How long do you pair up your males and females?

[cchardwick]

This year I decided to pair up my male and female ball pythons for five and a half months, basically that's the amount of time until I got my first eggs. My thought is that I want my breeding season to be a very specific time of year. I don't really want my females laying eggs so late in the year that it throws me off for the following year. So that gives me 6 and a half months for the snakes to lay eggs and get back into condition for the next breeding season. If they don't go this year then they should all be ready for the following season. And when I paired up my snakes I put the males with females five days on, then fed everyone, then 3-5 days off to digest their meals before pairing up or rotating males again.

So how long do you pair up your snakes? Do you keep pairing up until the females ovulate? Does it take more than six months and does that throw off your schedule for the next year?

[PitOnTheProwl]

I dont keep a season in mind because there isnt one in our man made environment.
I pair up when I am feeling ready to have clutches and only 5 or 6 days out of a month for maybe 3 or 4 months.
A while back I had my incubator running for just over a year with spread out clutches.
Had most sold before they were up to my 100g weight minimum. Its nice to know all I have to do is care for them without worrying about marketing them. Doesnt happen every time but I try to have buyers ready.