Retained sperm ?? and Breeding

[Fearless]

Its a given fact that ball pythons can retain sperm for several months and have even heard people claim they can store sperm for upto a year. Has anyone had a girl hold it for close to a year and then become gravid after that long of a time.

Now a little back ground on y i ask this question:

I have a female that laid last year towards the end of april, consistantly locked up until she ovulated. This year I have been waiting to breed her till late in the season in an attempt to get my calico male big enough to do his job. In december he was producing a little bit of sperm and I tried pairing him up but never saw any locks and almost completely sure he never got the job done and since has gone off of feed and now doesn't have any sperm plugs. Well I was checking the other day and she has more glow going on than any female I have. So now I am looking for some answers suggestions whatever.

Do you think that my calico probably got it done, and is just fast?

Or that she is preparing to ovulate cuz she still has sperm from last year?

Or her body is ready to get going and I should hurry and pair her with another male, such as my mojave, so that she definately has sperm upon the time she is ready to ovulate vs. her just absorbing the follicles because she doesn't have any viable sperm. (obviously that would be my last resort, cuz I really dont wanna lessen the chances of the calicos sperm being the one to fertilize the egg. if he had gotten the job done.)

Should have checked her for follicle size but didn't so any thoughts or suggestions would be great

[West Coast Jungle]

In my experience young males dont lock for very long and are easily missed. Both animals you are working with are co-dom so there would not be any harm in breeding both of them as the feamle could actualy produce calico and mojave offspring. If you are more interested in calicos rotate him 80-90% of the time and just put the mojave in once or twice before ovulation for a back up plan.

Taking a spermplug from the mojave and wiping them on the female before introducing the calico could help get him going.

[Fearless]

The thing with that is that he has gone off feed and has stopped producing sperm so the option of keep pairing him with her is kinda pointless now

[RichsBallPythons]

Sperm is Sperm it can only stay active or fertile for so long. just as in humans, if not taking proper care like sperm banks do then they die off.

so for a ball python to hold onto sperm for months and then get pregnant is by far a myth

[Vacado]

Actually, it's not a myth at all. Many species of animals can retain sperm, including boas and scorpions.

v

[jluman]

Sperm is Sperm it can only stay active or fertile for so long. just as in humans, if not taking proper care like sperm banks do then they die off.

so for a ball python to hold onto sperm for months and then get pregnant is by far a myth

Not true. Another breeder near me bred a bumble bee to a female in '07 and she produced a clutch with bees, spiders, pastels as expected. In '08 he bred the same female to only a male lesser, and she produced a clutch with a spider, some bees and no lessers. I've heard other stories like this as well, sperm retention from year to year is definitly a possibility in ball pythons.

[envy_ld50]

Not true. Another breeder near me bred a bumble bee to a female in '07 and she produced a clutch with bees, spiders, pastels as expected. In '08 he bred the same female to only a male lesser, and she produced a clutch with a spider, some bees and no lessers. I've heard other stories like this as well, sperm retention from year to year is definitly a possibility in ball pythons.

Was that dave? He did get some bees!

[Fearless]

Basically am wondering now if a female will get to the point of glowing without carrying viable sperm or being bred by the calico got just enough in her to continue with the building process.

[Kevinfletcher]

I had a female last year hatch out a baby that has pinstripe in it an last time she was breed to a pinstripe was 2 seasons before

[Albert Clark]

Sperm is Sperm it can only stay active or fertile for so long. just as in humans, if not taking proper care like sperm banks do then they die off.

so for a ball python to hold onto sperm for months and then get pregnant is by far a myth

Absolutely not true. With all due respect, the science of fertilization in reptiles that is delayed is well documented. The scientific terminology is “ amphogenia retardata”. It can occur for up to years later you can look up the term and check it. Reptile sperm is vastly different from human sperm in its configuration and lifespan.