Squishy/Firm female?

[MsPrada]

I've just been reading some threads about breeding females. I have no plans to do this for a LONG time but I was curious about this 'squishy' thing. I know its prob. not good for a BP to be squishy, because this may mean they have too much fat build up, but if you were preparing a female for breeding, do you want her to have more fat because of the long wait before laying and the fact that she has to sustain them? Or if you have a female that is 1700 grams and firm, would that do?

[SlitherinSisters]

You don't want them to be too fat because there is a good chance they will slug out on you. A 1,700 gram firm female would be perfect for breeding as long as she hasn't lost any weight. Your snake needs to be healthy, not fat. You should be able to read your snake enough to know whether it's fat or if it has some fat stored up for breeding.

unhealthy fat=white between the scales, huge and squishy
healthy fat=firm maybe a tad squishy, and a little larger than average for that snake before bulking up for breeding season.

[MsPrada]

Thanks. I wasn't sure what the difference was btw just being squishy for breeding and obese but now I do. I don't want an obese snake.

[PythonChick]

As you keep your snake for a longer period of time you will get a feel for what is overweight and what is not. One of my little boys was quite the pig for a while, and I had to scale back the size of his food. Females used for breeding should definitely have some stores of fat to help them through the process, but they shouldn't be anywhere near the level where skin is showing between their scales.

[MsPrada]

Thats good. I hate when you see people that overindulge their four legged furry pets and I couldnt stand myself if I didn't pay attention and let my girlie get obese. I know you'd hunt me down and beat me up for being irresponsible too