Eggbound/slugs???... Not so much!!!

[Bill Buchman]

Rolled the dice on a Double Het for Ghost breeding. Girl's (mom) hatch date was 6-1-06. I picked up she and her DH brother in a trade May April of 07. They were on the small side and have been inconsistent feeders for me. Because she was 2 1/2 years I decided to give her a go.

Exactly on her due date (today) she gave me the clutch pictured below. All candled good -- NO SLUGS.

Even wilder, her clutch of 4 eggs weighed 361 grams with her post lay weight all of 539 grams!!! As I was taking her off the clutch I thought I heard her hiss, "How do you like these apples?"

Brock Wagner hit his EXTRAORDINARY Caramel Glow male in a 3 egg clutch -- I don't expect to be as fortunate -- but I have a little chance thanks to a LITTLE girl.

"It only takes one", will be my chant the next 60 days.

[jeffh231979]

I hope the 4 eggs prove out for you!!!!

[RebelYell83]

great things come in small packages!!!! congrats

[Montessa Python]

Congrats, but shouldn't you have waited for her to be at a good weight and size?
I have always heard that a female should be at least 1500 grams.
Just a thought
Good luck!!
Carol

[Coils]

Isn't it pretty much a rule that you should wait until a female's third winter and they are 1500 grams in weight...tops, before breeding them?

And if she was already skinny and didn't eat right before, why would you risk her life breeding her and have her dropping so much weight after laying when she perhaps even rufused food during her whole breeding season as well?

[Salem Purrs]

I agree, why would you breed a.. what? 900g?... female who is an inconsistent feeder in the first place? Were you trying to get her eggbound?? The poor thing is down to under 600g, thats just ridiculous. Good luck on getting your picky feeder back up to weight after THAT.

Not trying to sound rude... but seriously... why would you risk her like that??

Sorry if there is some exception to the rule on weights and age for breeding females, but I've never seen it.

[RebelYell83]

this was her fist winter,and some snakes are just small in nature,which could make them inconsistant feeders,as they dont use as much energy,a lot of people do this,is it always worth the risk?,nope,i bred an 06 girl just over 1100 grams this year,and i know its risky,but i did it as well.

i say great job,great roll of the dice,and the best of luck for 4 ghosts brother!!!!!!!!!

[Mettle]

It sounds a bit irresponsible to be breeding this female at this size. I'm not as well versed in ball pythons as most others on this site but even I knew this was a bad call. Was it sheer excitement or dollar signs that pushed you into doing this?

It's always better to wait an extra year or two than to risk the female's life... I hope she recovers from the stress and work of producing and laying those eggs for you.

[Salem Purrs]

Regardless of whatever morphs you were hoping to get from the pairing, the female was not up to weight and I think you could have waited another year. Even stating in the thread title that eggbinding was possible, its obvious you KNEW there was a risk.

[RebelYell83]

i still dont think bill did anything wrong,in fact egg binding,and slugging out is a risk you take with every female,be it a 3 year old 900 gram girl,or a 10 year old 5000 gram girl,its a risk that happens,,hes not the first one to do it,and i dont think he will be the last