Breeding questions

[xdeus]

I have a few questions that I haven't been able to find the answers to...

How long does the female retain sperm if she hasn't produced follicles?

How can you get a female to produce follicles? (introduction to male? Light cycling? Cooling down?)

How long after she has been fertilized (with follicles) until she lays(?) the clutch?

[Adam_Wysocki]

How long does the female retain sperm if she hasn't produced follicles?

No one really knows for sure. But just to be clear, females always have follicles. In my collection, males are breeding with females now. Those girls will hold onto that sperm until they ovulate sometime in the spring. There is wide speculation that the higher temps of the summer months seem to prevent almost all female ball pythons from being able to retain sperm into a second breeding season, but there are a couple of rare documented instances of that happening.

How can you get a female to produce follicles? (introduction to male? Light cycling? Cooling down?)

Again, females always have follicles. All of the things you listed ... cycling temps, light cycles, presence of males, seem to play into triggering follicular development. And then some females just seem to show signs of follicular development even without those things. A solid cycle of temp and light drops, decreased food supply, and introduction of courting males seems to work for me every year as far as triggering all of my girls into follicular development and ovulation at around the same time.

How long after she has been fertilized (with follicles) until she lays(?) the clutch?

Ovulation is the key ... once the female ovulates, fertilization takes place, then 7 - 10 days later the female will shed (post ovulation shed or POS), after that, eggs are typically laid at around the 30 day mark give or take (although I've had females go as short as 17 days and as long as 96). The end of "cycling" lights and temps (or "warm up" as I call it) is typically the catalyst for ovulations to begin.

-adam

[xdeus]

Thanks Adam, and thanks for helping me out with my terminology. So theoretically, a male can be introduced anytime during the season and during follicular development for the eggs to be fertilized? On your last sentence, you stated that fertilization takes place after ovulation. Can ovulation take place without the presence of sperm? If so, what happens to the eggs?

[Adam_Wysocki]

Yes, males can be introduced to females at any point during the year and if all goes well, the breeding alone can trigger follicular growth resulting in ovulation, fertilization, and eggs. In my experience, and what I have learned from other breeders, cycling temps and lights for at least 6-8 weeks helps insure that your males are willing to do their thing and that females will be receptive. I've also seen a direct correlation between the post cycling warm up and the beginning of ovulations.

It's certainly possible to breed all year long without cycling your animals, but from what I've seen, I would never change the way I do it.

From what I understand, females will not ovulate unless they are bred by a male. The "spurring" that males do to females is an extremely important stimulus. I'm told that is one the reasons why artificial insemination in snakes is difficult if not impossible. Although, there are a couple of rumored examples of parthenogenesis in pythons, and if they are true, there would be an obvious exception. Even so, I’m not sure I’d want to base my breeding success on “exceptions”.

Hope this helps.

-adam

[xdeus]

Thanks, that clears up a lot! One last question, though. If the female get follicular development due to external stimuli, what happens if a male isn't around to fertilize her? Do the follicles shrink back down eventually?

[Adam_Wysocki]

Their development either halts or they are reabsorbed.

Two things about reabsorbtion that people usually get wrong ... if a female truly ovulates you are going to get eggs ... once ovulation occurs, there is no reabsorbtion ... and two, I've never had a female get to the point where I could feel her follicles as well defined marbles and not gotten eggs .... seems like after they get to a certain point, they'll go.

A male spurring the female may actually be of more benefit to the development of her follicles than the temp drops.

I tend to think of it like this ... drop in temps get the males in the mood and makes the females receptive to their advances .... males courting, spurring, and breeding, coupled with the temps triggers or accelerates follicular development, warm up lets the girls know that it's time to ovulate. That is a HIGHLY over simplified view of how things work, but it covers the basics.

-adam