Curious question

Hey everyone.
I am curious to know if anyone breeds female ball pythons at a lower size than 1500 grams. How old, and what size is the lowest some of you have gone. Same question for males too.
Thanks

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bright202

Hey everyone.
I am curious to know if anyone breeds female ball pythons at a lower size than 1500 grams. How old, and what size is the lowest some of you have gone. Same question for males too.
Thanks

---

I just go by the books.... LOL!!! I'm sure if you do a search here you'll find out all your answers.

Well yeah, but how young do you breed?

This ? Has been all over if you do a search i bet you would find alot of info on it.

People do. They also breed horses that are barely 2 years old. Or rats that are not even medium-sized yet. It's got to be at great expense to the undersized female and in my opinion, it is not good and something to be avoided.
If you are looking for personal experience; I bred my 2004 female last year at 1800-odd grams. I refused to breed her the year before at 1400-odd grams.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ginevive

People do. They also breed horses that are barely 2 years old. Or rats that are not even medium-sized yet. It's got to be at great expense to the undersized female and in my opinion, it is not good and something to be avoided.
If you are looking for personal experience; I bred my 2004 female last year at 1800-odd grams. I refused to breed her the year before at 1400-odd grams.

---

Jenn, I bred an 800g female got eggs and she and the babies are fine! Dont make it sound like EVERYONE who breeds smaller stuff is wrong for doing it.. Some screw up and kill there snakes. But some people know what there doing!!

I did not say that everyone who breeds young snakes is wrong. I stated my opinion :)

If it is not such an issue, maybe I should toss a male in with my 1200 gram '06 female?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ginevive

If it is not such an issue, maybe I should toss a male in with my 1200 gram '06 female?

---

Why not?

I jsut thought that the general consensus was, minimal female weight for breeding : 1500 grams. With respect to the snake's body type of course; a long skinny 1500-grammer is not as massive of course as a shorter fattie..
So who-all thinks I should run my 1200g female with a male? I am interested to know.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ginevive

I jsut thought that the general consensus was, minimal female weight for breeding : 1500 grams. With respect to the snake's body type of course; a long skinny 1500-grammer is not as massive of course as a shorter fattie..
So who-all thinks I should run my 1200g female with a male? I am interested to know.

---

Does she look chunky? ;) If you feel comfortable with it, and think she looks massive enough to be able to deal with it, then go with it...but personally I'd be hesitant to breed an 06 female at any weight until next season. Of course I've never bred before, but it's just my .02.

This is my personal preference (and keep in mind that I have never bred, but am starting a nice collection of boas to breed in the future):

I will raise my females very slowly, not forcing any growth on them. And I will NOT breed until the girls are at least three years old. I feel that this gives the girls enough time to get to a good weight, build up some nice muscle mass... and, if I don't feel comfortable at the three year mark, I'll wait another year.

Sure, it's possible the breed them younger and smaller---as is done successfully quite often---but I don't want to risk it. These girls are my pets more than anything. I want them healthy and happy...

Jeez, give them some time to be young and carefree! :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

Jeez, give them some time to be young and carefree! :D

---

Haha, Lynn I love ya!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ginevive

I jsut thought that the general consensus was, minimal female weight for breeding : 1500 grams. With respect to the snake's body type of course; a long skinny 1500-grammer is not as massive of course as a shorter fattie..
So who-all thinks I should run my 1200g female with a male? I am interested to know.

---

It's your animal...thats YOUR call. I can't tell you if it will work or not...however that 1200g female of yours can.

If she's not in the right condition, or you think its unsafe for her to lay a clutch of eggs and lose a large amount of her mass....then probably don't do it. But she'll lay if she'll lay...if she's not ready likely she wouldn't ovulate...or slug out. If you're hesitant...wait until next year...she'll just be larger.

I have a two time proven girl that is only 1400 grams...she's eaten like crazy all year and hasn't put on any more weight...she's plenty old...and she'll give it a go again this year.

If I went by her body type and appetite, yes I think she's ready. She has the most voracious appetite of any snake I have ever had! She is chunky also..

From what I've seen, it's not uncommon to breed a shorter chunky 1200g female, while passing on a 1700g 4+ footer, as long as they are old enough. It's ultimately up to you, but I wouldn't breed a female that's only one year old.