Woma python/Black head. How are hybrids possible?

No I dont want to produce hybrids. I like the looks of many of them but its just not feesable to me. (to get that out of the way)

This question is for my desire for information. Ive read that Woma Pythons (not woma balls) and black headed Pythons are reptile eaters.

If so how in the world have people made a hybrid of a woma python x ball python (again, NOT the woma ball) but the actual woma python x ball hybrid.

I don't know if a hybrid has been made from black head to ball. If so, I haven't heard about it yet.

I would think that these other pythons would only be attracted to their own kind during breeding season. Wouldnt a ball give off different pheromones? This is not something i would even try due to the worry that the other python might try to eat my BP. Makes me wonder if anyone else has ever heard of this or why anyone would try to interbreed either of these 2 with any other snake. I would think the laws of nature for a snake eating snake would prevent it from breeding with anything else.

Stuff like this interests me and id like to see your replies and opinions. Im no scientist but it just doesnt seem wise to even attempt.

Yeah this confuses me also, I don't really understand. Here are some hybrids that I heard of so far:

Burm Ball (Burmese x Ball)
Woma Ball (Woma x Ball)
Jag Ball (Jungle Carpet x Ball)
AfRock Burm (African Rock x Burmese)
Carpondro (Jungle Carpet x Green Tree)

I think that's all I heard of so far, if I remember anymore I'll for sure post it up. I like the Burm Ball out of all of the ones I've heard of so far, LOL. xD

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Originally Posted by CoolioTiffany

Yeah this confuses me also, I don't really understand. Here are some hybrids that I heard of so far:

Burm Ball (Burmese x Ball)
Woma Ball (Woma x Ball)
Jag Ball (Jungle Carpet x Ball)
AfRock Burm (African Rock x Burmese)
Carpondro (Jungle Carpet x Green Tree)

I think that's all I heard of so far, if I remember anymore I'll for sure post it up. I like the Burm Ball out of all of the ones I've heard of so far, LOL. xD

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You forgot the Super Ball - Ball x Blood or Borneo short tail.

These are my favorite as far as looks go but i cant see how or why anyone would risk putting a snake eating snake (Woma/Black head with a ball. That spells disaster to me.

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Originally Posted by Draigess

You forgot the Super Ball - Ball x Blood or Borneo short tail.

These are my favorite as far as looks go but i cant see how or why anyone would risk putting a snake eating snake (Woma/Black head with a ball. That spells disaster to me.

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I think there are others ways of making the hybrids than putting those different species together, but I'm not completely sure how. I've seen instances where you inseminate a horse without the male present with this tube-ish thing, but I doubt that is what is used to make hybrids.

Then again, I bet it could work with putting two different species together to make a hybrid. People have done that with Kingsnakes and Corn snakes (King x Corn), but it seems so confusing because I don't know how that could happen with a Burmese python and a Ball python LOL. My guess is they put a male Burm with a large female Ball, or a small female Burm (but weighs enough to breed) with a large male Ball.

I know its possible with all the others we have named. Many are not fertile and can not re produce. They look cool but it seems like a pointless venture to me.

The real question is how some took a snake that eats snakes and got it to breed with a different type of python which only eats warm blooded prey.

From my understanding the woma x ball cross was done naturally. Not artifically. AHHHH!!! Its just frustrating to me. How did they turn off the Woma's instinct to eat the ball??

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Originally Posted by Draigess

How did they turn off the Woma's instinct to eat the ball??

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That's a good question. I know that Kingsnakes will for sure try to eat other snakes and attack other snakes, but people still have managed to breed Corns and Kings together and create a hybrid without the Kingsnake attacking and eating the Corn snake. I even see Kingsnakes in the same enclosure together, which seems kind of odd too me.

Maybe the Woma is in breeding mode while being introduced to the Ball (with the Ball in the breeding mode too), so nothing bad can occur since the Woma won't be focused on eating the Ball and more focused on breeding. The snakes were probably bred RIGHT after the cooling ended.

Just a random guess since I don't know much about Womas, but perhaps they kept the Woma well fed? Maybe feeding it more than once a week.

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Originally Posted by Raptor

Just a random guess since I don't know much about Womas, but perhaps they kept the Woma well fed? Maybe feeding it more than once a week.

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Hmm that's another great possibility to why it doesn't eat the Ball when breeding. People probably have fed the snake a lot so that it is too full to try to eat a snake LOL.

Sperm doesn't always survive long in crosses due to the internal Ph differing from species to species. Artificial insemination has been used in a few of the hybrids and is more successful as the breeder can inseminate at the critical time of ovulation.

I'm pretty sure the woma/blackhead though was a natural breeding. My Womas go off their food at breeding time - good job as they'll eat ANYTHING. I even had one male try and go after a microwave hotpot meal I was eating!

Kingsnakes will eat other kingsnakes, yet they've still survived. Just because they CAN eat each other, doesn't mean they will. I would imagine you would want to keep an eye on them during introduction to make sure nothing happens.

the easy answer is when the hormones are kicking, they are kicking! when people hybridize in captivity, they use special measures to over come this. there are ways of tricking snakes.

also, this hybrid has been thought to naturally occur in the wild. there have been a few speciemens caught in the wild that look like they hybrid.

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Originally Posted by m00kfu

Just because they CAN eat each other, doesn't mean they will.

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Originally Posted by Lucas339

the easy answer is when the hormones are kicking, they are kicking!

also, this hybrid has been thought to naturally occur in the wild. there have been a few speciemens caught in the wild that look like they hybrid.

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Originally Posted by Caz

My Womas go off their food at breeding time

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These three quotes answer the OP's question.

1. Just because a snake is ophiophagus doesn't mean it will eat a potential mate.

2. Aspidites hybrids are thought to occur in the wild.

3. Horny womas and blackheads will forgo food until they start feeling less randy.

All of my male australian pythons (antaresia and aspidites) are off feed and have been slammed up against the ends of their drawers/cages since the middle of September. The females are all ripening. I could put those males in with garden hoses and they'd try to hump them right about now.

One of the earliest inter genus hybrids I heard about were the jungle corns. (Corn Snake X California King Snake) Which is also a prey item and it's predator procreating. ANY snake can be a reptile eater given the right conditions, I've had corn snakes eat each other right after hatching while still in the incubator and they're not noted for being snake eaters. I guess it all depends on circumstances and whether or not they feel like feeding or breeding.

Bait and switch! Here's a super ball example:

Put a male ball python in with a female ball python during breeding season.

Switch out the female ball with a blood

Trick the male ball into mating with the blood... now it's not necessarily as easy as 1, 2, 3 but that is how you attempt it at least.

Now if only it was this easy in real life, I'd gladly offer myself up to help less fortunate-looking men than myself! ;)