First Time Breeder

Hello!

I am new to the breeding aspect of these reps. I've had balls over the years & I have the general keep and conditions down to a science, and now i think its time to step up to the plate and try breeding. I currently have 1 young female Pied that weighs in around 300 grams, I'm thinking of starting out by picking up 2 more female balls (Not sure which morphs yet), and a male (not sure which morph yet). I will be buying all my snakes around the same age and size, and I plan to breed, next year if weights and conditions are right. So now i have a few questions:

- Recommendations on morphs to chose to breed with one another
- Breeding the pied with other morphs?
- Natural incubation vs. artificial incubation? Which is better for the first timer?

Any thoughts?

Thanks! - Skoots

Whatever you end up getting, they better be well started if you plan on breeding next year...

From what I read, Females need to be around 2,000 grams / males around 1,500. Is this correct?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SKOOT3R

From what I read, Females need to be around 2,000 grams / males around 1,500. Is this correct?

---

Size doesn't really matter for males...as long as they're old enough to produce viable sperm. The oft quoted size for females is 1500 grams and up. I usually will pair females on thier second winter. They're usually at least 1500 grams by that point. Personally I think age is more important than size when determining breeding possibilities...

I agree with sho22, Its about maturity, not size. I saw someone post a pic of a 240g male locking females the other day. My fire male started pairing at 777g, only about half of 1500g.

Most breeders in my area recommend females to be at least 1.5 years old and 1200g but I plan on shooting for at least a solid two years for my girls. Breeding season will soon come to a close and several people will likely be letting go of proven females. I am also new to the breeding scene so one thing I am trying to do is stay away from too many hets and focusing on visual recessives and co-doms. I would grab maybe a female pinstripe, a female spider, and a super pastel male...plenty of co-dom variety with popular morphs-Bumble bees and lemons. A couple of adult mojave/lesser combos probably would not be too hard find either and I have seen a lot of older albino stock on the market recently. All of my specimens are 2013 right now except of of my males and I plan on scooping up some good females for some of my males that will hopefully be ready to go late next season.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

Most breeders in my area recommend females to be at least 1.5 years old and 1200g but I plan on shooting for at least a solid two years for my girls. Breeding season will soon come to a close and several people will likely be letting go of proven females. I am also new to the breeding scene so one thing I am trying to do is stay away from too many hets and focusing on visual recessives and co-doms. I would grab maybe a female pinstripe, a female spider, and a super pastel male...plenty of co-dom variety with popular morphs-Bumble bees and lemons. A couple of adult mojave/lesser combos probably would not be too hard find either and I have seen a lot of older albino stock on the market recently. All of my specimens are 2013 right now except of of my males and I plan on scooping up some good females for some of my males that will hopefully be ready to go late next season.

---

Hmmmm Well i definitely have to do more research on what to mix. I still have to buy my first rack system as well so if i go with an 8-10 tub rack then ill grab 2 males and really have some fun. I love the Mojave's & Axanthic lines, I'd love to play with that a little as well.

As for breeding, It seems like the two year ----> point seems to be the ticket. By end of 2014 my pied will be about a year and 9 moths old. I'd like to have a few more youngsters in my possession within the next few months if possible.

I have a male at 670g(ish) who is ready to breed but all my females I have now (cb13's) will be waiting until at least winter 2015 or even winter 2016 before I breed and that is dependant on size of them by this point, although I am sure by 2016 they should be fine to go.

I think that's why some people say to buy in your females a year or so before the males if you buy them as hatchlings or young and are planning to breed as males mature so much younger and smaller than their counterparts :)

Someone once said that they were told the term 'hoe's before bro's' that tickled me!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Naom9Anne

I have a male at 670g(ish) who is ready to breed but all my females I have now (cb13's) will be waiting until at least winter 2015 or even winter 2016 before I breed and that is dependant on size of them by this point, although I am sure by 2016 they should be fine to go.

I think that's why some people say to buy in your females a year or so before the males if you buy them as hatchlings or young and are planning to breed as males mature so much younger and smaller than their counterparts :)

Someone once said that they were told the term 'hoe's before bro's' that tickled me!

---

Haha Fair enough! Whenever i do decide to let them knock boots they will be more than ready. I don't want to rush anything. I want to do this right. By the way....saw your post about naming your snakes.....Every snake starting with C haha. Well played.

What're your thoughts on natural incubation vs artificial?

- Skoots

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SKOOT3R

Haha Fair enough! Whenever i do decide to let them knock boots they will be more than ready. I don't want to rush anything. I want to do this right. By the way....saw your post about naming your snakes.....Every snake starting with C haha. Well played.

What're your thoughts on natural incubation vs artificial?

- Skoots

---

I have heard pro's and cons to both. Some people swear by natural whilst others swear by artificial. I think I would personally get my self an incubator and artificially incubate the eggs so that I had more control over the process I think. I need to do a lot more research into the breeding process etc but fortunately I have a few years before I have to worry about that; I still get to enjoy that most of my future breeders are babies which I really enjoy although I do look forward to producing my own in a few years :)


"C" is a nightmare! It was never intentional. My first one was called Isis until I got her home and I really disliked the name for her so she was renamed Calypso. Claus came next and I thought 'Oh, I'll switch the K with a C; that'll be great'. Of course I thought I was done for a long while! Within the last 3-4 weeks I have accumulated 6 more and I can't make myself sway from the theme! I am starting to run out of names I like!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

Breeding season will soon come to a close and several people will likely be letting go of proven females.

