need advice

I have a female pastel that is a little over 1500 and 17 months, I have a male spider that is tippin the scales at 950 and is the same age. Now the female is still eating like crazy but the spider has not eatin anything in 2 weeks. Does this mean that he is gone off feed for breeding? Should I stick him in with the pastel to see if they lock? what are your thoughts

I've never had a male ball go off feed for breeding season. But I've heard people say males will go off feed for the season. He may just not be hungry. Go ahead and stick him with the pastel and see what happens.

now she just ate today does that make a difference?

Most all of males went off feed during breeding season. Some of my females refused food when they got close to laying, and some ate almost all the way through. Guess this means that all ball pythons will just do what is right for them!

I was in your same situation last year and so I just stuck the male in with the female (after she has had time to digest her last meal.) I obtained very good results ;)

Wouldn't be concerned about the eating habits but would be a little leary about her age. IMO she is a little young to breed at 17 months. Weight is fine just not enough maturity. You can pair them and if she is not ready she wont go but that will be adding a lot of stress.

If you start pairing them up now, you're probably looking at another 4 months before you have eggs...I say go for it.

Pair them up for a few days at a time, especially during low pressure fronts and keep trying to feed. Then just hope for Bee's...:gj:

Give her a couple days to digest, then pair them.

Thanks all I think I might take my chances and pair them up on Monday and see what happens

Thanks for all your advice....I threw him in yesterday morning and also skipped work and after checking on them like evey 10 minutes I fell asleep woke up and saw that they were locked :banana:. Now im super excited so now after the three days is up and I take him out how many more times do I keep putting him back in the tub before I call it quits with him?

3 days on (in the same enclosure as the female.) 4 days off, until you see ovulation.

Do a google search for Marcus Jayne Breeding, or 8ball Pythons Breeding. 2 Very good FAQs on breeding.

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Originally Posted by Infantry254

Thanks for all your advice....I threw him in yesterday morning and also skipped work and after checking on them like evey 10 minutes I fell asleep woke up and saw that they were locked :banana:. Now im super excited so now after the three days is up and I take him out how many more times do I keep putting him back in the tub before I call it quits with him?

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I was not very good at following a rigid schedule for my snakes. I would put the male in with the female and then wait until I saw a lock and a release. I then seperated them.

I would say that I paired my snakes 7 or 8 times (with visual locks) and that's all. Out of one clutch of 7 eggs I got 3 BEL's! Another clutch of 9 eggs yielded 4 bumblee bees!

I sure can't complain!

When people say they put their females on a heavier feeding schedule do you mean every 5-7 days? Also what do you feed appropriate sized rodents or stick to smaller rodents just more of them

The reason I am asking is because I paired up my pastel and she was almost 1600g about 2 weeks ago and she has been locking and today when I weighed he she was a little a little unde 1400g...should I stop pairing them fo a while or continue feeding and pairing as normal

what is it that you are feeding your snake? it seems like you might have weighed her when she had a fresh meal in her.

I feed her a med rat every 7-10 days