when to retire a breeder?

[BFE Pets]

So I have two quick questions.
1.) When do you retire a female from breeding?
2.) Do you all pair the same girls every year or do you give them a year in between?

[wolfy-hound]

1. Only if she fails to take for several years, imo.
2. Every year as long as they regain weight and vigor properly after the last clutch.

I've heard of people breeding 20 year old female ball pythons without issue. I also believe(opinion) that if a female is not recovered from her last clutch, she won't take for the next clutch, and thus the female decides whether she skips a year or not. You can't force a ball python to breed and lay eggs, again, in my opinion. I've had girls who skip a year, even two years... and I just assume that the next year they will be bigger and maybe lay even bigger clutches.

[coldbloodaddict]

I just got a clutch from a 15 year old girl!

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[snakesRkewl]

Just got a 9 egg clutch from an 11 year old albino female