our conversation continued on from this thread: http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...0&page=1&pp=10

Quote Originally Posted by frankykeno
Well to be honest in the wild the adult females aren't confined in a small area with a breeding male either so comparing wild reproduction to captive breeding just doesn't work.

For me leaving an adult male rat in with a female with a litter doesn't work. I don't need or want that kind of rat production going on or want my females breeding back to back or being harrassed to breed while nursing young. I believe it helps my females be healthier if they are bred less often and their offspring to be better nutured by her body both in utero and during nursing. For me, it makes sense that a stronger female rat produces stronger pinks that grow into stronger feeders. It's also part of my philosophy on to not allow breeding if I think it compromises any creatures wellbeing and yes guys, that includes rats. These aren't purely pets to me, they have a job in our home to produce feeders for the snakes but they aren't living in a production environment either. Works for me, doesn't have to work for anybody else.

Quote Originally Posted by Dougie
Not entirely true. Think about the places that you see rats and mice at in the wild. A lot of times there is a massive infestation (ie. over-run houses), so my guess is that they are almost instantly pregnant again under those circumstances. It would be interesting to see some type of scientific approach to see if life-spans are decreased by this, since right now it is only speculation.

in the wild rats don't live as long due to predators (and of course exterminators) ...