Is she big enough?

[adamjeffery]

yes, she is big enough and old enough to breed. if you should or not is up to you. ill be breeding at least 4 girls in the same weight range. 2 have been in the same weight range for 2 years now with little change. they are just smaller females. the other 2 i need to further my project and i dont want to wait...lol. honesty is the best policy and their is no reason to sugar coat it.
i also know a few smaller breeders who have bred females in the 800 gram range. i have heard stories about bigger breeders using similar sized animals. look at the dreamsicle ....original breeding was a 7-800 gram female and a 350-400 gram male.
most breeders say they wouldnt do it but actually would, especially if it was integral to a project.
if its a normal to normal breeding i wouldnt do it. but if it was a killer bee to a humble be and both were het axanthic then yeah i wouldnt wait.
adam jeffery

[Jeremy78]

What about when your project becomes egg bound?

To the op, I'd go by your gut. If you think she is big enough and can make it, go ahead. If you think you'd rather wait another year and beef her up, go ahead . You don't have to breed her, no pressure. If you do, keep us informed with lots of pics!

To the "wild" quote.

In the wild a snake will die. Ri, parasites, can't find food, mouth rot, scale rot, all point to death. In captivity our pets have a lot better chance at survival due to the fact we have vets and husbandry. You can hardly compare a captive snake to a wild one.

yes, she is big enough and old enough to breed. if you should or not is up to you. ill be breeding at least 4 girls in the same weight range. 2 have been in the same weight range for 2 years now with little change. they are just smaller females. the other 2 i need to further my project and i dont want to wait...lol. honesty is the best policy and their is no reason to sugar coat it.
i also know a few smaller breeders who have bred females in the 800 gram range. i have heard stories about bigger breeders using similar sized animals. look at the dreamsicle ....original breeding was a 7-800 gram female and a 350-400 gram male.
most breeders say they wouldnt do it but actually would, especially if it was integral to a project.
if its a normal to normal breeding i wouldnt do it. but if it was a killer bee to a humble be and both were het axanthic then yeah i wouldnt wait.
adam jeffery

[adamjeffery]

give me 5 no 3 known examples of a ball python getting egg bound....

it is VERY VERY rare for a ball to become egg bound. in the 10+ years ive been breeding snakes i have only heard of 3 balls being egg bound. i knw their are more but i hear of at least a dozen corns every year getting egg bound and at least half a dozen milks. kings i dont hear much on but balls i just never see it. its just not true. weight and age have alot to do with if you get eggs or not but egg bound has more to do with over all health of an animal. if its a lazy snake with no muscle tone that just got over being sick then yeah its likely to get eggs bound. but a 1300 gram snake that is perfectly healthy will have no problems passing its eggs.
adam jeffery

What about when your project becomes egg bound?

To the op, I'd go by your gut. If you think she is big enough and can make it, go ahead. If you think you'd rather wait another year and beef her up, go ahead . You don't have to breed her, no pressure. If you do, keep us informed with lots of pics!

To the "wild" quote.

In the wild a snake will die. Ri, parasites, can't find food, mouth rot, scale rot, all point to death. In captivity our pets have a lot better chance at survival due to the fact we have vets and husbandry. You can hardly compare a captive snake to a wild one.

[moravaguy]

i vote breed because this girl is old enough but slim, and to say she shouldnt breed... thats like saying a under weight grown woman shouldn't have children.... just the way i feel about it

[papa wyrm]

I say let'r rip. once that snake copulates a few times i bet she starts eating more like a horse than a snake.

[loonunit]

She actually looked way fatso when I originally posted this... since then she's gone up to 1300g and 46" (!), and now she seems more normally-proportioned.

It's interesting that people are worried about her not being fat enough--I'd guess that would help if she decides to fast during breeding? But I'm much happier with my 2008 pied in this respect--she's 48" and 1440 grams of SOLID MUSCLE. And I'd expect muscle tone to provide better insurance against egg-binding.

Anyway, here's the 2007 girl, busily not locking with my het male. (Also a 2007! But he's tiny--just 700 grams and change. Most of my 2009s have outgrown him.)



That was a couple weeks ago. The 2007 female went into a shed cycle shortly after; I paired them again this weekend, and they might have locked? Anyway the het male was putting more effort into it this last time.

Here's the 2007 female today with random kitchen objects for scale:





Lois' nose says: Thanks for your awesomely helpful input, and have a terrific Thanksgiving.