Question about Volta or sub-saharn ball pythons

As I understand it these guys get bigger than the run of the mill balls and usually lay more eggs due to size. My question is if you breed these to a lets say a pastel, would the offspring also grow up to be of the larger size balls or the same as the general population?

Size is a dominant trait. So 50/50 shot at getting the big trait I think.

I have a few saharans and voltas giants and they are alot bigger then other locales. I have one girl that was imported in 1999 and she dropped 13 eggs last year and is full of eggs right now due to lay in the next week or so. I hold back all females i produce from these girls and watch the rate of growth over the months before deciding if i sell any. But i keep all the ones that loom to be giants.

Where can i find one of these bp's?

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Originally Posted by Tye Hicks

Where can i find one of these bp's?

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It would seem to be a secret society. I think they even have a secret handshake and everything....;)

Snake Lab, have your big girls generally been as consistent of producers as your smaller girls? The reason I ask is one of my big (~4,500 grams) girls skips lots of years between clutches and I read about a big line that was picky that way years ago but don't remember the name. Maybe there is some trick like the locality needing cooling or something like that. I have no idea where mine came from and I've heard of much larger so maybe they aren't at all the same thing as either of the lines in this thread.

I want a male from this line, to breed into projects. :P

The ones i have are part of the few females i do cool. I start cooling them in september and start introducing males at the end of october early november. I have has pretty regular production out of them give or take. The sub saharan and voltas have been known to reach weights of 8000 grams. As far as aquiring them. The real big ones usually are spoken for before they even get imported or collected. Some of the smaller ones at around the 4000 gram mark can be bought from guys that import. To get the real big ones you gotta know somebody or get real lucky. Alot of times you can buy a 4000 gram gravid girls as they come in country

Do they ever import any males?

From what i have always known is its hit or miss how many or even if they come in each season. I have never seen males.from what ive heard they are all done for the year.

Interesting on the cooling. My sporadic big girl decided to go last year after a November move and a longer than I wanted cool period. She has only produced 3 clutches and was a 1996 baby of unknown origin but going back to Tracy Barker. Got me wondering if there might be something to cooling some big girls. I really meant to try it with her this year but got busy with work and never set up a separate housing location for her and she doesn’t look promising for this year. Thanks for sharing. Now if I can just convince my wife I need a display python tank for her next year with a night time drop (think that would be enough?).

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Originally Posted by Tye Hicks

Where can i find one of these bp's?

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Originally Posted by MasonC2K

Size is a dominant trait. So 50/50 shot at getting the big trait I think.

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Who told you this? With humans and quite a number of organisms, size isn't a single gene, it's a number of genes, and often size is determined by dominant, codominant, and recessive trait interactions. I'm fairly certain with ball pythons there is enough range between adult lengths to suggest it isn't just a single trait.