HElp for first breeder

Hey guys this is my first post on the forum:D! WOOP WOOP. Well I have 2 snakes a spider and a pastel. I understand that if I breed them together Ill get bumblees:banana: pastels and normals. Well I want to breed them and have some begginer questions. I dont want to build my own incubator so any reccomended ones? ANd what temps and humidty should I keep the eggs in? Theyll be in vermiculite with water but any tips are welcome. Thanks alot

Welcome to the most awesome ball python forums on the web!!

Anyhow, down to business. First things first Spider x Pastel yeilds spiders as well. You forgot that one to. So youll get Bumble Bees, Pastels, Spiders and Normals. Anywho, you can get a hovabator. They're cheap, reliable, very easy.

I used a hovabator my first year. I believe zoomed or another company came out with an incubator that has a built in thermostat which I believe holds more eggs than the hovabator. I dont remember the company or if it does hold more eggs or not. I only saw the product once or twice before so I can't recal.. Sorry.

Egg temps are 88-90. I have a snake shack incubator made my nature spirits or something another, i have a helix thermostat on it set to 90 and its usually 88-89 in the tub. You want 100% humidity.

How i do it is ill take a 6qt. Poor some vermic in and slowly add some warm water till it clumps up into a snowball (making sure no water drips out when you squeeze it), then put press n seal on it put the lid back on and forget about it. Ill wait for about 3 to 4 weeks, ill open up the tub and check the eggs out make sure the vermic didn't dry up and all is well. If all is well I put them back in. When they're about to hatch, i'll take the press n seal off and anxciously sit there and yell at the pippers to come out of their egg already lol (sorry im impatient at this point i love baby snakes).

Once they pip it takes anywhere from 24-48 hrs for them to come out. In my experiences at least. Maybe if i didn't yell at them they'd come out faster? lol. Once they're out wash them off and set the whole clutch up in an enclosure with moistened paper towels. After 10-12 days or so they should shed out. Which at this point i seperate them. Ill give them a week from the day they meet their new homes, to chill out. Ill then at this time try feeding them.

I've had 100% hatch rate, 100% survival rate, 100% eat first time every time rate. This is what I do an it works for me all the time.

Eventually you'll figure out your own ways that works for you. At first though you work off of other peoples experience which is fine. At one time you might be well if i do this, hey this is easier for me and it still works. I'm going to do it my way. Know what i mean??

EDIT: i forgot to mention, if the vermic drys out just add some water to the edges not much though just a little bit and make sure to not have the water splash onto the eggs.

Good luck bud. Anymore questions feel free to post. Later

BTW how old are your snakes? and how big is your female?

Thanks ALot Really appreciate the help. Another question is any advice on inbreeding good or bad? And spiders are nice too:) I plan on starting to introduce them this summer while Im off I dont need to follow a schedule do I?
Also If I do produce nice snakes I will keep my first bumblee if I get one but the rest will be on this forum as I dont have the space for more than 4 snakes so Im gonna need you guys to give them good homes>

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Originally Posted by bplover21

BTW how old are your snakes? and how big is your female?

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My bad didnt see the reply I have no idea how much they weigh but my female is about 2 and half years old her birthdays this summer and my male just turned 2. The names Are cloe and Drake and they werent based off of anything.
Also I know I need to get them of nice build for breeding but not over weight.

Welcome to Bp Net! bplover21 pretty much summed it up!

Ill try and get some pics up of my snakes. ANd anybody use the reptibator?or should I stick with the hova bator

Yea, ok basically I start cooling at the end of november. Here's how i do it

This is for MY setup may or may not work for you. I have a heated special snake room. Ill drop my AIR temps (oil radiator heater) 4 degrees. That's all they need just a small change towards the cooler side to have them triggered into breeding. After about a week of them being cooled, ill pair for 3 days on 3 days off. This has worked AWESOME for me. Ill do this for a while. Then ill pair again after i've seen about 3 to 4 locks. Ill give them a week or two off. Now this is how i do it. Ill keep feeding at this time to keep putting on the weight. I also start feeding a size or two smaller because of the cooled temperatures. If you follow this you will have awesome success.

Now don't get discouraged if she doesn't go this year. It doesn't mean you did anything wrong it's just that they weren't ready.

Now quick question just because im not your friend and come over to your house all the time. Did you have your snakes sexed? You might want to have them resexed again just to be on the safe side. I've sexed babies as a female once (and it happens to the best of them) and raised them up as a female. Went to throw in my bumble belly into a lesser "FEMALEs" cage and heard fighting. I then resexed "HER" to only find it's a HIM. Darnit...major headache.

So do yourself a flavor and make sure they are who they are. It can be discouraging if you do this for two years straight and never get anything. It'll save ya some headaches. Trust me we've all made mistakes like that and still sometimes do. Just apart of it.

Alright best of luck.

EDIT: inbreedings fine. I wouldn't ever inbreed spiders because that's why they're retarded anyway (i say that with the kindness of my heart, i love them spiders and they have their own personalities out of any ball python in my honest opinion) and never do spider to spider. it makes the wobble worse. any more questions just post em

EDIT2: forgot to mention around March 3rd ill warm them back up and keep introducing till i get ovs or they just simply lay eggs. Hey marcus jayne does that too lol. Later

Hope this helps. Later

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bplover21

Yea, ok basically I start cooling at the end of november. Here's how i do it

This is for MY setup may or may not work for you. I have a heated special snake room. Ill drop my AIR temps (oil radiator heater) 4 degrees. That's all they need just a small change towards the cooler side to have them triggered into breeding. After about a week of them being cooled, ill pair for 3 days on 3 days off. This has worked AWESOME for me. Ill do this for a while. Then ill pair again after i've seen about 3 to 4 locks. Ill give them a week or two off. Now this is how i do it. Ill keep feeding at this time to keep putting on the weight. I also start feeding a size or two smaller because of the cooled temperatures. If you follow this you will have awesome success.

Now don't get discouraged if she doesn't go this year. It doesn't mean you did anything wrong it's just that they weren't ready.

Now quick question just because im not your friend and come over to your house all the time. Did you have your snakes sexed? You might want to have them resexed again just to be on the safe side. I've sexed babies as a female once (and it happens to the best of them) and raised them up as a female. Went to throw in my bumble belly into a lesser "FEMALEs" cage and heard fighting. I then resexed "HER" to only find it's a HIM. Darnit...major headache.

So do yourself a flavor and make sure they are who they are. It can be discouraging if you do this for two years straight and never get anything. It'll save ya some headaches. Trust me we've all made mistakes like that and still sometimes do. Just apart of it.

Alright best of luck.

EDIT: inbreedings fine. I wouldn't ever inbreed spiders because that's why they're retarded anyway (i say that with the kindness of my heart, i love them spiders and they have their own personalities out of any ball python in my honest opinion) and never do spider to spider. it makes the wobble worse. any more questions just post em

Hope this helps. Later

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Thanks alot for all the help. And thats good about the inbreeding because I just want to produce a couple clutches even when I have everything set up and ready to go. Ive sexed them 2 just to check and drake is deff drake and cloe is deff cloe. And I understand the temp drop and feeding a little smaller food because theyre going to digest slower but does it matter when I do this or should I definatly start around novemberish? Again thanks for all the help

Welcome to BP.net Im Tyler, i am also a first time breeder. I am looking to breed kingsnakes, as they are the best i can afford, and they are just so darn cute! I am in the process of acquiring a male chocolate for my normal female.