Breeding longevity

How many years can a female ball breed? With a lifespan of 40 years and being able to breed at 3, can they really produce eggs the remaining 37 years? That seems unfathomable.

The real answer is that no one knows. Ball pythons haven't been bred in captivity long enough to find the cut off point yet. Tracey Barker from VPI has said that she has adult females in their late 20's that breed extremely well for her. Other breeders have reported females with similar breeding longevity.

When I analyze potential projects from an investment standpoint, I conservatively estimate a breeding life cycle of 20 years.

Hope this helps.

-adam

Thanks Adam,

that really is remarkable. I imagine that males have similar statistics. BTW, what is the limit on male to female breeding ratios? I believe I read somewhere that it's around 1:4 or 1:5.

I usually like to do 1 to 5 give or take .... I've heard of breeders running 1 to 12 or 13 and getting good results! You really have to know your males ... some of them only want to be with a couple of girls and it seems like others will "GET ER DONE" with as many females as they can get their spurs on!

-adam

1:12?! Wow. I'm surprised that breeder hasn't set up an XXX Snake Website for extra income. :P

1:12 !!!! wow i thought giving my pastel 3 or 4 girls was good enough lol.
hey adam, i need some more big girls, you have any for sale? lol


vaughn

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Originally Posted by kavmon

1:12 !!!! wow i thought giving my pastel 3 or 4 girls was good enough lol.
hey adam, i need some more big girls, you have any for sale? lol

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You'd have to clean a heck of a lot more cages than last time to make that happen! :P

-adam

What's this? Cleaning cages? You didn't tell me that was an option. Let me grab my Novasan and I'll be right over. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xdeus

What's this? Cleaning cages? You didn't tell me that was an option. Let me grab my Novasan and I'll be right over. ;)

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Help with the collection is ALWAYS an option ;)

-adam

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Help with the collection is ALWAYS an option ;)

-adam

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Alright! Let me just do a few calculations here... let's see... gas prices to travel across country... times 2... carry the 7... um... hmm....

Looks like it might be cheaper for me to buy that blue-eyed Leucy at least until the gas prices come down some. :oops: