He made it to 500g!

From what I've understood, the "minimum" weight for breeding a male is around 500g - and I was hoping Toby (my pastel) would reach that by my birthday, October 20th. Not for any particular reason, just seemed like the perfect date to introduce him to Mona. Anyway, he's been growing like a weed, and reached his goal weight over a month early! :gj: Mona's ready to breed now, but I'll still wait until October so he can plump up some more.

A couple of questions about his weight... first, is this really a good weight to start breeding? And how do I know if he's producing sperm plugs? I tried pressing (very lightly) on his vent area, but didn't really know what to look for. Also, what would you recommend feeding him at this point? I'll put in a picture with my hand for perspective, and his current weight is 522g. He's been getting 3 adult mice weekly, just because my others are all on mice - should I get a small or medium rat instead? Here's my big boy:

(FYI, my hands are average-sized woman's hands)
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/DSCF1107.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/DSCF1072.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/DSCF1108.jpg

And this one just because it's cute... LOL
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/DSCF1063.jpg

Congrats, i have a mojave male that im going to introduce to my mojave female this year, hes only 430 but im going to try my luck

Grats! He may be able to breed at 500 grams. I have heard of males fathering clutches at 300 grams, but that is not the norm. I have had the most luck with males in the 700 gram range. You can find if he is producing sperm by trying to pop him. Check out Ralph Davis's videos on YouTube. He has some excellent instructional videos on popping ball pythons.

Wow.., that's great, how old is he anyway ?
Jane

Nice! I moved my guy up from 2 fuzzys a week to an adult mouse and 1 fuzzy a few weeks ago. He just went through his shed but he still eats during shed. I'm thinking about moving him up to 2 adult mice a week for the next few weeks. He's been a very consistant eater thus far.

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Originally Posted by janejuwana

Wow.., that's great, how old is he anyway ?
Jane

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Thanks! I'm not sure of his exact age, since I forgot to ask the breeder (got him at a reptile show). But I got him in May, and he was probably around 4-5 months old at the time - so he should be at least 9 months now? :weirdface

Thats a beautiful male!

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

I have heard of males fathering clutches at 300 grams,

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Worked plentyfine for me! :gj:

awesome, my male spider is at about 550grams and hes putting down a med rat every 7 days

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Originally Posted by seeya205

Thats a beautiful male!

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Thank you... I'm in love with him, and think he's awfully pretty too! ;) Can't wait to see what kind of babies he produces, and eventually I'm planning to make Super Pastels with him. With the heavy blushing in his pattern, I imagine he'll make some insane supers with the right female. :gj: