When do you stop pairing...

My females tend to eat better when they are locking, its my males that tend to go off feed. The only time my females stop eating due to breeding is right before they ovulate.

I pair until they stop locking. In my experience (at least so far), if a female decides she isn't going to go, she'll stop producing the pheromones that draw the male, and he'll stop trying...so, whether they go or not, they'll stop locking at some point. Once all the females are rejecting the males, the males go back to their own bins for the rest of the year, to fatten back up.
Some of my males are so eager to breed, there's no point in stopping pairing until the females aren't producing pheromones anymore. If I put them back, all they do is roam frantically at the front of their bin all night, and won't eat...it's not restful, lol.

It is stressful and unproductive to pair them up month after month.

We have had eggs laid as early as January, and as late as December, every month of the year.

Ideally you only pair them up when the female's follicles are within a viable range, about 10mm-20mm. You can check that exactly with an ultrasound, but you can also palpate by hand and develop a feel for the proper size (it "feels" like a large pea).

You can also learn to read the shed cycles, which indicate the same window of viability.

But it takes time and experience (and failure) to read the female effectively, especially without an ultrasound. For years we would pair up from February through June or so, and have miserable success. By 2011, we only had to pair up for the handful of days when the female is viable. Saves her a ton of stress, saves your male for 10 other females, and gives you a much higher success rate.

That doesn't necessarily help the new breeder with just a few animals, no ultrasound, and no palpating skills, I am just trying to illustrate that she may cycle at any given point in the year, and your challenge, given whatever tools and knowledge you have put together, is to pair her during that window of viability, and not stress her too much outside of it.

Best of luck!

Thanks again everyone. I'm going to keep trying to learn to palpate. I've tried a couple times with her and don't feel anything, but I may not be using enough pressure for fear of hurting her.

All my snakes are offered food every 7-10 days, whether they're breeders or not. I never offer larger than a small rat, so no issue there. I think I'm going to try her on one of my ASF breeders that's ready to retire next. Maybe that'll tempt her enough.

My guys get plenty of breaks. I only have one breedable female right now and two breedable males. They're taking turns with her, going in for 3 days at a time or until I've witnessed a lock and they've finished their business, then the female gets a week off before the next pairing. So the guys are really only going in 6 days a month or so, but they're locking up within a couple hours every time they go in...

Thanks again everyone! I'm keeping my fingers crossed, hoping for at least a small viable clutch to get some experience before the rest of my females are up to size...

in my advice i would find someone close to you and ask them to teach you to palpate. i did this and found it was easy once i was shown. good luck!

Breed them once a month till ovulation...

Curious. Where can Joe Blo get an ultrasound?