BP Breeding

Hey,

I'm new to this whole BP thing. I rescued two Ball Python's from this person who had stuffed them in his closet and wasn't feeding them hoping they would die and he wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. Anyway, I have both a male and a female. I'm just curious if it's possible for them to just breed on their own? I've done a bit of research and it seems that there are a lot of steps to the breeding process, but I just wanted to ask. Like I said, I'm new to this whole thing so if this is a stupid question.. SORRY! :confused:

Thanks!

First, you need to make certain both are healthy and up to proper weight. Then you should make certain they are indeed a male and a female.

Once you have them set up in thir seperate habitats, proper heat and humidity and feeding well on a proper size prey item regularly... then you can start thinking about the breeding process.

Before you breed, do you have a incubator? Do you have space for up to a dozen individual shoebox sized habitats for each baby snake that might result? Do you have homes arranged or a place to sell the babies? Is it legal to sell pythons where you are, or do you need a license or permit?

Once you're sure you have everything set up and you're ready for breeding and the snakes are healthy and in good weight, then you can drop the temps slightly, then try introducing the male to the female. Storms and storm fronts seem to incite some breeding response in some snakes, just as a tip. They may not breed, they might breed immediately. Once you've seen a lock, you can seperate them again. When the female ovulates, you know you should be expecting eggs.

The set up is way harder than the actual "how to breed" is.

Welcome. You will get this from a lot of people so let me be the first. BP's should not be housed in the same tank unless you are introducing them for short periods of time for the purpose of breeding. BP's are not group animals and having a tank mate does nothing but stress them out.

Also IMO if they are rescues and underweight from not being fed. Getting them back up to a healthy weight would be at the top of the list as well as getting them their own tanks with the proper heat and humidity.

Also I do want to point out. The only stupid question is the one not asked. So no need to say sorry everyone needs help and advice sometime and that what this place is for. If you have any questions feel free to ask them no matter how simple you think they may be.

Thanks for the responses.

I only asked the question becaus I DON'T want them to breed. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a possibility for it to just happen.

As long as you keep them separated, and one of them isn't Houdini, you shouldn't end up with any babies =)

In seriousness though, If you leave them together it is extremely possible and likely that they will lock up at some point if they are Male and Female. Whether you produce viable eggs out of it is another story. Either way, as mentioned above, you should separate them into individual enclosures with proper husbandry.

Good luck and thanks for the rescue. I'm sure they will appreciate it =)

If they are seperated and were kept seperate, they won't breed. Don't let them be together. If they were together and she IS bred, hopefully she didn't take, because an underweight snake may not be able to survive laying a clutch of eggs.

If you don't want to have the headaches of hatching eggs, it's simply to discard the clutch when laid, IF she is already prego.

But as long as you keep them in their own enclosures, they'll be fine. I'm sure with some good care they'll be up to weight and healthy happy snakes soon. Ball Pythons are usually pretty good at recovering as long as they are given the basics.

Thanks for the information.

They do seem a lot more content after I cleaned out their tank and gave them some food and a heat source. When I took them from that guy, they were in about a years worth of filth. The substrate was SO caked with feces and old shedded skin that I had to break it into bricks to get it out. The glass was smeared with some sort of white substance and you couldn't even see into the tank. It really irks me that someone could care SO little about such beautiful living creatures! Anyway, they are currently together in the same tank (it's a 60 gallon tank) and from what I've heard from the idiot that previously had them, they are a male and a female and have been together in that tank since they were babies (so, about a year or two). He told me he thinks they are related, although I don't really trust him. I haven't really had a chance to get another enclosure for them yet, as I've only had them about 3 weeks. They were definitely underweight so I've been feeding them mice every week and they seem to be plumping up a bit.
Anyway, thanks again for the information. I'll work on getting another tank for one of them.

You need to get different enclosures for each one...

Good job on the rescue! You obviously care, and that's a great start! ^.^ :gj:

Enclosures don't have to be expensive or bothersome to get. You'll find a 60 gal tank is far too large for one, which is why you'll need to get two new enclosures. A tank that large takes up far too much space, is almost impossible to heat, and will be stressful on a ball python (too large), especially one taken from an already stressful situation.

Clear storage bins with proper ventilation and a regulated under tank heater is the cheapest and easiest way to go. There's plenty of info on the forum here about how to go about setting it up. Ask lots of questions, and soak up as much info as you can! This is a great place. :)

Yep, if you switch to clear plastic "tote" bins, you can make them really secure with a little effort and heat them much easier, much less how easy it is to clean them. They also hold humidity easily.

Then you can even sell off the 60g and not be bothered with a huge heavy tank.