Golden Showers

[Adam_Wysocki]

Don't you know you're supposed to be on this forum 24/7 to answer emergency questions like this? Well, live and learn. I'm glad nothing bad happened, but at least now I know what to do if this happens again. I remember in a previous post you mentioned that you moved locked pairs, so that also went into my decision. Under what circumstances do you recommend moving them?

You could have called dude! ... I was up to my ears in snake doo doo, but my cell was within arms reach.

I've moved locked pairs in the past, but have learned a lot since then ... plus my snakes are more expensive now and lessers and pins without hemipenes ain't cool. .

Long ago when I didn't know any better I used to move locked pairs to clean tubs ... LOL ... now, if a pair is locked up we just skip them and check the tub again later in the week.

You only get a very short window to breed during the year and each copulation is a precious event ... no need to mess with it.

-adam

[xdeus]

You could have called dude! ... I was up to my ears in snake doo doo, but my cell was within arms reach.

Yet another reason why I try not to borrow other people's cell phones. I'll keep that in mind, although I hope your wife doesn't mind late night calls, what with the time difference and all.

You only get a very short window to breed during the year and each copulation is a precious event ... no need to mess with it..

Tell me about it. So far I've had luck with 2 of my 3 big gals, but my oldest doesn't seem to be interested. Time to dig up some old Barry White albums...

[cassandra]

Time to dig up some old Barry White albums...

LOLOLOL!!!1!1!

[jglass38]

Well definitely forgive me for the wrong advice. I believed it to be way worse for them to spend half a day sitting in urine. Live and learn...

[xdeus]

Well definitely forgive me for the wrong advice. I believed it to be way worse for them to spend half a day sitting in urine. Live and learn...

No problem. I was kind of on the fence with that one. I know urine is sterile, but I was also concerned about the ammonia. On the other hand, I know injuries can/have occurred with a hemipene being severed, which seems far worse than sitting in urine for a half day. Speaking of which, I checked on them this morning and they were still locked up. I'm glad I did move them without incident as my rack doesn't have a lot of air circulation, but I don't think I would risk it again.

[jglass38]

I think what I got out of this thread was

"copulation is a precious event"

Exactly!

[elevatethis]

Ball pythons are nasty breeders! I read that females will even urinate around eggs during maternal incubation to control humidity levels (Kevin M, TCBP).

[Adam_Wysocki]

I was kind of on the fence with that one. I know urine is sterile, but I was also concerned about the ammonia. On the other hand, I know injuries can/have occurred with a hemipene being severed, which seems far worse than sitting in urine for a half day. Speaking of which, I checked on them this morning and they were still locked up. I'm glad I did move them without incident as my rack doesn't have a lot of air circulation, but I don't think I would risk it again.

This is one of the reasons why I'm such a HUGE fan of Freedom Breeders. If you're going to be breeding ball pythons on any type of scale, the open air system is EXCELLENT for breeding season. There is no ammonia build up and even the largest floods of urine dry quickly. Ventilation ROCKS!

-adam