To all my fellow Ball Breeders

[BAD Morphs]

Ok this may sound like a dumb question but I am just curious as to how many of you that have sucessfull previous seasons recorded each lock. I am just wondering what the "average" amount of locks it took till the female was "done" breeding?? I understand that there is no set amount and all females are different I am just curious as to how many locks ppl have gotten before an ovulation. I am sitting at about 4-6 average locks on my females and some have been refusing to breed lately. Mainly just two have been refusing. Just wanted to ask your experiences with this. Thanks!

[OhhWatALoser]

Its going to depend on the female's cycle, It takes one time for all breedings, you let them lock multiple times because you don't know when that 1 time is.

[twistedtails]

I have talked with a bigger breeder about this. He said, if you can get 10 locks then you can almost gauranty eggs. That is if the female is receptive of course.

[Joe_Compel]

While I record locks when I see them.....I know I miss a bunch of them. I'm busy this time of year and I used to be peeking in every five minutes so I would see a ton of lock ups. Now 3-5 makes me feel good considering I know I am missing a bunch.

I know that isn't much of an answer but I really wanted to comment on "some have been refusing to breed lately".....I see that too at the time of year.
Here in Jersey (not to far from you so our winters are pretty similar), I see two peaks of breeding activity and a window where pretty much nothing happens. When I first introduce my animals I see a lot of lock ups for 4-6 weeks. Then in late December or most of January I see little to no breeding activity. In February to early March just prior to when I warm up again, I see increased activity again.
Since I know most of my animals won't breed in January, I rest my males and do very few introductions for the better part of a month. I also offer a small meal or two at this time even though some don't eat.
Interestingly enough, the females that lock up during the first peak of breeding activity are almost always the first to lay eggs. The females that lock up after January usually lay later during egg laying season. It is kind of cool to see that my egg laying season mimics my breeding season in that I see a bunch of clutches, then a lull, and then the rest come along.

SOOOOOO......just because your animals aren't breeding anymore, I wouldn't jump to warm them up or pull males for good. Ride it out for a few more weeks to see if you see breeding activity resume.....especially since you are kind of sort of in my neck of the woods.

Good luck

[Mitch21]

I actually asked this very question not too long ago...

Here's a link to the thread...

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=109827