Beginner in need of help and advice.

[Skittles1101]

Yes hes is 95 grams at 7 months im sure of it he was born in january. Also there is some shed that hasnt come off around his neck and a spot on his face. What sould i do see what happens next shed? its been a month since the last shed. I recently worked with him for an hour and got his eyecaps off so no worrys about that. how many grams should he weigh at 7 months?

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I will post pics along with information. it will be up in about 10 minutes I appreciate you looking at this.

These are all very basic questions for beginners, I strongly suggest getting some knowledge and experience under your belt before you even think about breeding. 95 grams is small for that age, but if he's being fed too small of meals and/or not as frequent then that would be the reason, other than some other underlying health problem. PLEASE for future reference, don't EVER mess with the eye caps again, you can severely injure your snake doing that. Fix your husbandry, double check with this caresheet and hopefully sheds shouldn't be an issue any more.

[AMBiEN22]

don't most new born bps weigh in at the 65-85 gram (when born??) to weigh 95 at 7 months?

You have awhile to get there....

btw, don't rush the good things.

I agree with 4Ballz. Definitely do not rush into this, there is a lot to consider when breeding ball pythons. First i will start with the questions that you have brought up in your OP. A lot of breeders will often feed their snakes when ever they show signs of hunger. Some people who are just in it for the money will power feed, which i don't recommend doing. I'm not the going to tell you the best way to feed your male ball python as some people feed bi-weekly and some feed weekly. When it comes to his weight i have heard of males breeding around 500 grams, in my opinion i would like to wait long enough that i know the snake has enough fat content, is feeding regularly and overall is very healthy. You always need to keep in mind when the breeding season starts a lot of the time they will go off feed and loose a significant amount of weight. So in short, i would say your male snake is not ready to breed as of now. I would love to give you an estimate on how fast he will grow to that breeding mark, but in reality all snakes are different and it could take months or even over a year.

When it comes to breeding females, as some one has already previously mentioned, they need at least 2-3 years to reach sexual maturity (Not saying this is true for all snakes). Also a lot of breeders tend to believe that a female should be at least 1,200+ grams to breed. Personally my female pastel is around 1600+ grams and ready to breed but i know i need to do a lot more before i can take on the responsibility of incubating eggs and then taking care of them afterwards. Which leads into my next topic.

As i said before don't rush into it! Consider the items you need to take care of these eggs and the snakes once they hatch, also consider the prices.

• An inccubator.
• An additional rack or aquariums to keep the babies in.
• An additional thermostat to regulate the incubator.
• An additional thermostat to regulate the new hatchling rack or aquariums.
• Additional heat pads or flexx watt heat tape.
• Additional substrate.
• Additional food
• ect....

[4Ballz]

try photobucket

[PaulNStubbs]

Here is my Ball Python photo link. I feed him a frozen thawed Fuzzy every 7 to 10 days. Twice it has been 2 weeks, due to shedding. Thanks for any input.
http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj552/PaulNStubbs/

[AMBiEN22]

Here is my Ball Python photo link. I feed him a frozen thawed Fuzzy every 7 to 10 days. Twice it has been 2 weeks, due to shedding. Thanks for any input.
http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj552/PaulNStubbs/

What do you have heating the enclosure?
What do you have keeping humidity in the enclosure?
What are the temperature levels on the hot side? The cold side? and what is the overall humidity?
Also do you use that florescent light for a day/night cycle to heat the enclosure or just for looks?

It seems that you may need to work on husbandry before taking on breeding.

[PaulNStubbs]

I have a heat pad under the hide for the tank. And i spray the water bottle for humidity I only keep the light on during the day its a 60 watt.

[sho220]

Here is my Ball Python photo link. I feed him a frozen thawed Fuzzy every 7 to 10 days. Twice it has been 2 weeks, due to shedding. Thanks for any input.
http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj552/PaulNStubbs/

He should be on adult mice or rat pups...maybe even weaned rats...fuzzies, whether mouse or rat, are too small...

[AMBiEN22]

I have a heat pad under the hide for the tank. And i spray the water bottle for humidity I only keep the light on during the day its a 60 watt.

With a ball python that small i would almost say that he would be really comfortable in a ten gallon tank. Often the hide that you are using is good for lizards and other species of snakes. Ball pythons really like tight hiding spots and never really like to be out in the open. I would suggest getting smaller hides that will fit him nice and snug and provide one for his hot side (over the heating pad) and one on the cold side.

Also do you know the temperature that your heat pad is at? Also do you regulate this heat pad with a thermostat? An unregulated heat pad can fluctuate in temperatures as well as burn your snakes, not saying that your will but its often the case with unregulated heat pads.

Also i noticed that you are using gauges to measure what i presume is the air temperature and humidity. Often DIGITAL devices have a error range of about +3 degrees and even 5% in humidity, so using gauges only introduces more error into the enclosure. I would also suggest that you run to walmart and pick up a cheap thermometer and Hygrometers, often they are sold in one unit and are only about 10 US dollars.

Answer some more of the questions i have put forward and i am sure the community as well as myself can help you out!

[PaulNStubbs]

The temperature usually is in the range of about 80-82 degrees. I do not have a regulated heat pad it is the one reptmart told me to buy this is where i bought my snake.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I need to get him to breeding size as soon as possible.

Why? I fail to see where there is an emergency to get a male up to breeding size asap

I hate to be a downer here but you are not ready to breed Ball Pythons! You still have much to learn from proper husbandry to proper feeding. Since your BP is underfed the thing to do ASAP is to feed him appropriately.

The good new is that this forum is full of resources that will allow you to become experienced and once you have experience as a successful keeper you can start thinking about breeding and doing the proper research on the matter.