Alright time to send this female to the belt factory...

[Jonas@Balls2TheWall]

Day 53 after a pre lay is a mighty long time. There might be a correlation there. How bad were the babies who came out on day 40 compared to those who came out on day 53?

[SlitherinSisters]

Sounds like the problem is with her. Did the prior owner sell this girl as proven, unproven, virgin, breeder, or ?

I wish I could remember... possibly 'unproven'

[SlitherinSisters]

Sounds like it is her, if you got a deal on her I'm sure the previous person had the same issues and was aware of it. So many shady people in this world today its hard to tell, its all about the money. Sorry to hear about your bad luck with her. If it was me I would retire her and keep her as a pet or sell her off as a pet and definitely not as a breeder.

That's what I'm thinking. Tell the buyer about the issues I have been having and sell her as a pet.

Day 53 after a pre lay is a mighty long time. There might be a correlation there. How bad were the babies who came out on day 40 compared to those who came out on day 53?

Absolute train wrecks. However, I can't blame her entirely, I had humidity issues the first year I incubated. Second year the babies weren't so bad, this year...I guess we'll see if the remaining egg makes it.

Ah! I just remembered. Two years ago, her clutch laid 43 days after prelay (just checked my records) there was a normal female that was never able to defecate on her own and ended up dying. I kept her alive for 5 months, if I remember right, and she ate every time I offered her a small prey item. I assume something was wrong internally as her kink was not bad.


Edit:
2 years ago I had a total of 12 babies, her 4 were the only ones with issues and were incubated along with other eggs.

Also, I'm totally willing to accept that it could be my fault, I just find it weird that her eggs are the only ones I've had problems with. I've had 4 clutches so far this year, 2 have hatched out perfectly, the 3rd will hatch by the end of this month. All the babies this year were by the same male (I bought a male breeder that turned out to be a female so I was stuck with the pastel male again this year).

[bcr229]

I guess if you want to give this female one more chance, pair her with a different male and see what happens. Sometimes there's just that tiniest percentage of a chance in nature (not just snakes) that the combination of sire and dam will cause a problem with the offspring.

[JLC]

If you're already in a position of wanting to thin out your normal females anyhow, I don't see any value in continuing to breed her.

She's a pretty girl and will make a lovely pet for someone. If I were in your shoes, I would sell her as a "pet only" and explain to anyone buying her that she has a strong history of throwing deformed babies. If someone else buys her and tries to breed her, then that is on them. But hopefully she'd end up in a caring home and live the life of ball python luxury.

[Kodieh]

If it's the same male, do a rigorous pairing with a multitude of other males excluding the male who keeps taking and see what comes up. It could be her and that male together throwing the problems, some how wildly closely related?

[SlitherinSisters]

I guess if you want to give this female one more chance, pair her with a different male and see what happens. Sometimes there's just that tiniest percentage of a chance in nature (not just snakes) that the combination of sire and dam will cause a problem with the offspring.

I was thinking about that, I just wasn't sure how much I wanted to try again. I have 15 females that will be ready to breed this winter and I really do need to start getting rid of some of my normals.

If you're already in a position of wanting to thin out your normal females anyhow, I don't see any value in continuing to breed her.

She's a pretty girl and will make a lovely pet for someone. If I were in your shoes, I would sell her as a "pet only" and explain to anyone buying her that she has a strong history of throwing deformed babies. If someone else buys her and tries to breed her, then that is on them. But hopefully she'd end up in a caring home and live the life of ball python luxury.

That's a good point. I think I will sell her as a pet only with a disclaimer. You are very right, if they breed her knowing the issues I've had and they have the same issues they can't complain. She's an older girl, 8 years old, and I definitely want her to go to a good home. She's a good snake, just not a good breeder.

If it's the same male, do a rigorous pairing with a multitude of other males excluding the male who keeps taking and see what comes up. It could be her and that male together throwing the problems, some how wildly closely related?

Very true. I just don't know that I want to take the time again. I have a lot of other girls to breed this winter and I've been planning to thin down the herd. I have 7 normal females right now. Her and one other female are on the list to be sold, I just haven't made the final decision. It's kind of hard to get rid of these girls, I've had them for years!

They shouldn't be related, but anything is possible. I honestly don't know where this girl came from, she went through several hands before she got to me. I am at least the 3rd owner.

[JMinILM]

Yeah, it sounds like it is time to retire her. Find a nice family that will give her the love she deserves.

[don15681]

I was going to ask the same question as dr del, also you may want to change her conditions during breeding. like changing her rack position. she may have issues with that male also.

[CD CONSTRICTORS]

If you feel compelled to have me test drive her for you I have a 1.0 Banana to try on her