how long before they can breed

[bobby729]

hey i have a one year old male and a 8 month female i just want a general idea of how long i can expect to wait before i can let them breed i no i need a scale but i just want an idea

Thanks

[LadyOhh]

At least a year and a half for the female.

The male is age ready now, depending on the weight.

[Gloryhound]

This is a topic that will get you a lot of various answers. The most important aspect is the females weight. Opinions on this seem to start for the majority at 1500 grams, but some breeders say 1200 grams is good and we have even had some breeders that have had luck with 800 gram females. Generally if you say anything under 1200 grams you are likely to start a whole thread about the issues of breeding a female under XXXX grams and some may give some grief for under 1500 grams. As far as years go all snakes mature at different rates just like people. Some are mature enough by their second winter or 18 months and others go till their 4th winter which puts them right around 3 1/2 years of age.

Ultimately you need to remember you are breeding a living animal. All the guide lines in the world are a good start, but your ball python may not have read the time line on ball python maturity and weight gain. If that is the case your snake probably will not follow the rules some people may think are set in stone. In these cases you need to make some educated decisions on your own and try and read your own snakes.

Now that I have really confused you and fed you answers that you probably did not want to hear why don't you just relax and enjoy all the stages of life your ball pythons have to offer and try not to rush them.

And people thought I was pushing my daughter to drive a Jr. Dragster at 6 years of age. People seem to think something that gets up to 90 MPH at the end of a 1/4 mile is a little much for a kid that age for some reason.