starting to prepare.......

Hello everyone....
OK I have a baby normal male , and as soon as she eats a few meals I will be picking up a baby female spider. I hope is a few years to breed them, but i have some completely newbie questions.....

How old does the female need to be to breed?
From when the male and female lock, how long until egg time....
How long do the eggs get incubated

Just want to start getting mentally prepared for what will come in a fe years..

First of all you would be much better off breeding a morph male to the female spider. Pick up a Pastel male for around 100 to 150.

Secondly the female needs to be in at least her 2nd winter IF she is over 1200 grams, most prefer to wait til the 3rd winter and 1500 grams.

From the time of a lock can be many months. Most wait for the signs and then count from Ovulation or the Post Ovulation Shed which is then almost 30 days till eggs. After eggs are laid they are incubated, depending on temps, for 55 - 60 days.

Here are a few site to read up on:

http://www.ballpython.ca/gallery/breeding.html

http://www.8ballpythons.com/journal/...ngcalendar.htm

Thanks for the deflection on what you would breed her to, but I am quite happy with the apiring that I will be looking at. I have had Rios for a couple of months and he is totally chill and awesome... I was given the option of a black pastel or a spider and I prefer the spider and the dominant geneitcs on that. Also a black pastel does not really do anything for me... If I were to stay on that genetic path then I would be going for a super black pastel. I love the spiders and the little girl that I am waiting on is such a cutie.....
Rios
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/2407/littleone008.jpg
and the Little Girl that I am waiting on
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/6131/35945771.png

and thank you for the info to other references....I appreciate it.

Thats a sexy little spider there.

I love the spider, I would pick up another morph to put with her tho!

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Originally Posted by k2l3d4

Thanks for the deflection on what you would breed her to, but I am quite happy with the apiring that I will be looking at. I have had Rios for a couple of months and he is totally chill and awesome... I was given the option of a black pastel or a spider and I prefer the spider and the dominant geneitcs on that. Also a black pastel does not really do anything for me... If I were to stay on that genetic path then I would be going for a super black pastel. I love the spiders and the little girl that I am waiting on is such a cutie.....

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Whether spider is dominant is still in the air....

As for pairing your female spider with a normal, its just wasted potential. But You can go ahead and do it, even if you paired her with a pastel male, you would still get spiders and normals, but you would also get bumblebees and pastels too.

Good luck and you have about 3 years until she can breed anyway, you may change your mind during that time. :gj:

That is a nice looking spider!

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Originally Posted by Turbo Serpent

Whether spider is dominant is still in the air....

As for pairing your female spider with a normal, its just wasted potential. But You can go ahead and do it, even if you paired her with a pastel male, you would still get spiders and normals, but you would also get bumblebees and pastels too.

Good luck and you have about 3 years until she can breed anyway, you may change your mind during that time. :gj:

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Did I just read that right? You are telling someone that breeding something they love is a wasted potential. Look you are fairly new here so I'll help ya out, dashing some ones dreams is a thing we don't do here on BP.Net. If they want to breed there very handsome normal to a spider who are you to say that they are wasting their time. See the statement you made makes it look like you are out to make more money then the OP that seems to be in it for the love of their animal. My 2 cents.

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Originally Posted by Royal Morphz

Did I just read that right? You are telling someone that breeding something they love is a wasted potential. Look you are fairly new here so I'll help ya out, dashing some ones dreams is a thing we don't do here on BP.Net. If they want to breed there very handsome normal to a spider who are you to say that they are wasting their time. See the statement you made makes it look like you are out to make more money then the OP that seems to be in it for the love of their animal. My 2 cents.

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Definitely not my intentions.

I was more or less referring to the fact that not many people breed normal males to morph females. I own 5 normals, but none are males.

Sorry if I gave the impression he is wasting his time, but like most of us, after a while in this hobby he will get the morph bug and will want to create the living art that the rest of us love just as much. :gj:

Actually it is not about the morph bug.... I love my little guy and have the oportunity to pick up this little girl.... So then I will be the proud mama of many.. So far I have three snakes, and one five yr old son... pretty soon four snakes. Others may not breed with normal males, but you see I am not like others. I am not going to give up my normal just becasue he is a male.... If all goes well then in a few yearsI will be able to pick up a Pied (shhh do not tell Rios that I may get him another girlfriend in a few years).. I love the high white pieds but as it is it in not going to happen for a few years, but I am looking forward to picking up my little girl here soon.... She just ate her first meal last night,.. so I still have a couple of weeks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by k2l3d4

Hello everyone....
OK I have a baby normal male , and as soon as she eats a few meals I will be picking up a baby female spider. I hope is a few years to breed them, but i have some completely newbie questions.....

How old does the female need to be to breed?

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3 years old, and/or 1500 grams. It is probably ok to breed a 2 year old if she is 1500 grams, but I certainly would not breed a female smaller than that. You would be surprised how small a 1500 gram female actually is. I disapprove of breeding females smaller than 1500 grams--I feel it is likely to result in premature end to rapid growth, and a lifetime of small clutches. If a picky feeder did not reach 1500 in 3 years, I would wait one more year before breeding her, but most will make the weight by age 3.

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From when the male and female lock, how long until egg time....

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It can't be measured that way. Pairs may start locking when first introduced in November, or may not lock until March. Females can store sperm for months. They will ovulate when their body decides the time is right.

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How long do the eggs get incubated

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Average 55 to 60 days.

By the way, I salute you for your desire to pass on the genes of a sociable and calm ball python. I hope you will get a clutch of equally 'chill' normals and spiders. ;)

[QUOTEBy the way, I salute you for your desire to pass on the genes of a sociable and calm ball python. I hope you will get a clutch of equally 'chill' normals and spiders. ;)[/QUOTE]

Thank You... He is so cool. I have only had him since May 11 of this year, and he is still just a baby, but I am hooked. He has even tagged my once and then of course missed the next time, but It was more out of irritation more then anything... we have been spending the last 6 weeks getting to know each other and I think that he can make some gorgeous babies down the road. From what I see.... every one looks to get the morphs for prestige and such.... but in my opinion beauty can be in simplicity.