is this weight enough to breed?..

i have 2 females:

one Lesser is 1900+ a 2004 and she is now breeding with my lesser he also 2004 ...i hope i get my first clutch.. *fingers cross*

i have seen the ralph davis video on the blood stain .. which normally means someone is interested to mate.. which my female lesser did that too.

couple months ago .. i have purchase a pastel female.. but i am not sure of the year... she is around 1300 now..

is just when i was re introducing my male lesser to the female lesser that.. the pastel was also leaving stains on the newspaper.. their tubs are next to each other.

i was actually going to mate here with my lesser for next year... but is it okey or not to mate her with this conditions?..

thx everyone :)

a lot of people do breed at 1300 grams. its more generally accepted to wait until 1500 however.

I have numerous clutches of eggs from 1300 gram females. It sounds from your description that she may want to breed. I am of the opinion that if she can lay eggs and is ready, she will. So, with that said, I would put the male in with her, and see how she progresses. It is possible that the female is 3 or 4 years old, and just a bit small. I have a Pastel female that is five years old, has laid 2 clutches of eggs and has for the first time this year broken 1600 grams.

Give it a shot,

thanks guys for the quick replies... i think i will try to pair her up with my lesser :) hopefully i can see a lock :)

We start breeding the girls at 1200 g. Good luck with your Lessers!

She can be bred at that size if you want. The worst that will happen is she'll go off feed and won't lay eggs.

The suggested weight is 1500g, but breeding at 1300g would be just fine, IMO. People have bred their females at that weight before and had successful clutches. But just think, female BPs in the wild breed at whatever age or weight they can, and they may be 800g, or maybe over 1500g, but keep in mind that they get very few meals a month, and I do believe there have been females in the wild that have been bred around 800g. People just feel safer by breeding a female at 1500g because they wouldn't want their BPs to get eggbound, and they will be a pretty good size. I haven't really heard of any eggbound BPs yet, so in my head I'm thinking that there is a very low chance of your BP getting eggbound.

Good luck to your breeding season:D:gj:

If the female is ready, nature will take it's course, all other things being equal. If the female is not ready..the only thing that will happen..(if she's not raped by the male) is she will go off feed as BG stated from the stress of being bred before she's ready.

That said, I would certainly try based on the facts that you have posted.

Good luck.:)

I would breed her.
We had 3 females that started producing follicles last season at 1,200 grams and they all layed eggs at about 1,600, One layed 2 good eggs and 3 slugs, one layed 5 good eggs and one layed 4 good eggs and a slug.
Hope this helps

Asked a breeder if it would be worth trying an 1200g female VPI Axanthic (hammering mice at the moment) he said to try her..put the het male in with her this morning..they are locked for the second time today, least ways twice that I have seen..will have to fire the grub into her now..hope it pans out well :)

The weight in and of itself isn't the issue. It's the snakes post egg laying weight that is important. That's why most believe 1500 grams is the smallest you should breed.

A snake bred at 1300 grams will lose the same weight ratio as a 1500 gram snake. The smaller snake will not benefit from having and extra 200 grams to have on reserve after egg laying.

I'm not judging you if you decide to breed, I'm just trying to explain why most have the opinion that 1500 grams is the weight where you can start breeding the snake.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

I'd wait.

Imagine how many eggs she would give you if weighs around 2000 - 2200 grams? You're most likely to get a larger clutch from breeding her at that size.

I wish you good luck either way.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ouroboros

I'd wait.

Imagine how many eggs she would give you if weighs around 2000 - 2200 grams? You're most likely to get a larger clutch from breeding her at that size.

I wish you good luck either way.

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Heres her pic

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../8/8/2/023.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j_h_smith

The weight in and of itself isn't the issue. It's the snakes post egg laying weight that is important. That's why most believe 1500 grams is the smallest you should breed.

A snake bred at 1300 grams will lose the same weight ratio as a 1500 gram snake. The smaller snake will not benefit from having and extra 200 grams to have on reserve after egg laying.

I'm not judging you if you decide to breed, I'm just trying to explain why most have the opinion that 1500 grams is the weight where you can start breeding the snake.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

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Thanks Jim..ooh, conflicting advice, might pull the male out :confused:

I have been told by many reputable breeders to wait until females get 1800-2000 grams. You may be able to go earlier but you may also stress out your snake and maybe even kill her if she can't pass her eggs. Also bigger females lay more eggs and healthier eggs. Me personally my snakes are too important to me to take the chance 1 year early, 1 year will not kill me.

Keep in mind, humans don't actually know the magic weight at which to start breeding females ball pythons.

We have several proven breeder females under 1500 grams. They are healthy and lay healthy eggs from which healthy babies hatch. If we had waited until they got to 1500 g to breed them, we would have missed out on several clutches that have been quite important to our breeding program last year. We also have some 2000 + g girls that haven't produced anything for us yet.

I think you will find that if you ask 10 people this question, you'll get 11 opinion:rolleye2:. I guess when all is said and done, it will be your opinion that matters.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bruceweb

Asked a breeder if it would be worth trying an 1200g female VPI Axanthic (hammering mice at the moment) he said to try her..put the het male in with her this morning..they are locked for the second time today, least ways twice that I have seen..will have to fire the grub into her now..hope it pans out well :)

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A little off topic but 1200g and still on mice??? Does she refuse to switch to rats??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sg1trogdor

A little off topic but 1200g and still on mice??? Does she refuse to switch to rats??

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Yes but she is taking two or three at a time, ex breeders..trying to switch to rats, some will & some wont, mine all do well on mice but rats would be better ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ouroboros

I'd wait.

Imagine how many eggs she would give you if weighs around 2000 - 2200 grams? You're most likely to get a larger clutch from breeding her at that size.

I wish you good luck either way.

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or you could breed her at 1300, get 3 or 4 eggs (or more if you're lucky), then breed her again the next year when shes around 2000 grams and get more :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike@OutbackReptiles

or you could breed her at 1300, get 3 or 4 eggs (or more if you're lucky), then breed her again the next year when shes around 2000 grams and get more :P

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Or it is also possible to breed her this year, get 3 or 4 eggs, and breed the next 2 years and get nothing. It is the chance you take. The best advice is to determine what your long term plans are for the animal, and if the project you are aiming for this year is that important to potentially lose future production. The animal you are aiming for this year may make up for her lost production if she doesn't lay for the following years.

Food for thought,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by muddoc

Or it is also possible to breed her this year, get 3 or 4 eggs, and breed the next 2 years and get nothing. It is the chance you take. The best advice is to determine what your long term plans are for the animal, and if the project you are aiming for this year is that important to potentially lose future production. The animal you are aiming for this year may make up for her lost production if she doesn't lay for the following years.

Food for thought,

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Never had this problem Tim. Usually if they breed early for BG, they'll breed again the next year if they eat right away.


Have you had this problem.....curious??????

I have had 18 month old females that take the folowing year off if they go at 18 months. I have also had one that took 2 seasons off. However, on the flip side, I have had 18 month old that lay, and have laid for the following three seasons.

I just wanted to let the OP know that it is pssible that a small young female could go, and then take the following year off.