Is my Female pastel expecting?

[Babygecko]

A week ago i bought 2 ball pythons from a guy. I assumed since one is male, and one is female, and they live in the same big enclosure they have bred. So i asked. He said yes. They give a clutch of about 12. I was shocked and happy. (Though i am new to breeding.) He forgot to tell me that they had already been locking this year. I witnessed that when i set them up at my house (in the same big enclosure) . So i have begun to prepair for the eggs (if she has any) i purchased everything i need to make a diy incubator. Im currently setting up a 40gal tank for her so she can be in a more controlled enviroment (the original enclosure is mostly mesh with wood) They were outside snakes before . I keep them inside. She already stays in the coolest spot in the enclosure. I have not palpated her yet (she ate 2 medium rats yesterday). She does seem to have a beautiful glow to her. Her lips even lightened in color. A pretty orangish/gold . I have only had them for a week (i have many others so im not inexperienced, ive just never bred) . shes fiesty when i open her coolspot/breeding box. (The guy built for her). I went to my fav reptile place and explained my situation. Hes a bp breeder so he kinda helped but the store was busy. He gave me this coconut fiber stuff and said put it in the box with her and keep it moist (to keep humidity in , since i brought the enclosure inside instead of outside in florida weather). Which is okay.

My main "?'s" :

How can i tell if shes gravid?

How long will it take for her to have eggs?

Should i keep letting them lock?

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[Babygecko]

This is her. Her controlled heating pad and humidty reader thing is coming today at 4

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[Stewart_Reptiles]

How can i tell if shes gravid?

Females are gravid once they ovulate, if she is on the cool end she has not ovulated and there fore she is not gravid.

How long will it take for her to have eggs?

45 days from ovulation

Should i keep letting them lock?

NO you are not prepared, you need to do some research and provide proper husbandry for those 2, understand how to care for and how to read your animals among other things before worrying about bringing more into this world that you may or may not find a home for.

When you breed you need to have a rack for hatchlings, know how to start an hatchlings, breed your own feeders to start your offsprings or have a reliable source, and it's costly, and again you will likely end up stuck with the offspring because it's not like the market is not flooded with pastel and normal already and in it's first year an hatchling will run you about $50 multiple that by 10 to 12 plus equipment and if you sell them you may get $10 to $40 each. That's the reality of breeding low end animals.

[Babygecko]

Im not in it for the $$$ at all. Im not a newbie..ive been planning to breed..but starting small. I have the right set ups for the hatchlings. And i have an incubator and im experienced at incunating many different species from chickens to lizards. I just have never had snake eggs. I just palpated (i think thats how u spell it) her and felt about 8 "lumps". Keep in mind they locked and have been locking way before i got them. So its not like i did it on purpose. As soon as i seen them locking i immediatly went and bought all the proper equitment. Im just looking for some pointers in the right direction -_-

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[Stewart_Reptiles]

$$$ or not it's not the point, the point is the market is over flooded, so finding a good home even free will be hard, the question to ask yourself is should you bring animals to this world that will be hard to place?

If it was me and I had an unexpected clutch of animal that would be hard to place I would freeze the eggs.

You have limited experience based on your posts, you need to research a lot of things before even thinking about breeding, proper husbandry (the enclosure is NOT suitable), proper feeding, proper understanding of the species which I do not see based on your previous threads.

Then once you have experience under your belt you need to research genetics, proper hatching care, understanding of the market saturation and what it means for the animal and you as a breeder.

You need to learn to walk before you can run and not be part of those people that buy a BP one day and want to breed 2 weeks later.

[dakski]

$$$ or not it's not the point, the point is the market is over flooded, so finding a good home even free will be hard, the question to ask yourself is should you bring animals to this world that will be hard to place?

If it was me and I had an unexpected clutch of animal that would be hard to place I would freeze the eggs.

You have limited experience based on your posts, you need to research a lot of things before even thinking about breeding, proper husbandry (the enclosure is NOT suitable), proper feeding, proper understanding of the species which I do not see based on your previous threads.

Then once you have experience under your belt you need to research genetics, proper hatching care, understanding of the market saturation and what it means for the animal and you as a breeder.

You need to learn to walk before you can run and not be part of those people that buy a BP one day and want to breed 2 weeks later.

Yeah, I've got to agree completely with Deborah here.

You want to bring baby BP's into the world without knowing you can place them, or that they will be given proper care?

That doesn't make sense to me.

I agree, freeze the eggs.

Also, following your other thread, I would separate the snakes as you said you would, and make sure your husbandry is top notch, whatever you decide to do.

Finally, I know sometimes it seems people are being harsh on this site, but they have your interests and your animals interests at heart. Up to you if you want to listen, but to not listen to correct answers, argue with a moderator (Deborah), who probably knows about 100X more than most people on this site, just seems silly to me.

[Babygecko]

What seems silly to me is the lack of faith todays basic community has in someone. Im well aware of the market for pastels and regulars. And i have a rack to keep every single one of them in. As well as an experienced breeder who wants half the clutch..a couple i am keeping. Thanks for the tips. I think i can handle it. Hope is all we have these days..and some people cant live with the idea of someone a little less experienced then them can handle such a task at hand. I got this. Delete this. Ban me. Idc. I simply came here for advice and to be a part of a snake community. Thats obv not the case here.

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[KevinK]

What seems silly to me is the lack of faith todays basic community has in someone. Im well aware of the market for pastels and regulars. And i have a rack to keep every single one of them in. As well as an experienced breeder who wants half the clutch..a couple i am keeping. Thanks for the tips. I think i can handle it. Hope is all we have these days..and some people cant live with the idea of someone a little less experienced then them can handle such a task at hand. I got this. Delete this. Ban me. Idc. I simply came here for advice and to be a part of a snake community. Thats obv not the case here.

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What Deb is getting at is that your husbandry standards alone do seem on par with someone that should be breeding in the first place. Every reputable breeder that I know of has the care of their animals down to a T. After all, in many cases you will be the one being asked by your customers for basic care information. While some of this may seem pretty harsh we are just saying what needs to be said. Don't take it as an insult, just do your research first.... and you need to do a lot of it before you ever consider breeding. Housing two breeders to a glass tank is a very good starting point to work on though.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

What seems silly to me is the lack of faith todays basic community has in someone. Im well aware of the market for pastels and regulars. And i have a rack to keep every single one of them in. As well as an experienced breeder who wants half the clutch..a couple i am keeping. Thanks for the tips. I think i can handle it. Hope is all we have these days..and some people cant live with the idea of someone a little less experienced then them can handle such a task at hand. I got this. Delete this. Ban me. Idc. I simply came here for advice and to be a part of a snake community. Thats obv not the case here.

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Oh boy, over reacting much??? I see people like you every year, own 1 or two snakes for less than a year, want to breed or end up with eggs not being prepared, are in over their head, and less than 5 years later sell everything.

You do not want advice that may spare you from making a mistake or two and make this an enjoyable experience rather than one where you struggle, fine enjoy you won't be the first putting the carriage before the horses.

[Babygecko]

You need hapiness in your life

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