New female...

ok so I am going to become the proud owner of a proven breeder female today and I have a question...Obviously I have to let it acclimate for a good week in its new enclosure...But how long t'ill I can put her with a male and let the dirty deed begin?!?

you're kidding right? LOL You are planning on quarantining this new animal I hope...patience grasshoppa ;)...

Yeah...you need to quarantine for a minimum of 90 days.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by djslurp1200

ok so I am going to become the proud owner of a proven breeder female today and I have a question...Obviously I have to let it acclimate for a good week in its new enclosure...But how long t'ill I can put her with a male and let the dirty deed begin?!?

---

you can wait til next year for the normal breeding season or you can try a mid year breeding season yourself which some people have done. Some people may breed at other times of the year and just change the temps and daylight times and have had success.

what if i take it to a vet and it checks ok?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by djslurp1200

what if i take it to a vet and it checks ok?

---

still best to have a quarantine period. would you rather wait 3 months and be sure it is okay or would you rather run the chance of losing your entire collection?

How much does your "proven breeder" weigh?

well I just got off the phone with the guy and he said 2200 grams

and he's going to digitally weigh it in front of me as well to show me

I'd be skeptical at best.

Anyone who breeds balls value their breeding females like gold, and especially this time of year, someone just selling a female for is either extremely generous, or is misrepresenting the animal to you. That "proven breeder" girl could have slugged out the last 3 years, and that breeder is welcoming the opportunity to pass his problem on to you.

I'm not trying to discourage you, just hoping you can keep your initial excitement at bay and think critically. Too many scammers out there in this hobby, its a shame.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by djslurp1200

what if i take it to a vet and it checks ok?

---

No ... there is no check that a vet can do that will replace the time it takes to make sure the animal is free of mite eggs, IDB, and a host of other ailments that would not be obvious in a physical examination of the specimen.

There are NO shortcuts with ball pythons.

-adam

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by djslurp1200

and he's going to digitally weigh it in front of me as well to show me

---

He can weigh it all he wants.Have someone probe it BEFORE you buy it and make sure its someone you trust.Do not realy on his word its a female.Things can happen by just taking someone elses word :( .

what is idb? internal digestive something? I dunno... just wondering...

A friend of mine bought one from him a couple weeks ago for $125 (female) and it's locking up with one of his males right now...OBviously hasn't been quaranteened...I'm not saying its the healthiest choice to go ahead and breed it but..it is a female and it's locking up and probed a female.

Never heard of a gay snake..

IBD is Inclusion Body Disease....a little understood, but very deadly disease that can wipe out an entire collection.


And I have heard of males locking up together. Not saying that's what is happening with your friend's snakes...but it can happen. Doesn't mean the snakes are "gay"...just means they'll take what they can get sometimes. :rolleyes:

lol...ok
are there any symptons you can notice if a snake as ibd? anything to look out for or what?

what causes a snake to get it?

You should probably take some more time, do some more research and get a little more prepared and then try your hand at breeding. I don't think breeding animals is something you should just fumble your way through...


But that's just my opinion. Good Luck. :)

Use the search feature here to look for IBD...there are several very informative threads about it.


You can also google it and find lots more stuff outside of our own forum.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by djslurp1200

A friend of mine bought one from him a couple weeks ago for $125 (female) and it's locking up with one of his males right now...OBviously hasn't been quaranteened...I'm not saying its the healthiest choice to go ahead and breed it but..it is a female and it's locking up and probed a female.

Never heard of a gay snake..

---

Its not called "a gay snake" its called trying to dominate the other snake.This is true and does happen! As far as your freinds snake is concerned i hope that female does not have IBD :( .Please remember this "if you rush into breeding ball pythons by using shortcuts you are deemed to fail".I was told this in my beginning and found out the hard way that it is true :( .I am not trying to curse you or anything just letting you know the facts point blank.

oh yeah, your not cursing me I mean.. I asked a question and I got answers..
It's as clear as that. I wanted to know something and now i know..
Smarter now than 20 minutes before...
:rockon:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sho220

You should probably take some more time, do some more research and get a little more prepared and then try your hand at breeding. I don't think breeding animals is something you should just fumble your way through...


But that's just my opinion. Good Luck. :)

---

Thank you!

