for a ball python and keeping temps and humidity stable could be a problem...

[Stewart_Reptiles]

My suggestion here before thinking about breeding learn about providing proper husbandry for each BP first.

It start by, individual enclosure, proper bedding (Pine contains phenols that can be toxic to snakes), proper temps, belly heat etc

This should help you http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...004#post569004

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules/...warticle&id=59

Once you have achieve this first goal, do some research about breeding and see if this is really what you want (it involve more than just put 2 snakes together)

[starmom]

...
As for your setup, I've read that BP's don't absorb heat through their dorsal scales. Being nocturnal and all they don't tend to bask, instead they soak heat up through their bellies so no worries that she doesn't bask and that he spends time away from the heat lamp...

No, this is incorrect
Radiant heat panels work very well!

[Ranegyr]

Wow,

thanks a lot to both of you. I always wanted a snake when i was a little girl but mom was terrified. when i bought the male, i just wanted one. I bought the female and still didn't think about breeding. It was just an idea and i thought i would put them together and let nature take it's course. I do understand the time/money contrubution can be great and am prepared to shell out the $ if she became pregnant. i am obviously not prepared at the moment. i really do appreciate everything you both said. and no one sounded like an arse. maybe next year! instead of babies, now i get to go remodel. i love both!

thanks guys!

[anendeloflorien]

Wow,

thanks a lot to both of you. I always wanted a snake when i was a little girl but mom was terrified. when i bought the male, i just wanted one. I bought the female and still didn't think about breeding. It was just an idea and i thought i would put them together and let nature take it's course. I do understand the time/money contrubution can be great and am prepared to shell out the $ if she became pregnant. i am obviously not prepared at the moment. i really do appreciate everything you both said. and no one sounded like an arse. maybe next year! instead of babies, now i get to go remodel. i love both!

thanks guys!

Excellent, glad to hear it! I wish you the best with your two little friends. Feel free to post pictures we love those around here!

BTW forgot to say it earlier to BP.net! Don't be a stranger now