Rats not breeding fast enough

I have a 4 tub rack with 1.5 adults per tub. I do not separate any of them. I tried at first but it seemed to stress them and I ended up with mothers killing babies and males constantly. Mine produce consistently for about 8 months usually at which point they are fed off or frozen. I have been told that they will go longer but I prefer to keep the numbers up and not wait for a drop in production. When it's getting close to time to retire an adult, I pick an unrelated baby from another tub and put it with its new family. I can generally keep up with my rat eating collection. Occasionally I have to thaw a few, occasionally I get to freeze a few.

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Originally Posted by Annageckos

I find, for me, if I keep them in larger groups the females give birth at different times and the youngest pups can't compete with the older pups..

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If you leave females long enough with each other, they will synchronize their heat cycles (Much like humans). So you will get litters around the same time.

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So I was also considering switching to asf. I talked to a local breeder and if you plan on breeding your bps and feeding asfs to them it can lower the value of your balls. He explained it to me this way. If all your snakes are hooked on asfs then they won't eat nice or rats, and not everyone has the access to asfs. So it could cause people to not wont to buy from you. My .02

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Originally Posted by New guy

So I was also considering switching to asf. I talked to a local breeder and if you plan on breeding your bps and feeding asfs to them it can lower the value of your balls. He explained it to me this way. If all your snakes are hooked on asfs then they won't eat nice or rats, and not everyone has the access to asfs. So it could cause people to not wont to buy from you. My .02

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Just keep a few sizes of frozen rats on hand and make sure they get at least one of those and it will prove that they are not "hooked" on asfs. All mine take asf or rats. Live and f/t no problem. I think it is less about imprinting and more about the fact that ball pythons can just suddenly decide they only want a certain kind of food..and then later decide that they don't really care what they eat. Their habits change. Steering clear of asfs isn't going to save you from the ever picky ball python.

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Originally Posted by New guy

So I was also considering switching to asf. I talked to a local breeder and if you plan on breeding your bps and feeding asfs to them it can lower the value of your balls. He explained it to me this way. If all your snakes are hooked on asfs then they won't eat nice or rats, and not everyone has the access to asfs. So it could cause people to not wont to buy from you. My .02

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I don't know about that ^^, see this-

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1919275


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I am just relaying my reason for not doing it but agreed its different with every ball. If you start them on asf it could potentially be harder to switch to anything else.

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Originally Posted by New guy

I am just relaying my reason for not doing it but agreed its different with every ball. If you start them on asf it could potentially be harder to switch to anything else.

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How is is any different than starting with mice? If you start a snake on mice, it could potentially be harder to switch to anything else.

My point is, that they are no more likely to imprint on ASF as they are mice or rats. If you have and reference that proves that bps started on ASF aren't as easy to switch over, I would be glad to see it.

I'm not trying to argue my point was just simply stated what I found out. And having a snake on mice would be more convenient for potential new buyers who don't have access to asfs. Mice are def easier to come by then asfs.

I'd rather have one started on asf's than mice. I have seen more people have a hard time switching them off mice, IMO.

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To the OP: not sure if you've already looked at this or not but if not, it's a great reference for how to stagger your breedings:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-Many-to-Breed

When I started with my rats, I had some of the same issue you're dealing with: low birth numbers/litter size, moms eating babies, figuring out how often to breed them and how many to breed at one time. I by no means have it down to a science but it gets easier with time and most of the females get the hang of things by the second litter or sometimes the third if they're a little slow to figure it out. I follow the chart I referenced above and have four females per tub for a total of 44 breeder females and 3 breeder males. I rotate my males every other week so they each have a break after breeding to keep from wearing them out. There are pros and cons to harem breeding and as someone mentioned it can be an issue if your females don't quite sync up with their heat cycles or conception, as the pups can be smaller or larger than their tub mates. I use a maternity rack when that happens and it works out fine, except for it taking a little longer for the babies to mature with just one female feeding them. I have zero experience with AFS and can't say on those; good luck with things and take care!