Is she big enough?

[loonunit]

Yep, I knew it: it's October, and my 2007 mice-only female is only now creeping up 1300 gram. Will she be big enough at that size, or should I wait?

[Sammy412]

I would wait. I personally don't like to breed until the female is at least 1600-1800g. just my opinion

[DemmBalls]

I'm breeding an 07 that's around 1350 grams. She's been locking like crazy with on of my mojaves. The way I see it...she'll either give me a good clutch or she won't. If they ran into a male in the wild...what would they do? If a snake is old enough/mature enough, they will breed.

Edit: Roughly how long is she? Lenght to weight ratio is more important than weight itself.

[loonunit]

Edit: Roughly how long is she? Lenght to weight ratio is more important than weight itself.

42 or 43 inches, looks like. (HOLD STILL, STUPID SNAKE. ARGH!)

[Freakie_frog]

Weight isn't a big of a factor as you might think..age, weight, build, fat stores, over all health of the animal.. while most people look at 1300 grams as breed-able and 2007 is well with in that range. There are a few factors that go into this, is the animal a lean thin 1300 grams or is she a stocky 1300 grams. I bred a 1100 gram 2006 female just fine, small clutch but still..is the animal recovering or just recovered from an injury or illness? Is she eating good ect ect..

[Egapal]

I have a real problem with the whole "If they run into a male in the wild" argument. What if I asked "Is it ok for me to feed a mouse my neighbor caught in a mouse trap to my snake?" The same argument could be used to justify saying "yeah sure, feed the mouse to your snake, after all, in the wild your snake would eat any mouse it found, not just the parasite free ones."

At the end of the day you have to make the call to breed or not to breed. I think weight is important but like Freakie_frog says, health, fat reserves, age are all important too. Relying on what would happen in nature is not always best. Nature can be a cruel, unforgiving witch.

[DemmBalls]

Weight isn't a big of a factor as you might think..age, weight, build, fat stores, over all health of the animal.. while most people look at 1300 grams as breed-able and 2007 is well with in that range. There are a few factors that go into this, is the animal a lean thin 1300 grams or is she a stocky 1300 grams. I bred a 1100 gram 2006 female just fine, small clutch but still..is the animal recovering or just recovered from an injury or illness? Is she eating good ect ect..

I absolutely agree with all of this. And from the snakes length that the OP gave...I would say she would be a little on the thin sde for me to breed her. For a snake in the 40+ inch range...I like to see them 2000+ grams.

To the OP...do you have pics of the snake?

[coldbloodaddict]

She has the age and the weight is really close... Also she might feed more aggressively after you put a male with her a couple time and gain a little more weight.

BTW if she does start feeding like crazy it will be a good time to try to get her on rats...Also try a rat first if/after she lays eggs.

[hughman 125]

Seems like everyone has their own opinions but i was told it is very risky before 1500

[kellysballs]

I would breed her as long as she was in good health. She has the age for sure and the weight is fine to. It is a little light but as others said she will continue to feed through out the season. I would not stop feeding her, offer her food until she refuses on her own. That way she will continue to put on weight as she builds.