Ball Python Breeding Newbie - Female Weight ???

[Theodore Tibbitts]

So I've decided I want to breed ball pythons for fun and profit (mostly the former, but if the latter happens all the better) but I'm a relative newbie to pythons and snakes in general. I've kept various reptiles for the past twenty years (less impressive when you realize I'm 25) but only got my female ball python about eighteen months ago. I got her from a Petsmart shortly after starting work at one (I know, boo! hiss!) so I'm unsure of her exact age, but I this will probably be her second winter, as she was hatchling-sized when I got her.

I am not really seriously considering breeding her; my male which I recently acquired (pinstripe) is only 120 grams or so, so he is not ready, and while I've been entertaining the idea of acquiring a breeding aged male, I would only attempt to breed her if I knew it would be safe for her.

Which comes to my question. She is currently ~1200 grams and approximately 42 inches long, eating medium rats (I bought them as medium, they actually seem large to me - certainly they are much bigger than the medium rats Petsmart sells as feeders!) once a week. I've read that in order to breed them they must be various 1200 or 1500 or 1800 grams; since she was a pet first I certainly want to err on the safe side, and my general impression is that while they might be fertile at 1200 grams it can be dangerous to conceive. However, most of the guides I've read say to start introducing males November 1st - so should she be 1500 (or 1800)+ grams as of November 1st? If, say, she hits the benchmark (whichever one), say, January 1st, would it be safe to introduce a male to her just in case she ovulates?

I don't want to power feed her, obviously, but I'm also wondering, should I be feeding her more often if I was trying to prep her for breeding? Honestly I'm not sure if she would eat any more, as my usual gauge of if she is hungry is if she starts stalking around her tank exploring, and she very rarely does that before say five days after feeding. She usually spends the first five days after feeding plopped in either her hot or cool hide (sometimes alternating) or occasionally basking under the ceramic heating emitter.

As long as I'm posting this might as well ask another question. I'm hoping my male pinstripe will be in fighting form next season, and so I want to make sure he's nice and plump. He recently went into a shed cycle and I initially wasn't going to feed him, but then my beardies refused their monthly pinky and fuzzy, respectively, so I plopped them in his enclosure, rather than throwing them out, and he gobbled them up forthwith. So five days later I decided to try feeding him again with his normal large adult mouse even though his shed was still ongoing. He refused it while I dangled it, but when I plopped it down in his enclosure again overnight he ate it too. Should I keep offering him food during his shed like this, or will it stress him out? I always used to offer my female food while she was shedding, but she also struck it and took it greedily, so I wasn't too worried. He seems more hesitant but is still feeding, I just don't want to freak him out by harassing him while he is shedding.

[jjmitchell]

Breeding is not an exact science, most of the how to breed pages are pretty in general..... This is what I would offer to help

I would not breed a female unless 1400 grams or more, but bigger is safer and actually will probably yield more eggs.....

All the start introducing males and females on such and such date is garbage it is a guideline, that being said when drastic weather changes cold fronts high humidity ect that is the best time to start pairing, the drastic weather change gets them going.... the first few big weather changes is when I start....

dont underestimate smaller males, but usually 500g or bigger is best.

Keep all the sheds from your male snakes this will alot of times help get a male going when the smell of another male is in with him and a female.....

this is gonna get really long if I list off everything but these will help, feel free to message me on here or face book for more help

[Slashmaster]

Girth is more important than weight, in my opinion... for example, two of my females are 1500 grams right now. One of them has a good girth and is thick, the other is a bit skinnier and longer. I don't feel too comfortable breeding the second so I'm going to hold off on her. The first looks like she has good fat reserves stored and she's already locking with my clown male so she feels ready.

[AdamF]

Most of what I read says "500g per foot". So if you have 42" Female, weighing only 1200, she may struggle. I'd wait another year (I know that sux!) to get her to "fightin" weight, then breed her safely.

[Kaorte]

Breeding ball pythons is not an exact science and is open to opinion and interpretation.

I personally don't want to pair my girls until they are 1500, though I do have a girl that is 1300 and 4 years old that I will breed starting nov. 1st. I feel that a female who is on her 3rd or 4th winter and on the light side is much more likely to lay than a 1500 girl on her 2nd winter.

Eggbound females are not always the lighter females and it is always a risk to be aware of when breeding any female.

Also be sure to have your incubator and space for the hatchlings ready before you start pairing so you aren't scrambling to get it together when your female lays or your babies start hatching

Also, the start date doesn't mean anything. You can breed them anytime during the year. Some people like to do a temp drop in the fall to simulate the seasons changing, but Ball pythons live very close to the equator where there is little temperature change between seasons. I started pairing one of my females back in May and I've seen multiple locks over the past 6 months. No eggs yet though!

[Annarose15]

Since you have a male that you like, I would spend the money on another female (morph hatchling), and plan to breed your girl next winter. This will give your pin time to get up to size, your normal plenty of time, and you enough time to prepare (incubator, hatchling housing, etc.). Oh, and you aren't stressing your pin by feeding him while in shed if he is actually eating. He wouldn't eat if he was overly stressed.

[Theodore Tibbitts]

Since you have a male that you like, I would spend the money on another female (morph hatchling), and plan to breed your girl next winter. This will give your pin time to get up to size, your normal plenty of time, and you enough time to prepare (incubator, hatchling housing, etc.). Oh, and you aren't stressing your pin by feeding him while in shed if he is actually eating. He wouldn't eat if he was overly stressed.

This is basically my plan, although my desire to find a bargain is conflicting with my desire to get a python. But I'm sure I'll eventually cave and grab another female, probably a morph. Especially if someone is nice and gets me a rack for Christmas - I'm running out of room for another tank!