too small to breed?

[KingReptiles]

So I have a Female BP that is about 2 years 4 months old and about 850g. I have been feeding her small-medium live rats once a week for quite some time now. While trying to get her weight up to 1000g by march to breed with one of my males I placed both of their glass tanks next to one another where they can see each other, with the intention to get them familiar with eachother for the breeding. 3 weeks ago she was in shed so I did not feed her. The problem is that now she will not eat. I have tried live and pre-killed small-medium rats but she just will not eat. she seems uninterested all together when I wave the rat in front of her and she climbed out of her feeding tub when I left her with the live rat for 20 mins. I have since blocked the future mates from seeing one another. Cages are also temp and humidity appropriate. I live in Missouri so we feel winter as well and I have replaced a faulty UTH 2 weeks ago in the females cage.

My question is: Could she not be eating because she is wanting to mate?

I know it is better to wait to AT LEAST 1000g to breed them but this would be my first time breeding so I don't want to hurt my girl or get her egg bound. There are many variables at play here, (being able to see the male, UTH going out and pushing her into a "hybernating" mind set, local winter climate), so I don't know what to do.

All opinions or comments very appreciated.

[LittleTreeGuy]

I am not a breeder, but I'd say it's probably more likely she just went off feed because she wanted to. I think snakes will breed at anytime, so I don't think the females go into estrus (or something similar, as that's mostly mammals, I think) any particular time, and just "want to mate". I could very well be 100% wrong though.

[KingReptiles]

I hope that is the case. I'm not ready to breed her and would ideally like to wait but I don't want her to starve either. I appreciate your input. Thank you!

[Hannahshissyfix]

It sounds like you need to put on the brakes for the idea of breeding and really take advantage of all of the information available on this site for now. Start with correcting your basic husbandry issues like using a seperate feeding tub still and then get into the breeding info . A 1000g. Female is still way too small and there isn't any need to "introduce" the snakes beforehand. Going off food is totally normal so you can't just make up your own timeline of so many weeks of eating should get your female to gain X grams by a certain time (though we all dream it from time to time lol).

[SmoothScales]

So I have a Female BP that is about 2 years 4 months old and about 850g. I have been feeding her small-medium live rats once a week for quite some time now. While trying to get her weight up to 1000g by march to breed with one of my males I placed both of their glass tanks next to one another where they can see each other, with the intention to get them familiar with eachother for the breeding. 3 weeks ago she was in shed so I did not feed her. The problem is that now she will not eat. I have tried live and pre-killed small-medium rats but she just will not eat. she seems uninterested all together when I wave the rat in front of her and she climbed out of her feeding tub when I left her with the live rat for 20 mins. I have since blocked the future mates from seeing one another. Cages are also temp and humidity appropriate. I live in Missouri so we feel winter as well and I have replaced a faulty UTH 2 weeks ago in the females cage.

My question is: Could she not be eating because she is wanting to mate?

I know it is better to wait to AT LEAST 1000g to breed them but this would be my first time breeding so I don't want to hurt my girl or get her egg bound. There are many variables at play here, (being able to see the male, UTH going out and pushing her into a "hybernating" mind set, local winter climate), so I don't know what to do.

All opinions or comments very appreciated.

There are so many things wrong with this, I don't even know where to begin.

For one, there is no need for a feeding tub. Period. That all by itself is stressing out your snake and may be why she's decided to stop eating. There is no reason to feed outside the enclosure. I hope you're at least watching when leaving your snake with its prey.
I'll let someone else tackle the breeding weight, but from everything I've read, it is recommended to wait for breeding till AT LEAST 1500g. Breeding underweight might improve feeding response, but you shouldn't count on it.

Where are you getting your information from? Because I guarantee it isn't here.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Seems like the weight requirement are getting lower by the year

Breeding is a question of age / weight and feel.

While I would breed a 4 years old 1000 grams female, I would not be breeding a 2 years old 1000 grams female, I would only consider breeding that 2 years old female if she was a minimum of 1500 grams.

Breeding is not a race, give her another year to put on some weight.

As for your female not eating she is not eating because she has reach the "wall", BP between 800 to a 1000 grams will often fast.

[Rickys_Reptiles]

So I have a Female BP that is about 2 years 4 months old and about 850g. I have been feeding her small-medium live rats once a week for quite some time now. While trying to get her weight up to 1000g by march to breed with one of my males I placed both of their glass tanks next to one another where they can see each other, with the intention to get them familiar with eachother for the breeding. 3 weeks ago she was in shed so I did not feed her. The problem is that now she will not eat. I have tried live and pre-killed small-medium rats but she just will not eat. she seems uninterested all together when I wave the rat in front of her and she climbed out of her feeding tub when I left her with the live rat for 20 mins. I have since blocked the future mates from seeing one another. Cages are also temp and humidity appropriate. I live in Missouri so we feel winter as well and I have replaced a faulty UTH 2 weeks ago in the females cage.

My question is: Could she not be eating because she is wanting to mate?

I know it is better to wait to AT LEAST 1000g to breed them but this would be my first time breeding so I don't want to hurt my girl or get her egg bound. There are many variables at play here, (being able to see the male, UTH going out and pushing her into a "hybernating" mind set, local winter climate), so I don't know what to do.

All opinions or comments very appreciated.

No need to even read this whole thing. You lost me at "850g"

Too small. Way to small.

[Albert Clark]

This ^^^^^^^^^ And yes, Dangerously small to consider breeding!

[KingReptiles]

It sounds like you need to put on the brakes for the idea of breeding and really take advantage of all of the information available on this site for now. Start with correcting your basic husbandry issues like using a seperate feeding tub still and then get into the breeding info . A 1000g. Female is still way too small and there isn't any need to "introduce" the snakes beforehand. Going off food is totally normal so you can't just make up your own timeline of so many weeks of eating should get your female to gain X grams by a certain time (though we all dream it from time to time lol).

The info on this site varies on weight and age for breeding (I have read posts and replies suggesting anywhere from 900-1500g) so was wondering if she was wanting to mate or stressed because she can't get to the male she has been viewing. I have since realized it's not the best idea to have them seeing each other a lot and blocked them from eachother. Other sites and articles I have read suggested introducing them to one another to familiarize before breeding so they don't become aggressive when you go for it. I'm not on a timeline for gains but I do record weights before feeding and after defecation for my own amusement.

Since they do all eat pretty regularly, I just wondered if it were possible or even a rare instance for females to instinctively want to breed and go off feed? Because of something I read in an article written on a different site, and after speaking with a friends uncle who breeds BP's, I wanted to cross reference with this forum which has always been pretty reliable. I now know my initial response was right. Don't introduce them for breeding yet, which is something I was pretty sure was the answer. I appreciate your response and thanks for not talking to me like an idiot haha. Still very green.

[PitOnTheProwl]

I know it is better to wait to AT LEAST 1000g to breed them but this would be my first time breeding so I don't want to hurt my girl or get her egg bound. There are many variables at play here, (being able to see the male, UTH going out and pushing her into a "hybernating" mind set, local winter climate), so I don't know what to do.

Ball pythons do not brumate.
Study more please.
Hobby breeding is for the health of the animals, not a check so don't rush anything.