When to pull a male from breeding for the season.

[Billy305]

I have a bumble bee male I've been breeding with my 3 big normals and my pastel girl. They have also been breeding with the butter het ghost. He is obviously in breeding mode as he has no interest in food what so ever and seems to always be looking for a girl in the room. He locks up really fast and every time he is paired, usually within a couple hours. He has only eaten once since he started pairing in the beginning but has stopped since. This was in November.

I know this is my first time breeding so maybe I started him to early but I want to make sure the girls have the best chance to get pregnant. Each of the girls is paired every few weeks with one or the other alternating.

He was about 1,175 when I started and is now about 1,065 so he has lost about 100 grams during the process and is looking lean but not skinny. I know some people say you need to get him out of the room and away from the females to get them out of that breeding mind set and to start eating again. How much weight loss and or time is too much when it comes to breeding a male for the season. The girls have been paired 5-6 time each by one or the other male.

After these 4 I have no other plans for him this season.

[Annarose15]

Are you sure the 1175g weight was empty? I wouldn't be concerned at all about less than 10% on a boy that size. I am having to pull a small male from breeding, but he has lost close to 17% of his empty weight. It stinks, because he's been a breeding machine.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Pulling an animal of breeding rotation is always a personal call based on experience and how you feel about the animal, there is no set weight or set weight loss that dictate whether or not the animal should be pulled.

Losing a 100 grams for an animal that size is really not much, but if you don't feel comfortable in breeding him you can pull him out just know that because you will pull him out does not mean he will resume feeding for you.

I had a male that was a small male to start with top weight 800/900 grams at the very most, he would stop eating soon as he would start getting paired and he would generally loose about 150/200 grams each breeding season. I have never pulled him out simply because I know my animals and knew it was typical for him does not mean I would not have pulled another male doing the same thing out of rotation.

This is one of those things you learn on your own there is no recipe, it's about monitoring your animal make sure they animal is healthy, well hydrated and trusting your own judgment.

When I pull an animal out it is because it does not feel right to me to breed them it's not about specific written guideline.

[BHReptiles]

I want to thank you for starting this thread! This is my first season and I started breeding a 500g male. Yes, I know that's not advised for beginners, but I told myself if he ever lost much weight, I would pull him. Now, I always wondered what "much" would mean to me. Luckily, he's not lost anything but gained about 150g (last weigh in was 650g). He's an eating and breeding machine. However, if the time comes and he does stop eating for me, your thread will give me some valuable information. I may not need it this season, but I might need it in subsequent seasons.

Thank you to everyone who has posted.

[Billy305]

Didn't even think about that. The higher weight was 3 days after eating a small rat and then empty now.

The snakes health and safety are my first concern when it comes to this little project of mine. Just learning and I'm sure by next season ill know a lot more.

So at one point will he just become non interested in the females and start eating again on his own? Should I just offer him every week or 2 and look for signs of him not locking anymore?

[Billy305]

For reference the butter is even bigger and ate through like 2 months of breeding but just stopped also.

[Annarose15]

My bee went off feed his first year breeding (started at 700g). He lost ~30g all winter, but didn't eat from November to March. I offered biweekly until he started eating again and he was fine. Three seasons later, he only misses a meal when he's in blue and still breeds like a beast! I think it's more that the females will eventually tell him "we're done here, bucko" and then he'll quit being so distracted - or he'll just get hungry again.