-adam

I'm not necessarily fumbling thru it...I'm getting the information I need. Obviously quaranteeing is what I need to do so great. I will do it. I will wait. But inevitably I'm going to breed when everyone's ready

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by djslurp1200

I will do it. I will wait. But inevitably I'm going to breed when everyone's ready

---

Cool and good luck! I have to wait til next year. :(

Listen to the folks here and wait - don't be in such a hurry - it always amazes me how people start to build their collection quickly and want to breed quickly. I bought young females (babies) that I knew would take time to raise to proper breeding weight - and I'm taking my time, learning as much as I can along the way and having a fabulous time doing it. I'm hoping that I'll have three girls ready to go fall 2007 - but if they're not ready - I'll wait for fall 2008. I'm not willing to risk the health of any of my collection - just because I'm in a hurry to breed.

I'm just excited that's all. I am trying to do things right. And whatever is the right way I will do it. I'm not just rushing into it I am researching. Asking alot of questions getting alot of information and going in a productive direction with the health of my snakes in mind.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rabernet

Listen to the folks here and wait - don't be in such a hurry - it always amazes me how people start to build their collection quickly and want to breed quickly. I bought young females (babies) that I knew would take time to raise to proper breeding weight - and I'm taking my time, learning as much as I can along the way and having a fabulous time doing it. I'm hoping that I'll have three girls ready to go fall 2007 - but if they're not ready - I'll wait for fall 2008. I'm not willing to risk the health of any of my collection - just because I'm in a hurry to breed.

---

Great advise Robin...It's a great exercise in patience!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by djslurp1200

I'm just excited that's all. I am trying to do things right. And whatever is the right way I will do it. I'm not just rushing into it I am researching. Asking alot of questions getting alot of information and going in a productive direction with the health of my snakes in mind.

---

I can see that you are open to the advice of others - it just seems suspect to me that someone's NOT in a hurry when they want to take the quick route and purchase a breedable weight female and then asks if they can put them with a male. When told no - quarantine, the next question is what if the vet says she's healthy?

Why the rush? Why not get a yearling, and fatten her up for next year, research more on the care of ball pythons (which reminds me, you were just told about the importance of quarantine recently when you temporarily put two together to clean ones' cage, yet asked how quickly you could put a male with this female. I'm assuming the pastel, but he's shouldn't be out of quarantine yet himself, right?).

Anyway - research on proper care and husbandry of ball pythons - after all, your buyers are going to look to YOU as the expert - you should be knowledgeable enough to answer them. Do you have a hatchling rack, an incubator, etc? From my own research, there's more to breeding than just putting two snakes together.

Good luck in whatever you do!

Have you even given any thought as to what you're going to do with the potential babies that you might produce?

Just something you might want to consider.

-adam

This thread is making me sleepy...

Well the females I'll keep. I'll sell the males at a good price. I want to make my own super's and start breeding other morphs...

I'm going to keep the tanks i have now and build a rack as far as housing goes.
I'll probably try to do some trades to get other morphs. Pastels seem to be the universal morph that breeds well with anything so I shouldn't have too much of a problem trading a couple girls for a spider or something of that sort. I want a collection of differen't morphs pastel, super, spider, bumblebee, albino and what not..

With all due respect to all who commented I don't agree with everything mentioned. Do your research, ask your questions and try to befriend someone who has produced plenty of snakes themselves. Use them as a resource because everyone in this industry does things differently. Some will say not to cool below 70 degrees at night during breeding season and some change the temps 5 degrees all breeding season. Some say parasites are good to a degree and some do their best to get rid of everything that has to do with them. Some say not to cut eggs manually but they all do it.

What you need to realize is that this industry has blossomed only in the last 10 years. Yes people have been keeping these snakes for 25+ years but not many. This is far from a science. I guess what I am saying is do what works for you and what will make you happy. But like said before beware of con artists because this industry is full of them. If you stick around you will be able to pick them out right away.

Oh and have fun because when you do see that morph piping out for the first time it was all worth the work!

-Bill

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jglass38

This thread is making me sleepy...

---

Joe slaps Jamie to wake him up :fishslap: :fishslap: :rofl: :rofl: .Now back to our regularly scheduled talk:P

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by billcherep

With all due respect to all who commented I don't agree with everything mentioned.

---

Ummmm...what exactly don't you agree with? No one mentioned any details about HOW to breed. All everyone here tried to do was to remind him to quarantine a new animal and to not rush into breeding without doing his research and learning as much as possible first.

:confuzd:

Well I am not going to try until next year...


My snakes will be ready, I will be ready. it will be alot of fun once I see some ovulation followed by some eggs.

:)