---

Since you're location isn't listed feel free to disregard what I'm about to type as it may not apply to you (especially if you're in the southern hemisphere). Breeding season (as much as there is one) is ramping up now, so this will be the most expensive time of year to buy an adult female (a lesson I learned the hard way first hand). If you wait until late spring/early summer you can usually find a good deal on a female who has just laid and just needs a few months of steady feeding (and qt!) to get back up to breeding size.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SKOOT3R

Hmmmm Well i definitely have to do more research on what to mix. I still have to buy my first rack system as well so if i go with an 8-10 tub rack then ill grab 2 males and really have some fun. I love the Mojave's & Axanthic lines, I'd love to play with that a little as well.

---

I highly recommend perusing the big morph list and genetic wizard at worldofballpythons.com. Find something that "speaks" to you (was the axanthic bee/killerbee and axanthic super pastel for me) and then figure out what genetic options you have to get from A to B (and figure out your budget). When you keep going back to look at picks of the same morph on the list over and over, that may be "the one."

As far as your incubation question goes, it depends a lot on your local climate and personal preferences. I live in AZ so I just have no possible way to keep the eggs humid enough for maternal incubation. But I'm also kind of a control freak, so I would probably go for mechanical incubation anyway (plus you can get mom eating again much sooner). Hope this helps!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Naom9Anne

I have heard pro's and cons to both. Some people swear by natural whilst others swear by artificial. I think I would personally get my self an incubator and artificially incubate the eggs so that I had more control over the process I think. I need to do a lot more research into the breeding process etc but fortunately I have a few years before I have to worry about that; I still get to enjoy that most of my future breeders are babies which I really enjoy although I do look forward to producing my own in a few years :)


"C" is a nightmare! It was never intentional. My first one was called Isis until I got her home and I really disliked the name for her so she was renamed Calypso. Claus came next and I thought 'Oh, I'll switch the K with a C; that'll be great'. Of course I thought I was done for a long while! Within the last 3-4 weeks I have accumulated 6 more and I can't make myself sway from the theme! I am starting to run out of names I like!

---

Yea I think i'll probably buy an incubator. I am also going to start with all young snakes so i can bring them up myself. get the whole experience. I just settled on the name Cloe for mine last night by the way. guess you were the inspiration for that one ha.

- Skoots

I have a female that currently weighs 1250-ish and has had a clutch of three already. I purchased her after she layed. Maturity and size are both important. Nature is awesome though. A younger/smaller girl is unlikely to have a 7+ egg clutch that will endanger her life. She won't be taxed too much. (Or so I'm reading)

I'll be starting the breeding process soon too as a beginner. I'll leave him unnamed, but I'll be taking the advice of a well known breeder: Gather up a pair of breed-ready normals and do a "test run" with them for a year or two before while your higher end morphs are growing. It would sure suck to make the rookie mistakes with your pieds, lavender albinos, blah blah. I get it, the normals are still animals, but mistakes will be made my first time or two--and beyond for that matter--but i will learn from those mistakes and it won't hurt as bad if I make mistakes with $40-$80 hatchlings vs. $500+. Learn the process of ovulation, pre-ov sheds, etc. with this "test" pair. Just a thought to consider. It's what I'll be doing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dr. Pete

I have a female that currently weighs 1250-ish and has had a clutch of three already. I purchased her after she layed. Maturity and size are both important. Nature is awesome though. A younger/smaller girl is unlikely to have a 7+ egg clutch that will endanger her life. She won't be taxed too much. (Or so I'm reading)

I'll be starting the breeding process soon too as a beginner. I'll leave him unnamed, but I'll be taking the advice of a well known breeder: Gather up a pair of breed-ready normals and do a "test run" with them for a year or two before while your higher end morphs are growing. It would sure suck to make the rookie mistakes with your pieds, lavender albinos, blah blah. I get it, the normals are still animals, but mistakes will be made my first time or two--and beyond for that matter--but i will learn from those mistakes and it won't hurt as bad if I make mistakes with $40-$80 hatchlings vs. $500+. Learn the process of ovulation, pre-ov sheds, etc. with this "test" pair. Just a thought to consider. It's what I'll be doing.

---

Ofcorse that makes sense. I haven't decided on what to buy as of yet to breed, and again i won't be doing so for another year - year and a half at the absolute least. I'll be doing some heavy research on this in my free time in the mean time, but by all means fill me in on your experience as you go!

Will do! I'm picking up my adult male in two days. I'll be putting them together soon, let them listen to some Marvin Gaye and hopefully have some baby makin getting on.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dr. Pete

Will do! I'm picking up my adult male in two days. I'll be putting them together soon, let them listen to some Marvin Gaye and hopefully have some baby makin getting on.

---

Don't forget to play a little Barry :P

this article is quite amazing:


http://ballpythonbreeder.com/2012/02...thon-breeders/

lots of strategies on how to optimize things and to do it efficiently. the article really covers a lot of ground. it shouldnt be about the money primarily, BP breeding should be about the animals first, but who doesnt like it when a hobby at least partially pays for itself or even produces a few dollars on the side every now and then.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

this article is quite amazing:


http://ballpythonbreeder.com/2012/02...thon-breeders/

lots of strategies on how to optimize things and to do it efficiently. the article really covers a lot of ground. it shouldnt be about the money primarily, BP breeding should be about the animals first, but who doesnt like it when a hobby at least partially pays for itself or even produces a few dollars on the side every now and then.

---

Wow theres a lot of good info on here. Thanks for the heads up!

- Skoots