BP breeding age (2 yr/3 yr)

I have a 2 year old ball python, she will be 3 yrs old May 2016. I have another ball python who will be 3 in March 2016. Everyone has their own idea of ideal breeding ages and weights. Some people lean more towards ages and other lean more towards weights. I was wondering if I could start breeding her this season even though that would make my snakes 2 years old but both girls would most likely be laying when they are 3 years old. One of the females is already 1306g. The other female is 1289g. They eat like crazy so I really think they will be up to the ideal weight of 1500g by October. If they are not, I wont bother breeding them but if they are, would it be safe to breed these two females?

Why not?

I'm a beginner and still have baby snakes but I've read people saying that they typically wait until after the third winter to breed a snake. I'd say if they are at least 1450g then to go for it, but again I haven't even bred my snakes yet.


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you still have a good 5 months before you start pairing and then they still eat for a few months after that. If they are solid eaters you should have them well over 1500 grams. 100grams per month is what i see out of my snakes. You should be feeding medium rats and really pack on the size :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BrianDallek

you still have a good 5 months before you start pairing and then they still eat for a few months after that. If they are solid eaters you should have them well over 1500 grams. 100grams per month is what i see out of my snakes. You should be feeding medium rats and really pack on the size :)

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I am not really worried about them catching up on weight, I am more worried about their ages. I hear the younger they are, the smaller the clutches they have for the rest of their lives. I am really itching to get breeding but I do not want to harm my snakes either or have a bad experience. I want to do everything right. Patience is the key sometimes.

And I heard the third winter thing too... but I just hear a lot about people waiting till the snakes are 3 yrs of age so I just wanted to make sure.

My Opinion: The 3 year thing is advice that works safely for everyone. I have personally talked in great detail with very large breeders who do not follow this advice. They get them up to size and breed them. I highly doubt there has ever been any real data collected on breeding at year 2 causing small clutches for life. Plus bigger breeders don't want everyone else breeding at year two because the competition will affect their bottom line. My 4 year old 2300gram Lesser just laid 5 healthy eggs and 1 slug. My 2.5 year old 1800 gram Pied is going to lay in a few weeks. On a side note this is the very reason why I buy or will hold back a female a year, so I always have something new coming up to look forward too. I also find that right now you can get early 2014 females at great prices and skip a whole year of waiting. I just picked up my 2014 Super Pastel Axanthic and my Calico Pastel Leopard females at 400grams each. I will breed them the fall of 2016. I would just wait till fall and see where she is at size wise, but waiting is clearly the "safest" advice to give.

Breeding is a combination of age, weight and overall look

Sometimes breeding a 18 months female is right sometimes it's not (I have no issue breeding a 18 months old female over 1500 grams)
Sometimes breeding a 1100 grams female is right sometimes it's not (I have no issue breeding a 1100 grams female over 3 years)
Sometimes breeding a 2000 grams female is right sometimes it's not (I would not breed a 2000 grams female if she does not look right)

Etc