Breeding Timeline

[Ball Clan]

I think a lot of people have their own methods of keeping track, since females can be pretty unpredictable sometimes. I personally am terrible at feeling for follicle growth, but here's what I have noticed just by watching my girls really closely.

There is no set time between pairing and ovulation. It can happen in a month, or it can never happen at all, and anything in between. But when I have a female getting ready to go, they tend to do the following things:

First is a dramatic weight gain, as in a 300-500 gram jump over a matter of 6-8 weeks (This year Kay jumped from 1900 grams to nearly 2600 grams between December and February, and Fiona jumped from 1700 to 2150 between December and February). They start to prefer the cool end of the enclosure, and toward the end of the weight gain period I notice a slight overall swelling throughout the back 1/2 of their bodies. At this point they will me a little more restless and not as placid when I handle them, and they seem to have more trouble getting themselves comfortable outside the cage. You may also see them "bowl wrapping" (coiling around the water dish) or laying in odd positions.

After this they will usually go into shed (I've been referring to this one as a pre-ovulation shed), and will be more uncomfortable than usual. All three of my breeders soaked themselves in their water dish for the duration of this shed.

As soon as this shed is complete, their body color brightens up, sometimes dramatically, sometimes not, but it should be noticeable if you look at your snakes a lot. I posted a thread a few weeks ago showing Kay's color change. At this point they will tend to go off feed where they had been eating voraciously before. If the color shift occurs, they will usually ovulate in roughly 3 weeks (give or take, some keep you waiting longer than others). Prior to ovulation and after the pre-ovy shed, you will notice the body swelling starting to become more rigid and the snake will find it more and more difficult to get herself comfortable, especially if moved. I usually cut way back on handling at this point, usually only doing so if the cage needs cleaning or if I'm inspecting her.

Once ovulation happens, you pretty much know the timeline. They will almost definitely be off feed at this point, and they will go into another shed cycle (pre-lay) shed 2 to 3 weeks after the ovulation, and once that shed is complete, it's about 4 weeks until eggs.

This is just a rule of thumb that I've learned to go by with my girls. Not all girls play by the rules, but it's working for me (with the exception of Miss Mocha, but that's a matter of physical maturity and probably not relevant here). Hope that helps.