Once they hit the 1000 gram mark...

There is no formula other then feed em regurlarly and see what happens. You cant know what percentage of food turns into body mass. Its the same in all living creatures. Its all about metabolism. Some animals have higher and lower metabolisms. Just cause you pound food doesnt mean anything. The animal will grown at the rate its metabolism will allow it to. Also dont be so concerned about the so called magic weight of 1200 grams. Just cause they get to size doesnt mean they will breed. Yes you want at least 1200 grams and body mass for developing and carrying and laying but if the animal is sexualky mature then it means nothing. Studies have been done on ball pythons sexual maturity and an average sexual mature girl hits it at 3 years old. Now some will hit sooner but the rule of thumb is 2 1/2 to 3 years of age. I have a mojave that is sitting at close to 1200 grams and she is only 14 months old. Theres no way im breeding her till at least december of 2012. I also have a couple normal girls and a spider girl that are over the 3 year mark and they are 1200 to 1300 grams bit girthy so i will try them this year but focus more on sexual maturity and not weight

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Originally Posted by snake lab

There is no formula other then feed em regurlarly and see what happens. You cant know what percentage of food turns into body mass. Its the same in all living creatures. Its all about metabolism. Some animals have higher and lower metabolisms. Just cause you pound food doesnt mean anything. The animal will grown at the rate its metabolism will allow it to. Also dont be so concerned about the so called magic weight of 1200 grams. Just cause they get to size doesnt mean they will breed. Yes you want at least 1200 grams and body mass for developing and carrying and laying but if the animal is sexualky mature then it means nothing. Studies have been done on ball pythons sexual maturity and an average sexual mature girl hits it at 3 years old. Now some will hit sooner but the rule of thumb is 2 1/2 to 3 years of age. I have a mojave that is sitting at close to 1200 grams and she is only 14 months old. Theres no way im breeding her till at least december of 2012. I also have a couple normal girls and a spider girl that are over the 3 year mark and they are 1200 to 1300 grams bit girthy so i will try them this year but focus more on sexual maturity and not weight

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Obviously this goes without saying. But it's always better to have a good weighing girl and then wait for her to mature, than to let her mature then try and get her up those extra few grams. Believe me, I know she might not go this year. But the the bigger she gets now, the more she may yield later. I am HOPING she goes this year, I can't wait another year for my BEL, but it's always better to make sure she's up to size when she decides she's ready.

Oh for sure i agree 100%. You want them to be as big as they can get. I was just stating tye fact about sexual maturity as well as weight cause alot of times people loose sight of that

I recently took my baby ball python to the vet.She is 176 grams and roughly 21 inches long. Based on what he said about her size , she shouldve hatched in December. This doesnt sound right at all. It sounds out of sync with the articles I've read about breeding. Do some breeders adjust temps and humidity to trick the snakes into breeding season? If so, will this have any long term affects on my ball? Doc said she looked good so im not too concerned, its more just curiosity. thanks

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Originally Posted by kmuset

Do some breeders adjust temps and humidity to trick the snakes into breeding season?

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In a temperature controlled room, you can get them to breed almost year round

watch this video guy...

http://www.worldofballpythons.com/vi...kebytestv/357/

every two to three days ill offer my mid weight females food, if they eat they eat if not offer again in a few days.. ive got a female that was really undersized when i got her she will eat small rats every day if offered she is a monster now and a great eater