Start process anytime??

Well, I was thinking....

the snakes don't actually know its winter or summer or whatever, so can you actually start cool down and the rest of the process anytime during the year?

They are more tuned into the outside environment than you could imagine.

It can be done, every year more and more ball python breeders are breeding year round, but I'm not convinced that they are as consistent and successful percentage wise as seasonal breeders.

There are several distinct advantages to using the winter to breed your ball pythons ... natural light cycle, naturally cooler temps, low pressure systems created by winter storms ... all of these things are controllable either completely or in part during the rest of the year, but winter sure make them a heck of a lot easier.

I'm certainly not trying to discourage you ... there are MANY MANY ways to be extremely successful with these animals and I'm sure that if you wanted to breed during other times of the year, you could make that work ... just sharing my experience and point of view. :D

-adam

I would assume they do, cause even though my temps and stuff all stayed close to the same last winter, they still seemed to notice. Heck, my dragons notice, and thier ambient temps and basking spot temps have dropped by no more than 5 degrees, but they seem to know it is winter and have gone into winter shut down. So I would think a snake would know too.

Thanks guys!

My female is quite ready yet, and probably wont be until summer. By then, I mind as well wait until winter.

I have never cycled them before, do you think this will make a difference? (Obviously, I have never bred before!) Do you have to cycle the snakes all their lives for them to reconize a cool down as breeding season, or can I just start this october and they'll chime in.... they are 5 years old.

Also, they were housed together for those 5 years. I just recently seperated them after learning my mistake.

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Originally Posted by adizziedoll

Do you have to cycle the snakes all their lives for them to reconize a cool down as breeding season

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Nope, they know exactly what to do.

Waiting the extra couple months until the fall will allow you to put just that much more weight on your pair which should results in an extra egg or two and an overall healthier breeding experience.

The larger/older they are, the better.

-adam

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Originally Posted by adizziedoll

Thanks guys!

My female is quite ready yet, and probably wont be until summer. By then, I mind as well wait until winter.

I have never cycled them before, do you think this will make a difference? (Obviously, I have never bred before!) Do you have to cycle the snakes all their lives for them to reconize a cool down as breeding season, or can I just start this october and they'll chime in.... they are 5 years old.

Also, they were housed together for those 5 years. I just recently seperated them after learning my mistake.

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Female ball pythons are ready to breed by thier third winter(3yrs old).If yours are 5yrs old and they have been seperate for a few months you might place them back together and they might breed.My next question and i am not trying to be a smart guy,are you sure you have a pair? I ask this because i have a female i recently bought and the guy had her with two males all the time well she laid eggs last year.I know most say keep them seperate or they will not breed but i guess she is the exception:O .

Lol, yes I'm sure I have a pair :O) When they were given to me, I was told which one was a male and which one was a female. Joe Compel kindly sexed my snakes last week at the White PLains Expo, and confirmed the assumed.
I think she did not become gravid because 1.) there was no cycling and 2.) they were stressed from being together.

But of course, these are just my guesses...

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Originally Posted by adizziedoll

Lol, yes I'm sure I have a pair :O) When they were given to me, I was told which one was a male and which one was a female. Joe Compel kindly sexed my snakes last week at the White PLains Expo, and confirmed the assumed.
I think she did not become gravid because 1.) there was no cycling and 2.) they were stressed from being together.

But of course, these are just my guesses...

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OK lol if Joe COMPEL sexedm i am sure they are a pair.Now on the reason why she did not become gravid.I do not cool down my ball pythons.Last year was my first year and now i have a pastel(my avatar) male.He is on his third and last female.Sometimes females might not like the male in turn she refuses to breed it happens.:eyepoppin

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Originally Posted by joepythons

OK lol if Joe COMPEL sexedm i am sure they are a pair.Now on the reason why she did not become gravid.I do not cool down my ball pythons.Last year was my first year and now i have a pastel(my avatar) male.He is on his third and last female.Sometimes females might not like the male in turn she refuses to breed it happens.:eyepoppin

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In my experience it is common for males and females that are housed together year round (especially for long periods of time) to not produce viable offspring. Males especially need some type of "trigger" to get them going even if you are not cycling temps ... living in solitude and being introduced to a female seems to be a very good "trigger".

