Officially Breeding BP's Now!

I know that there are hundreds of 'first lock' threads but I can't help but share my excitement. After breeding corns for years and only catching a few locks, I was extremely excited to catch my bp's locked. Reg met Ceti on Friday evening and by Saturday morning, was getting the job done. Today, I needed to separate them since they will be fed tomorrow and they stayed locked from 6 this morning til sometime after 8. Reg wasn't too keen on me putting him back in his tub either though Ceti, my female, did seem to like having her hide back (I removed that and the water bowl as they just moved everything around anyways). Hoping for some BEL's out of this pairing and though I know it's late in the season, she's been eating like a hatchling as has he. Here's some proof, aka snake porn as my poor unsuspecting friends have been referring to it today!

My only concern/question would be is it normal for bps to stay locked so long? They were laying side by side and are similar size though he's a bit smaller than she is. Reg is a proven male while Ceti was a virgin. Not sure if that makes a difference.

http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps754bd6d9.jpg

Honestly, I think it is fine. I have noticed that some males stay locked up a long time and are getting the job done. But I have also had males lock up for a long time and the female skips that season. Will you be palpating for follicles? Just pair them up a few more times to be sure :)

ya my only pair this season will lock up for almost 24hrs straight then unlock then lock again but for a shorter period of time. they have locked like at 4 times sine 1/25/13.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dracoluna

Here's some proof, aka snake porn as my poor unsuspecting friends have been referring to it today!"

I feel a little better, I thought I was the only one :P

http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps754bd6d9.jpg

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Last year my daughter had a pair that were locked for about 40 hours. Talk about a marathon. All the rest of the locks we witnessed were between 14 and 25 hours.

It's not late in the season when there is no season for captive bred balls :)
I have numerous females that I have yet to start pairing, as soon as they put a bit more weight on they are going to be bred when they are ready.

Good luck, congrats on the lock!

I've considered palpating but I don't want to try that without knowing how. I learned how to pop snakes from vids online and I don't mind palpating a mammal but for some reason, it scares me to try on my bp girls without someone experienced showing me how. After breeding corns for so long, I also figure the snakes will do what they do best and plan to continue to keep pairing until after I see an ovi. This is her first year breeding so I don't know whether she'll go or not. She accepted Reg with no problem though she seemed a little confused as to why there was another snake in with her at first. He's a proven breeder so I'm not worried about things on his end. Figured it would make my job easier if one of them knew what they were doing. ;)

And I know there is no season for bps but my setup is a steady temp year around but I have the windows unblocked so they are getting a natural light cycle. Though I realize that many people recommend cooling them down, I've also talked to several breeders who don't mess with it so I chose not to and see what happens. Not sure if this will affect breeding or not though I have my corns in the same style setup and they've been laying the same time every year since 2003. Maybe is a species thing and maybe it's a light thing. I live in Wisconsin so the day/night cycle is drastically different in winter. I have an albino girl who's only around 1300 grams though who I'll hold off until she reaches the 1500 gram mark. Guess we'll find out how picky she is about the time of year when that happens.

Thanks to all the responses. I appreciate the advice as most of what I've learned has come from these forums and helpful people like you guys!