New Snake.

lol.. you need to get yourself a python hook! My hook doesn't bend under my 21 lb dumerils (her forward half anyway)

She's a little skinny for breeding this season, but on a good feeding program she'll be a monster for next year! Good score!

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

She's a little skinny for breeding this season, but on a good feeding program she'll be a monster for next year! Good score!

-adam

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I thought the female only needed to be a minimun of 1500 grams to breed and shes a little over 3500 grams. The breeder females from the place I got her from are all smaller in size.

How long is she ??

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Originally Posted by worldcupkeeper

I thought the female only needed to be a minimun of 1500 grams to breed and shes a little over 3500 grams. The breeder females from the place I got her from are all smaller in size.

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1500 grams is a benchmark, not an absolute.

A 3 foot female at 1500 grams and a 6 foot female at 1500 grams are two totally different animals! ... One is ready to breed, the other is not.

Females need adequate fat stores for egg production but should not be too fat. Based on the buckled skin around the bends in the body and the seemingly loose skin along her sides, it really looks to me like she doesn't have the fat reserves needed to reproduce safely.

I have a couple of large 3000+ gram females that I intentionally kept out of my breeding program this year because even though they are large, they did not have enough weight for their length to safely be bred. Happens every year ... some just don't get the weight lost in the previous year back.

I would guess that if the guy you bought her from is breeding ball pythons, he knew that she didn't have the weight to go this year also and that's why he sold such a big girl in the middle of breeding season for $100? But that's just a guess.

It's a judgment call ... I'm certainly not saying don't breed her, she's your animal to do what you want with ... I'm just saying that based on those pictures I would personally wait until next year.

Good luck with her which ever way you decide to go! ;)

-adam

Shes around 61 inches, is there a way I can tell if she has enough fat, Shes been off feed since november.

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Originally Posted by worldcupkeeper

Shes around 61 inches, is there a way I can tell if she has enough fat, Shes been off feed since november.

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I sometimes go by 500 grams per foot at a minimum for young girls ... 700 - 800 grams per foot for older girls that have laid a couple of clutches in their lifetime .... there is no real exact formula for knowing what a healthy breedable girl looks like really ... you just know. They should be "filled out" ... not too skinny, not too heavy ... I like to say "athletic" :D with no loose skin or skin folds when they naturally bend their bodies ... they should also feel substantial and not hollow when you press your fingers into their bellies.

Developing follicles, ovulation, egg development, and oviposition take a tremendous physical toll on female ball pythons ... they really need adequate body weight to make it through the process.

I have a 6 foot girl that is 3800 grams that is sitting this season out because she just doesn't "have it" this year ... she was slow to get back on food after laying 11 eggs last year and she really needed the year off.

-adam

ok, when I held her at the pet shop I was noticeing that her belly was hard. Ill have to get more pics, when shes out she has no folds on the skin she looks pretty full, I didnt like the way the pics came out.

Maybe it's just the pictures then ... good luck with that! ;)

-adam

I just went to look at her and she looks flat, she doesnt have any folds in the skin but it looks like everything up top has rolled to the sides:P. Ill try to get pics of her on something hard and flat, the bed really wasnt a good place for pics.