Female size for breeding?

I know the general rule is 1500 grams, but I've seen people saying 1000 is fine. I have a female that is a little over 1300 and she's in great shape. She's very healthy, not to skinny, not too fat. Her weight suits her length well. She is old enough to breed, and it would be her first season if I did put a male with her. Do you think it would be a bad plan? In my experience the females don't even lay their first year anyway so would it be worth trying? I'm not sure how bad the consequences could be so I don't know if it's worth the risk.
Thanks for any help/advice. :)

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Originally Posted by hfritchy

I know the general rule is 1500 grams, but I've seen people saying 1000 is fine. I have a female that is a little over 1300 and she's in great shape. She's very healthy, not to skinny, not too fat. Her weight suits her length well. She is old enough to breed, and it would be her first season if I did put a male with her. Do you think it would be a bad plan? In my experience the females don't even lay their first year anyway so would it be worth trying? I'm not sure how bad the consequences could be so I don't know if it's worth the risk.
Thanks for any help/advice. :)

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I have never bred a female under 1500g, but I know of many people that do. Many breeders begin breeding around 1300g if the female is healthy and a good eater, as usually they will lay quite a while after when they have long surpassed the 1500g mark.

I like to start around 1,400. I got a female pied once who was 2 years and 1000 grams when I got her and the guy told me after I'd already received her that he'd paired her with a male that season (so she was probably only 900-950 at the time). As it turns out 1000 was her gravid weight and she laid two eggs and two slugs a month and a half later. Thank goodness she ended up okay (I was worried about egg binding). However after what was a perfectly normal incubation (no temp or humidity issues) both viable eggs ended up with highly deformed hatchlings that had to be euthanized (face under developed, organs on the outside). I don't know if her low weight or age caused the deformation but I'd never breed at 1000, but over 1,300 and a good age should be fine.

Let's put it this way the bigger the better, breeding is not a race, you need to be patient.

Would I consider breeding a 1000 grams female? Yes however that female would need to feel right and be at least 4 years of age, which would generally indicate that the female will not be a big female and may have been a slow grower as well due to feeding issues, in that case breeding will generally jump start their appetite.

Usually I breed females at 18 months minimum and at a minimum of 1500 grams but again I prefer to breed them as big as possible.

Also keep in mind that because a female meet minimum weight criteria it does not mean I will pair her, I have had females that were over 2000 grams that did not make the cut because they did not feel right.

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In my experience the females don't even lay their first year anyway

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Obviously you have limited experience than which would lead me to believe that you should wait.

Personal choice but I hold off until the females actually reach 1800 grams. So far its resulted in nice clutch sizes and nice big babies. I also choose to only breed females a max of 2 seasons in a row and regardless of how big and good they look, give them the 3rd year off automatically. Purely a personal decision, many breed at 1500 grams and do just fine.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Obviously you have limited experience than which would lead me to believe that you should wait.

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I'm not trying to pile on here, but THIS :number1: is the best advice you're gonna get on this thread.

A couple of things to consider, a 1300 grms wont lay a big clutch, expect 4, 5 eggs. They lose a lot of weight after laying and they wont get much bigger for next season, so again few eggs next season. You will get smaller eggs and smaller hatchlings out of small mothers.
On the other hand pairing awakes apetitte, so she may win some weight.

I had a yb female with very bad feeding problems, after 3+ years and 900grms a put a male with her, they locked and she started eating like a pig. She layed 6 small eggs at 1300grms, all hatchling were fine. She is a great eater now.
As said before the bigger the better but I dont think its a sin to breed at 1300 grms. And it depends on each snake, she needs to be healthy no matter the weight.


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Back when I was starting out, people said no smaller than 1200g, although a few had success breeding smaller snakes.

Having done this a while, I firmly believe in that "bigger is better" in the case of BP females. 1500g is a good starting point, as long as the snake is in good condition. I've seen some 2000g females that were not robust enough, and 1200g females that were overweight. So it is not simply a number on the scale, but also evaluating the snake to make certain it has a healthy size and weight.