Seeing good locks, what next?

I decided to try breeding my ball pythons this year. I only have one pair mature enough to breed so that is all I'm doing this year. So far I've been introducing the male for three days and then removing him for three days. They get fed in the three off days. So far they have been paired twice and I have witnessed multiple good locks both times. Should I just keep doing what I'm doing or am I putting them together too often. I'm getting contradicting info. I don't want to burn them out if it isn't necessary but I sure don't want to miss the right time. Some things I've read say once you see a lock then you don't need to pair them again for a month. Other sources say 3 days on 3 days off like I'm doing. What do you think is the best way?

If memory serves me right, youre are doing it too often. Search for breeding tips throughout the forum. Theres more than plenty of info thats being or has been put out. Good luck 😊👍

One step at a time

Watch your female, pay attention to where she is in the cage, pay attention to physical changes, pair again in a month (using the weather at your advantage), stop pairing when it is no longer needed (follicles reaching a certain size or after ovulation)

If you see a lock, there's no benefit to having that female lock again before another month passes. The significant downside to pairing very frequently is that you'll burn your male out quickly, which can (and has) resulted in death.

Now, if you pair and don't see a lock, then you could try again in a couple of weeks. I don't see any reason to pair any two animals more often than that.

The 3 on 3 off (or some variation of) comes into play when pairing a single male to multiple females - not for the same pairing.

Thanks for the quick replies everyone, this site is great! I'll pull him again and then wait until next month to introduce him again. Once they are locking, how many months does it typically take before he gets the job done and then it's just a matter of waiting for eggs? Is there an actual time frame or is it just based on when the female ovulates? I guess even after all the reading I've done, I still don't quite understand how the female pythons cycle works or at least the time frame and how often it happens.

Best place to learn about the entire breeding process, IMO: http://ballpython.ca/breeding/. Enjoy!

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Originally Posted by rufretic

Thanks for the quick replies everyone, this site is great! I'll pull him again and then wait until next month to introduce him again. Once they are locking, how many months does it typically take before he gets the job done and then it's just a matter of waiting for eggs? Is there an actual time frame or is it just based on when the female ovulates? I guess even after all the reading I've done, I still don't quite understand how the female pythons cycle works or at least the time frame and how often it happens.

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Timeline starts with ovulation before that is follicular development (building up) which can take 4 to 8 months.

So from Ovulation to eggs you have 45 days on average with a pre-lay shed occurring around two weeks after ovulation (again average).