Ball Python Breeding Help

Im knida new at this, but what im doing is turning of the heat tape at night for the male and female im breeding, and out ive the two times ive put them together i saw like 1 lock and thats it. Am i just not seeing it or more likely im just being impatient? (more likley the second reason) I put them togeather for 3 days at a time, then 3 days off. This is my first year breeding so sorry for the newbie question lol. Thx
-Edward

Your turning off the heat tape?? If thats your attempt at cooling then that is not how you do it. How you cool is by turning the temps on the themometer to about 4-10 degrees less for about a month (i do less). I dont see any reason why you should turn off the heat tape. But i havnt been doing this long either and could be mistaken. You may want to separate them and do some cooling then raise the temps back up and start pairing them again. Other than that the 3 days thing is good.

alot of people tell me it is easyer to just drop the temps on the heat tape because the room i have them in is heated so it only drops a couple of degrees anyway. Also all my balls are hooked up to that thermostat and i dont wanna get the ones that arent ready to breed in breeding mode.

i mean turn the tape off

im going to go with me just being impacient because i dont think anything is wrong with my husbantry

Hi,

Impatient is one thing but what are the actual temps it drops to inside their enclosures when you turn it off?


dr del

when i turn off the heat tape the temps drop to about 75-80

maybe i should just cycle my temps, but im worried my others that arent yet ready to breed will go of feed, thar now brings me to this option- get another thermostat, but i realy dont want to if i dont have to

There's people out there having success breeding without dropping temps at all. If you're worried about dropping the temps on everyone else, how bout just not dropping temps at all?

not a bad idea, i may as well try it

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Originally Posted by reptidude1

maybe i should just cycle my temps, but im worried my others that arent yet ready to breed will go of feed, thar now brings me to this option- get another thermostat, but i realy dont want to if i dont have to

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You don't have to drop temps at all, your adults will cool themselves & breed with the heat tape set to 88-94F. Been breeding BPs for 5 years now & I don't drop the heat tape temp AT ALL.

My first time breeding I was succesful without cooling. The male usully stimilates the female into producung follicles. Its likely the male is not as interested as he could be. Do you have another male? If you do and you are able to get a little sperm out of him without hurting him, wipe that on the back of the female and then put in the male you want to breed. If you are unable to safely get sperm you could just put the other male in with her so his scent gets on her. Doing this you will have the risk of him breeding her. Some people combat 2 males to get the one in the mood but this is not always recommended. You could also put another male in her cage without her to get his scent in there, it might work. If you dont have another male I dont really know how else to get yours in the mood.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kryptonian

My first time breeding I was succesful without cooling. The male usully stimilates the female into producung follicles. Its likely the male is not as interested as he could be. Do you have another male? If you do and you are able to get a little sperm out of him without hurting him, wipe that on the back of the female and then put in the male you want to breed. If you are unable to safely get sperm you could just put the other male in with her so his scent gets on her. Doing this you will have the risk of him breeding her. Some people combat 2 males to get the one in the mood but this is not always recommended. You could also put another male in her cage without her to get his scent in there, it might work. If you dont have another male I dont really know how else to get yours in the mood.

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Or save the shed or sperm plug of a male to put in when pairing. ;)

And this will stimulate them? The only other male i have is in quarintene though, so i cant use him. I just reintroduced them about 30min ago and they are both away from the heat tape, on the cool side, the male just laying on top of the female. Also i bought them both a couple months back as proven breeders.

All you can do is keep pairing and hopefully they will get at it soon enough. Once your other male is out of quarantine you can try the other suggestions.

Don't forget you have a good 4 months of breeding before any ovulations usually. I tend to mess with temps a little starting in October pairing off and on till April. I start raising temps end of February thru the second week of March. Some of my ball pythons will stop eating this time of year anyway so I just offer, if they don't eat, they don't eat till the next week when I offer. Just saying what I do when breeding. Usually cycling the ones not breeding doesn't effect them too much it just cheapens the feed bill, lol.

so then ill try because it wont hurt

Well i think i found out the problem for me. I threw a hide in and i think they are trying to lock

Well i think i spoke to soon, never mind.... time to try to cycle

Ive decided to just go without cycling, mostly because im affraid of RI and i dont want the other to go off feed. I just ask because i see alot of people with locks allready

Sorry i also forgot to add that using the male in quarintene will be a little hard because he just began his 3 month quarantine

2 things

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kryptonian

Do you have another male? If you do and you are able to get a little sperm out of him without hurting him, wipe that on the back of the female and then put in the male you want to breed.

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How would i get the sperm
Also this is really weird. They haven't bred from when i made this thread, or at least they didn't lock. The weird thing is that they did get 2 locks in it was when my helix was in for repairs and they were running off a dimmer switch, so they temps were REALLY off.

How old is your male? If it's his first season breeding, he may be still trying to figure things out. I've found that males that have bred before (seasons before) tend to not waste much time in locking, and you're probably seeing more mature males.

Here are tricks that I've employed - save a shed from any other snake (another female will do) and put it in with the couple.

Wait for a weather system to roll in - and pair them - barometric changes tend to put them in the mood.

Put them together when he's in shed. Put them together when she's in shed.

Heavily mist them both when you put them together.

For what it's worth, I don't drop temps on my heat tape either.

I dont drop temps really at all. Maybe a few degrees but the snake room is kept so warm & humid that all i need to do is turn my house heat down a couple degrees. The temps naturally fall at night. The barometric pressure naturally drops. I just spray them more often to simulate the rainy season and I have 3 females now that are so swollen they look like they swallowed a baloon. (ovulating)

So the temp drop is not completely needed. Its whatever works for each person. Try removing the water bowl for a few days and spraying them down the next time you put them together..

Some snakes are just naturally late season breeders. You may need to seperate them for awhile and try again in a month or 2.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

How old is your male? If it's his first season breeding, he may be still trying to figure things out. I've found that males that have bred before (seasons before) tend to not waste much time in locking, and you're probably seeing more mature males.

Here are tricks that I've employed - save a shed from any other snake (another female will do) and put it in with the couple.

Wait for a weather system to roll in - and pair them - barometric changes tend to put them in the mood.

Put them together when he's in shed. Put them together when she's in shed.

Heavily mist them both when you put them together.

For what it's worth, I don't drop temps on my heat tape either.

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Well darn.. Im a slow typer! You beat me to it.

Hey guys (the last couple that replied) what sub straight do you keep your balls on?

Normally shredded aspen with a thin layer of newspaper under it, but to raise the humidity for winter and breeding season I have switched the breeders to cyprus mulch. I also have boas and borneos so I keep that on hand for the ones that need higher humidity anyway.

The cyprus mulch is better because it cuts way down on misting and it resists mold and fungus. Unlike the aspen which will get moldy right away.

Alot of people use newspaper exclusivly because it is cheap (or free) and can be wetted down for humidity, breeding, shedding etc.. and then changed out easily. I change depending on season and age of snakes. Babies are kept on newspaper or paper towles for most of the first year of their life.