Backstory and Breeding Progress/Questions

[Weremey59]

Hello,

I've posted on this forum once before however I'm still very new at this. I can be very direct with the way I ask things ( which im trying to work on haha) and can come off a little abrasive. Please bare with me. I started this post to ask questions that I am unable to find or I find conflicting, as I am attempting to breed my BP's right now. This is my first year and believe me I have spent an epic amount of time online researching and preparing myself for what is about to come. I own five ball pythons

Edgar F pastel x cinnamon (pewter) 1600gr
Allan M albino × champagne x pinstripe 1200gr PB
Poe M pastel 1000gr
Queen F spider 700gr (not being bred this year, too small)
Misty/ F Mystic Potion 1800gr. PB

They all live in my home made rack, dont worry I'm a carpenter/framer, and I have alot of spare tubs I want to fill. Here's what I know for sure from my collection:

1) I definitely want to go down the bumblebee/killerbee/ calico killer bee route. I think they are stunning animals and want to make my own little beautiful pieces of art. That being said I also want to play around with the champagne and pinstripe lines.

2) I can almost guarantee the sex's as when I have mated males to females I have always witnessed a lock. I know this isn't definite until the females have laid eggs but I think it's a pretty good sign.

3) All of my snakes have morphs I want to work with. I wanted to start my collection with all single gene animals and work my way to what I wanted (time is not a concern for me) however Allan and Misty dropped into my lap. I couldn't turn down the opportunity as they are amazing animals and are both proven breeders.

4) I understand all the hard work, sleep less nights and stress it will probably bring however it's something i really want to do. I would like to sell off the ones I do not want to continue breeding with however if I cannot find a good home for them, I have the space and means to keep everything I breed. I know full well what I'm getting myself into haha

With that said, this is what I have done so far. I have made up a full spread sheet to document everything that happens. I record sheds, feeding, when I cleaned there tubs last, notes and who I have bred to who. I moved them to my basement where the fireplace is because it is thermostatically controlled. The trade off is it takes alot of the humidity out of the air but I just keep on top of it by paying them more visits (misting). I started introducing the males around the beginning of November but did not see much activity for the first two weeks. The only snakes I am attempting to breed right now is Misty and Edgar. I was trying to keep it Allan×Misty and Poe×Edgar however I had to take Allan out because he stopped eating for two months. I know it's normal for males to do this but he was looking skinny, I weighed him and he had lost some weight (went from 1200gr to 1050gr in that time). He got back feeding and is now back into the rotation but I bred Poe×Misty twice. I introduce the males to the females every 3 weeks and leave them for 36-48 hrs depending on if I see a lock or not.

With that all being said and before anyone asks it (it seems to be the norm on this forum haha) the temps, bin sizes, humidity are all within appropriate ranges and are all healthy animals. They are all feeding well and if they do go off feed I am able to get them back on no problem.

Here are my questions. I will number them to make it easier for people to answer them (if you don't want to no pressure haha)

1) How often do BP's lock/breed and a clutch not be yielded? I ask this as in the female doesnt lay any eggs what so ever. I'm not talking about slugs. If they do or dont why?

2) This is a tough one as this is very local. Everywhere I look says to find someone to show you or assist you in sexing snakes. Whether that's probing or popping the younglings. Where the crap do I find someone in Calgary to help with something like that? Its asking alot and even when I go to reptile expos, how do you even ask that. Not to mention although the snake community is very nice, it would still be a complete stranger in my house. Is there someplace I can take them?

3) Incubators, I've seen everything under the sun used as an incubator but what would you suggest? Here are the three options I currently have. I have an old fridge that I could easily turn into one but the thing is quite large. I could build my own insulated unit to whatever dimensions I wanted, it would be quite tank like Haha. Lastly I could go the cooler route that only fits 2-3 clutches. Should I go big or go home? Should I start small and work my way up?

4) a) Incubation tubs. I have seen alot of different substrate or lack there of used to keep the humidity up in the incubation tubs. The option I am leaning towards is the eggs crate suspended in water route. Meaning not using any substrate matter, just water and an egg crate/rack to suspend the eggs above the water. A breeder Ive talked to here does this and has alot of positive things to say about it. Vermiculite has alot of conflicting opinions interms of too high or too low of humidity. Some love it, some thing its a pain. What do you do think/suggest?

b) Incubation temperatures need to be between 88-90 INSIDE or OUTSIDE the incubation tub? How do you measure that? Obviously the incubator would be thermostatically controlled with my Herbstat 4 but my concern is inside the tub. My thought was to squeeze a thermometer probe wire between the lid and the container of the incubation tub and run a thermometer probe inside to monitor it. Thoughts?

c) How do you measure humidity inside the incubation tub?

5) Do you change the incubation tub sizes to whatever fits the clutch or do you always use 7qt tubs and just separate the eggs from one another so they all fit? Is there such a thing as to big of a tub?

6) I forgot this one and meant to put it at the beginning, sorry Haha. As I stated above I bred Allan×Misty and Poe xEdgar however I had to removed Allan from breeding for some time and substituted him for Poe. If both males successfully locked to the same female, is there a chance of have a clutch with both males gene's being present in the clutches? (Eg, Misty's clutch could be champ, pin, pastel, mystic, Mojave het Albino?) I hope that made sense.

I know that was alot but thank you in advance for any information you guys have. I plan on using this page to keep anyone who is interested informed on how things are moving along and field anymore questions I may have/can't find on the internet. Please comment if you see something I am doing wrong in regards to anything stated above, I am completly open to anyone's opinion.

Thanks again,

Grant