When To Retire Breeders?

[SilverDemon]

A thought occurred to me, and after scanning through posts I've seen no answer, so I figured I would put the question out. I realize that there will be no universal answer, but I am hoping to start a discussion. I also know that Ball Python breeding is relatively young, and this won't apply for a long time for a lot of snakes in peoples' collections.

What time do you think is an appropriate age to retire a breeder? 20 years? 30? When they start displaying difficulties? Any different standards that you would hold males and females to? And finally, what would you do with your retired breeders? Keep them as pets? Sell them as pets? Anything else?

Since Balls live such a long time, and breeding has seemed to really explode in the last decade and a half, I figured that this would be something interesting to ask people.

[Driver]

I don't know when would be a good time to retire them, but I do know some can breed up into their 20s. I think it would depend on the number of times its been breed.

[m00kfu]

If I remember right, Eugene Bessette has a girl in her 30's that still lays eggs for him.

[2kdime]

When they die

[SilverDemon]

When they die

O.O *edges away*

*coughs* Could you please explain your reasoning? Or if you're trolling, it's not very funny, or at least I don't find it amusing. And m00kfu, wow! That must be one big, old momma!

[OhhWatALoser]

Could you please explain your reasoning?

Well thats because they don't tend to lay eggs when their dead.

there doesn't appear to be any reason a ball python cannot breed it's entire life

[WingedWolfPsion]

Yep. No reason at all to retire them if they are in good health, and still fertile.

[decensored]

i agree with the guys who said you can breed their whole life. As long as they are laying eggs than keep em workin'.

[heathers*bps]

As long as they are healthy, there's no reason to retire them

[WingedWolfPsion]

Sorry to double-post, but I came back and realized that this deserves more explanation.

In mammals, there is either a menopause in females after which breeding isn't possible, or the females produce smaller, weaker, or deformed offspring as they become old. Males can often continue to breed until they are extremely elderly.

In reptiles, however, things are different. Reptiles continue to grow slowly over the course of their life, and very old females, with their larger size, generally lay larger clutches of eggs (at least, in species where the number of offspring is variable).
Old reptiles are usually at the top of the dominance ladder. Unlike mammals, where older animals are deposed once they pass their prime, reptiles simply become more dominant and stronger as they age, up until they begin to develop age-related infirmities and die.

In many species of reptiles, fertility continues without a hitch right up until the point of death--in some, it ceases a few years before death.
In the wild, the old reptile has proven its genetic fitness by surviving longer than the others, and it produces more offspring (which means, it spreads its genes further than younger animals). There does not appear to be any decline in the quality of offspring associated with aging in reptiles.

As a result, so long as the animals are healthy, and are still capable of fertility, there's no reason to stop breeding them. You should get large healthy clutches from big old females. As for males--if they're getting the job done, why retire them?