Are any of my ball pythons showing signs of being gravid?

[kyokitty666]

Hi, im new and ill say hi to everyone, i currently have 3 adult females 1200grams and up from the smallest to biggest, i have one with my young male, the thin female, she will rarely eat for me and the person i bought them from claims they were all paired with several morph males, 2 look like thats possible but the thin one looks more like she layed eggs recently, even though i dont know what that looks like, my male has sperm plugs and he isnt interested in her at all.

the two other females are in the same tank, 3ft by about 2ft by 2 ft high. i have a heat pad and a heat lamp on one side and the water bowl on the other, both females seem to like to lay together on the side under the shirt, where the light doesnt reach them and they rarely go in the heat, they only did when i had a box under the light for them to hide but then i never saw them lol

now, more details on one, the lighter female im not sure is going to be gravid because shes eating like crazy, shes eaten 3 medium rats, 1 large rat and 4 mice within the past week and is still open to more food. lets call her snake1

the next snake, shes a dark color, much darker then the other two, and shes going into shed right now but her belly for some reason is a peachish pinkish color, and shes staying near her water bowl slightly, though she uses it as a bathroom more often then not. shes snake2

the last, the thin one, snake3, the person told me that they were all off feed until about a week prior to selling them to me, so they are all eating now with me, i read online that they wont eat much if they are gravid so im wondering if they are at all, the thin one has an arched back and when i first got her she had a slight lump near her tail, and you can feel her bones, and the male she is with has no interest in her at all.

any words of advise?

[rdoyle]

Can we see pics. I know when then bellys of bp turn pinkish that mean they are going to sheld. Bp also dont need of light. The light can make it hard to keep the humity up where it needs to be. Under tank hearter is all you need. all snakes need is the belly heat. You all so dont need to feed your snake that much food.

[kyokitty666]

Can we see pics. I know when then bellys of bp turn pinkish that mean they are going to sheld. Bp also dont need of light. The light can make it hard to keep the humity up where it needs to be. Under tank hearter is all you need. all snakes need is the belly heat. You all so dont need to feed your snake that much food.

ill try to get some good photos of them, they arent that big accept the one thats been eating, i asked a reptile shop and they just told me to feed her if she eats and she just keeps eating, again though ill post asap with pics

[ChadOwens]

shes eating like crazy, shes eaten 3 medium rats, 1 large rat and 4 mice within the past week and is still open to more food

Why would you feed this much in one week??? This is not a good idea... this is a good way to make a snake go off feed. Feed once a week.

[kyokitty666]

okay here they are. not the best but the screen on my camera is broken

the two bigger girls, snake1 and snake2










Buddy, the male


buddy and snake3




if you need better photos or different positions to see better just ask, and a little more info, the guy told me they had been paired with all his males while they were off feed and that they were just coming off feed before i got them

[kyokitty666]

Why would you feed this much in one week??? This is not a good idea... this is a good way to make a snake go off feed. Feed once a week.

i didnt realize and again i was told, if they eat, feed them

[Jay_Bunny]

None of those snakes need anymore than one small rat every 7-10 days. Also I would not house a male in with that thin female. She is much too thin to be healthy enough for breeding. I'd also advise adding hides in all tanks one on each side. They are huddled under the shirt because they are trying to feel secure and while the shirt is not an appropriate hiding spot it's all they have. Not seeing a ball python is a good thing.

[MakiMaki]

Snake 1 looks big and is wrapping around the bowl. However, I think her size is just a reflection of her super size meal.

Snake 2's pink belly is most likely due to her going into shed.

Snake 3 looks too thin. I would house her separately and put more weight on her before trying to breed her.

I agree with Jay Bunny....The look like they want hides.

Good luck!

[SlitherinSisters]

If you don't know how much you should be feeding them, you shouldn't be breeding them. You should know how to properly care for BPs long before you start breeding. Research research research. Separate all of them, feed them every week-they all look thin (besides the one you overfed), research proper set-ups, and hope you don't get eggs this year. Once you have all of that down then you can work on breeding. It's not easy and it takes a lot of knowledge, time, and money. I'm sorry, I know you don't want to hear this, but that's the only advice I have for you.

Edit: Welcome to the site. I'm sure you think I'm a witch, that's alright, but seriously, do some research and figure out how to take care of them before you start blindly breeding. I didn't even consider breeding until I was in the hobby for two years. There is plenty of information on this site to learn from. From what I can see your temps are 80 in the hot spot (fish tank thermometers are crap btw)? You might want to put up a thread in the husbandry section after you have read through some care sheets and ask advice on how to get your tanks perfect.

[eyegotballs]

Aside from all that everyone has posted. You are not even housing your adults properly, what makes you think you could house babies. What about incubation? You are not even near ready. You have a great start so try to get them housed in a better situation and then look into breeding.