Female stopped eating after being paired twice

[Katrine]

Hi!

I have this female who was eating every week for quite a while so I felt confident pairing her to my male. I've paired them twice with 3 weeks in between but after the last pairing she stopped eating (3 weeks ago). I didn't see an obvious lock, but I saw courting in the evening before I went to bed.
Now I'm not sure if I should keep pairing them since she just reached 1500 grams and is just shy of 3 years old. This is my first time pairing snakes (been breeding leopard geckos in the past) and I just don't want to risk her not eating at all during this.

Should I wait until she eats again or will she eat once they lock (or, obviously lock)?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Some animals both males and females will stop eating early on, it does not always mean something on the female's part, the decision of pairing or not pairing really depends on body condition, while she check all the boxes when it comes to ideal age and weight, if the body condition is not where it should be and she is not eating I would stop pairing.

On the top of weight and age you want your female to be plump not lean.

[Cornfed_Constrictors]

Hey Deborah,

This is kind of in the same vein as your response. What is your opinion on breeding 2 year old females? I have a few fast growers (2018s) that are very good eaters with good body condition and are going to approach that 1500g+ benchmark well before the 2020 breeding season. I am kind of on the fence on whether or not to put them into the breeding program in 2020 or give them another year. Thoughts?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I have had females as young as 18 months being paired, fast grower, good feeders good body proportions etc (females that were 1600 to 1800 grams by the time they were paired) but most importantly they show me signs that they were ready to breed so I did.

I have a 2016 Banana Clown female that had her second clutch this year, to give you an idea.

It's about know your animals, they grow differently and become ready at different time even if they have all the minimum requirements.

I have said it before I am on my animal's schedule I don't push them, I just pay attention to them.

[Cornfed_Constrictors]

Thanks, that helps me. I have one 2018 female that is not quite to size that is already cool seeking and bowl wrapping. We will see how she progresses as she need to put on more weight, but I was surprised to see her already displaying building behavior.

[rufretic]

Great post Deb!

Thanks, that helps me. I have one 2018 female that is not quite to size that is already cool seeking and bowl wrapping. We will see how she progresses as she need to put on more weight, but I was surprised to see her already displaying building behavior.

Imo, this is a sign to me that she is ready. So if she has a good build/body condition, I would pair her if she was mine regardless of weight but I would continue to feed as long as possible. If she is on the lighter side to begin with, I would only continue to pair if she continues to feed, from my experience the lighter females eat like crazy through the breeding process and can gain a ton of weight by the time they ovulate. I've started pairing females as light as 1100-1200 grams but would only continue to pair if they stay onfood which mine have. In the end, all the females I've bred that started this light laid healthy 5-8 egg clutches and were heavier even after laying than they were at the start of the breeding process.

[Katrine]

Thank you, all of your replies have been helpful! I think I'll wait a few months before pairing her up again, and hope that she packs on another few hundred grams in the meantime. Just in case she goes off food again