Tell Me What You Think...

[SGExotics]

Theres another kid on youtube, one of my online friends actually, he goes by the name of "jayjayhootie" , he said that a female ball python can successfully be bred at 850 grams!! i Got into an argument with him and told him that a female ball pythons shouldn't be bred until she reaches the weight of 1500 grams. He said, many pro breeders have bred them at 850 grams!! I also told him that this could be very dangerous for the female... Am i right? or is he right? And has there really been breeders that bred them at 850 grams?

[dmaricle]

i have never heard of anyone breeding a girl that small. i personally would never try it, it seems to be way to risky.

[kdclark0112]

I have heard of some small girls breeding but I mean 1100 grams on the low end. 850 grams in my opinion is ridiculous. Even if you can get them to lay for you at that low of a weight they will most likely slug out the next season and most likely many more after that. This is a perfect example of someone wanting to rush things and put the snakes health in jeopardy. IMHO I think you are exactly right and he has lost it for lack of a better way to say it

[grunt_11b]

I heard a breeder that had a 850g girl gravid.. 4 eggs I think..

Alan

[JKExotics]

That's insane who would want to do that?

[AjBalls]

Can they be? Yes.

Should they be? No.

[butters!]

ask jasballs,oh yeah hes banned.

[Peter Williams]

ask jasballs,oh yeah hes banned.

lol, I was just about to say, where's Jas when you need him. Typically a female that is being bred at 850g is a female thats 3-4 years old that just never really put on the weight, I'd imagine trying to breed a yearling at 850g simply would not work.

[JD Constriction]

I agree.

Barker's book mentions females as small as 0.7kg (700g) laying clutches but they also talk about giving some females up to 4 years to gain weight before breeding them to maximize that females laying potential.

IMO it takes years of experience to know the difference between a healthy breedable female and one that is not ready to be bred. The "easy" rule is 1500g and 3 years old.

Patience is really a virtue for breeders. I realize people are in a rush to see a return on their investment and make that next morph but there is a limit to where you aren't thinking in the best interest of the animal.

Hope that helps

Can they be? Yes.

Should they be? No.

[mooingtricycle]

i had a 900 gram female breed on me last year. Three Healthy, big beautiful eggs

I wouldnt purposefully breed at that size, but it is not unheard of.