At this point do I give up on pairing until next winter?

So I started pairing my girls back in late Nov. I have witnessed numerous locks but have yet to visually see an ovulation. My question is, do I just give up at this point and have them pack on the weight for next year? Or do I keep throwing the male in there with them. One of the girls hasn't eaten in a few weeks, the other is eating regularly. I'm assuming that even though the male locked with them both numerous times, he may not have been ready and just didnt end up having good plugs. Thanks for the advice.

I am still pairing 5 females, I know at least 4 are late layers.

Are you feeling any follicles?

Palpate them and see if you feel any follicles. At this point I've got 4 girls left that I was pairing up. Two of them don't have any follicular development that I can feel so I'm writing them off until next season.

I would check for follicles. I began pairing a female in December and she just ovulated in mid May. Some females take longer than others. Feeling for follicles will give you a good idea of where they are. If you feel really small follicles or none at all, might be a better idea to just wait for next season. If you feel decent sized follicles then I'd keep pairing them. The one not eating may be getting close to an ovulation. My girls stopped eating a few weeks before their ovulation.

I have one female that just starting building so I am still pairing her! Some are later and that is how we get the fall babies! If you don't feel any follicles or you don't see any signs then I would just wait and get them bigger! How old are they? They may need another year to mature if they are young!

they breed all year long. My albino just started to build follicles 2 weeks ago.

I would try to feel for follicles. I just had my first ov a 2-3 weeks ago. Within 1 weeks 3 of my girls ovulated. I have another girl with huge follicles that will go soon. They could still go and it does not hurt to keep pairing. One of my girls that just ovulated has been locking with a male since August 2010. Some take forever.

base your choice on your male. if HE is still eating then keep breeding. many males stop eating and will breed till they die. if he's not eating watch his weight. if hes losing weight then pull him out of circulation and feed him. if hes eating breed him year round if all else is good.
adam jeffery

On a side note Ball Python mating has nothing to do with "good plugs". "Sperm plugs" is just a wrongly used term as BP's don't have or use plugs. A male BP's "sperm plugs" is just shed skin really. It's shed hemipenial skin and dried mucus. No species of python uses sperm plugs. A sperm plug is a waxy deposit that a male, of some snake species, will leave in the opening of a female after copulation. The sperm plug blocks the sperm of other males from getting into the oviducts and fertilizing eggs.

This "plug" can be a sign that a male is breed-able.

Thanks for the replies! So my next question is, do all of the folicles develop at the same rate. When I palpated my bigger girl I felt 2 that were about ping pong ball and a few other that seemed maybe marble sized. Not sure if I just don;t know what I'm doing or wether or not the first few locks got to 2 of the folicles and the other still just need to be fertilized? How does that work?

When you palpate and feel large and small, it means the smaller ones usually turn out to be slugs.

I put the male in with her last night and they have been locked all day. I guess I'll just keep going with her, but the other girl I didn't really feel anything so I'll wait for winter to try her again.