Head shy pastel?

I recently picked up a male pastel and seems really head shy. In fact, when I put him in with my female who has been locking up daily with another male, he has no interest in her what so ever. He just tries to hide. Will he always be like this or is there a way to help him? He is a nice looking pastel and would probably sire some great offspring.

So you are expecting him to go right over and do his business with her? All ball pythons are head shy, some more than others.. Depends if you work with them or not.

Many Balls will not breed right after an environment change. I purchased a breeder hypo male and breeder 66% het hypo female that had been locking up. They got to my place and never did anything.

My suggestion is if you have a male doing the job don't stress the new guy out more by expecting him to breed.

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Many Balls will not breed right after an enviroment change. I purchaed a breeder hypo male and breed 66% het hypo that hand been locking up. They got to my place and never did anything.

My suggestion is if you have a male doing the job don't stress the new guy out more by expecting him to breed.

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I went ahead and pulled him already. I was wondering if there is anything to do that can help him aclimate better for next season actually.

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Originally Posted by twistedtails

I went ahead and pulled him already. I was wondering if there is anything to do that can help him aclimate better for next season actually.

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Nope.. just feed him and keep him like any of your other snakes.. and try again next year.

Be sure to follow quarantine procedures with new snakes (not sure if you did, but I'm suggesting because you stated that he was recently acquired).

Do you have a weight on him? Some are ready earlier than others. My Pastel was a few months short of a year when I started pairing him up, and it took him a bit to get into the swing of things. But the next clutch I am expecting is his.

he is roughly 700 grams and a proven breeder from a shop here in town.

That's a good weight on him. He may just need to get acclimated to his new surroundings.

Actually when I got him he was the same way for them. Do shy pythons still tend to breed? Or should I handle him often to try and reduce his fears before next season?

I have shy ones & outgoing ones & I haven't seen a difference in breeding behavior. My Pinstripe & Het Pied males are both very shy but they both did a great job during breeding season.