Since the 70's it has been a pretty common practice for males and females to be housed separately and then introduced for breeding to insure success.

-adam

Quote:

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Originally Posted by joepythons

Female ball pythons are ready to breed by thier third winter(3yrs old).If yours are 5yrs old and they have been seperate for a few months you might place them back together and they might breed.

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Really? I thought it was more of a weight thing, not so much an age thing. Thanks for clarifying that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by joepythons

OK lol if Joe COMPEL sexedm i am sure they are a pair.Now on the reason why she did not become gravid.I do not cool down my ball pythons.Last year was my first year and now i have a pastel(my avatar) male.He is on his third and last female.Sometimes females might not like the male in turn she refuses to breed it happens.:eyepoppin

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Sorry when i wrote that my pastel male was my avatar here i was half asleep:stupidme: .I have my pastel as my avatar on another site:oops: .As long as your female is at least 3yrs old and over 1500 grams she is ok to breed if she wants lol.

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Originally Posted by joepythons

As long as your female is at least 3yrs old and over 1500 grams she is ok to breed if she wants lol.

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Actually, that's not entirely accurate ... I have a 2400 gram female that is 10 years old and is in no condition to breed ... she laid a huge clutch of 13 eggs last year and has been very slow to put the weight back on ... 1500 grams is a guideline for females, not a rule.

I like to go by 500 - 800 grams per foot depending on the age of the girl ... and even then, you need to make sure she's in good physical condition.

Hope this helps.

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Actually, that's not entirely accurate ... I have a 2400 gram female that is 10 years old and is in no condition to breed ... she laid a huge clutch of 13 eggs last year and has been very slow to put the weight back on ... 1500 grams is a guideline for females, not a rule.

I like to go by 500 - 800 grams per foot depending on the age of the girl ... and even then, you need to make sure she's in good physical condition.

Hope this helps.

-adam

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Well she would be the exception for sure.I was speaking in general terms.Of course it something was wrong with the female as far as health then i would not breed her.

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Originally Posted by joepythons

Well she would be the exception for sure.I was speaking in general terms.Of course it something was wrong with the female as far as health then i would not breed her.

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My point was that 1500 grams might be a good rule of thumb for a 2 or 3 year old girl, but older, longer females should be judged by a weight to length formula and not just a base weight like 1500 grams which could be woefully inadequate for reproduction.

-adam

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Originally Posted by joepythons

Female ball pythons are ready to breed by thier third winter(3yrs old)..

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i have read and heard that they can be ready to breed by 18 months old
im guessing that this is old info and currently WAY off?

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Originally Posted by gmmuscle91

i have read and heard that they can be ready to breed by 18 months old
im guessing that this is old info and currently WAY off?

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Could it meant a male being 18 months old to be able to breed? Thats what i read in a ball python manual:) .Males do not have to do anything(other then breed) its the females that need all the extra weight they can get.I stopped reading the books and started asking actual breeders the questions lol.

Males need to be producing sperm plugs, and be in good health. Breeding is difficult on them too. At least that is what I've been led to believe.

[QUOTE=joepythons]Could it meant a male being 18 months old to be able to breed? Thats what i read in a ball python manual:)QUOTE]

i think that is where i read it too, so you could be right about it being males

I have a 14 month old female pastel that was breeding a male spider yesterday. She is currently 1800 grams. ;)

It's all just guidelines ... nothing more ... the real key is to be able to physically @@@@@ your females and "know" when they are ready regardless of age or weight ... that's what separate the "big boys" from the rest of the pack. ;) :P

-adam