You think she's ready for a mate?

[Mitch21]

My pastel female is back off feed. She's mid 1400grams and she's from July 08.

She pretty much just sits in a coil on the heat tape and pays absolutely no interest in food.

Is this one of those little signs that she might want some lovin'?

[CoolioTiffany]

You can breed her, she's very close to the recommended weight. She's a July hatchling of '08?

Mines an April hatchling of '08 and she's 853g.. LOL. She's very girthy, and takes med rats, but doesn't grow fast enough LOL.

[SatanicIntention]

No... THIRD winter means third winter, not a tad over a year old..

If she was seeking the cold, then she might be developing follicles. Seeking the heat means she wants to be fed more and get bigger.

She's only been through one winter. Give her time and you'll be rewarded by being patient.

[CoolioTiffany]

No... THIRD winter means third winter, not a tad over a year old..

If she was seeking the cold, then she might be developing follicles. Seeking the heat means she wants to be fed more and get bigger.

She's only been through one winter. Give her time and you'll be rewarded by being patient.

I don't know what he's talking about when he means July '08.. like he bought her then or she was hatched then. If I know when she was born I wouldn't have recommended breeding her

[Mitch21]

Satanic,
Is there any reason in particular that you stress third winter so heavily while many other breeders use the second winter calender?

[CoolioTiffany]

Satanic,
Is there any reason in particular that you stress third winter so heavily while many other breeders use the second winter calender?

I think people like using females that have gone through their 3rd Winter is because they are a lot more ready to take on laying eggs as well as producing a lot more eggs than they would if they went through their second Winter. And also they would be over the recommended weight

[adamjeffery]

No... THIRD winter means third winter, not a tad over a year old..

If she was seeking the cold, then she might be developing follicles. Seeking the heat means she wants to be fed more and get bigger.

She's only been through one winter. Give her time and you'll be rewarded by being patient.

i disagree...."third winter" is a recommendation its not a set of rules. many many breeders go by weight only, many go by second winter.
i have seen breeders breed 800 gram females with good results.
their has never been any proof that breeding young or small is bad for the snake. it is bad for clutch size and egg size, but for the female not so bad.
many say they coulld get egg bound....show me documented evidence? i have seen 2500 gram girls get egg bound..were they to small? all in all balls dont get egg bound all that often at all. i have heard of 3 cases maybe.
all the stuff you read online are guidelines NOT rules..
adam jeffery

[mainbutter]

No... THIRD winter means third winter, not a tad over a year old..

I've never heard 3rd winter as an absolute rule that cannot be broken.

[Big Gunns]

My pastel female is back off feed. She's mid 1400grams and she's from July 08.

She pretty much just sits in a coil on the heat tape and pays absolutely no interest in food.

Is this one of those little signs that she might want some lovin'?

In a word....Yes.

Big Gunns has a question for everyone. If Mitch's female was in Africa in a hole somewhere, do you think all the males that just happened to slither by would say "nope...no booty for you youngn...it's not your third winter"...orrrrrr...do you think they would show Mitch's girl "some lovin".

There are reasons to wait(bigger next year...etc), but none of them include it being best for your females health. In the experience of Big Gunns(the only person that matters), it's not gonna hurt anything by trying.....especially if she's off feed anyway.

[Jay_Bunny]

While I don't think it would HURT your snake to try and breed her this season, I usually use the 2 year mark. These females are about to go into their 3rd winter but I start pairing early.

Breeding her this early will probably give you a very small clutch size. There is an article out there somewhere but I don't have time to find it. I'll look when I get home today. Basically the article states that in that author's experience breeding females for the first time when they had gone through their 3rd winter produced normal to large sized clutches, while younger females of the same weight or lighter females produced a smaller clutch during their first breeding season. The females that laid a small clutch continue through their breeding career to lay very small clutches in comparison to females that had waited to breed.

So my advice would be to give her at least till next season. By then she should be huge and should produce a nice big pile of eggs for you.