Am I doing something wrong?

So last year I bred 4 girls and got
One clutch. I was ok with that as 3 of
The girls were 1300-1400 grams but only 08's this year I bred 8 girls. 5 08's and 3 09's, all over 1400 grams. I'm thinking I'm only going to get one clutch. I dropped temps in nov down to 82 and raised temps in feb. Back to normal. None of the 08s took and 1 09. We had a very bad winter with a lot of snow and storms ( not sure if that had an effect on production). Just wondering how many clutches other people get compared to the # of girls bred?

all of the girls we bred have had their clutches. We started in Nov and ran till March. Our last clutch was just about a week ago. We have one maybe 2 more girls that we bred in the past 2 months that will hopefully go soon, they look to be building now. I think the storms actually help with the breeding.

On a side note though, all of our girls were 2k+ grams and we don't change our temps at all

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Originally Posted by TessadasExotics

all of the girls we bred have had their clutches. We started in Nov and ran till March. Our last clutch was just about a week ago. We have one maybe 2 more girls that we bred in the past 2 months that will hopefully go soon, they look to be building now. I think the storms actually help with the breeding.

On a side note though, all of our girls were 2k+ grams

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So how many girls did you breed?

I bred about 25 females and only about 6 have laid. I think my problem wasnt with the females but with the males. I bred a lot of young males this year. May not have been ready. Hopefully next season will be better. Im missing out on some good clutches this year :(

we did 8 Nov-Mar and 2 recently. The first 8 have all had their clutches. There are still 2 clutches in the incubator.

I bred 6 females and 4 have laid and 5th one is on the way to laying in a month or so.

I dont cycle temps or lighting cycles. I keep them at 80-89 all year long and only end up with one female a season that dont take.


How are you doing the pairings

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

I bred 6 females and 4 have laid and 5th one is on the way to laying in a month or so.

I dont cycle temps or lighting cycles. I keep them at 80-89 all year long and only end up with one female a season that dont take.


How are you doing the pairings

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I ran 2 males to 8 females. Each one had 4 girls. The male would get 2-3 days with a girls then a few days off then move on to the next girl.

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Originally Posted by mdjudson

I ran 2 males to 8 females. Each one had 4 girls. The male would get 2-3 days with a girls then a few days off then move on to the next girl.

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sounds like either the males weren't fully ready or they were exhausted and stopped sperm production. I once a month give my males a full week off to rest.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

sounds like either the males weren't fully ready or they were exhausted and stopped sperm production. I once a month give my males a full week off to rest.

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I did that as well. But one of my males was smaller so that could be. So what would you suggest for male to female ratio and a good rotation for next season?

I only give my males 2 females per season. This keeps them going strong all season and then some.

Also feeding is essential too. If a male is young and stops eating during breeding, I stop his breeding till he eats again.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

I only give my males 2 females per season. This keeps them going strong all season and then some.

Also feeding is essential too. If a male is young and stops eating during breeding, I stop his breeding till he eats again.

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My main male is an 09 but a picky eater. He hasn't ate in months and I'm stopped breeding him early because he was losing weight. He went from 550 and now is 450. Hasn't ate in about 4 months now.

Males that dont eat well and are small in size to begin with, i noticed make poor breeders and poor sperm production.


Im sure if he ate for you decently over winter, you would have more female gravid.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

Males that dont eat well and are small in size to begin with, i noticed make poor breeders and poor sperm production.


Im sure if he ate for you decently over winter, you would have more female gravid.

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Thanks rich. Any advice to get him back on food? I've tried mice and rats, live p/k and f/t.

Try a live rat pup over night. Or a pre killed rat pup left over night.

Ive done this with picky eaters and they usually take them with patience.

Be sure the rat you use has eyes closed, as this will be harmless for the snake to be left if over night.

All of our males used were between 700g to 1200g. We also only used like one male to 2 females. The males were put in with a female for a week and then off for a week. This rotation continued untill the females stoped responding.

I used one male to 4 females which I usually do but a lot of my males were 450G-550G as I was excited to try and get them going.. May have shot myself there :)