Wc ?

[josh@outbackreps]

The Barkers do not have a good out look on imports at all.
The advise in the book is not the best, and judging from there success on breeding imported animals, it is not there strong point.

The best way to get a import to feed is to set it up in a dark rack system on cypress mulch with a ambient temp of 84*-86* and leave them along for 3-4 weeks. Give her water and other than that leave her be.
After 3-4 weeks offer a small live rat late at night, put a few lab blocks( for the rat to eat so it doesn't chew on the snake) and leave the room. Check back in a few hours or in the early am, (remember the rat has food) and the rat should be gone. If not let her go a few more weeks and try again. During this time do not bother the snake at all, fresh water that is it, do not handle her. After a few tries she should start feeding. The biggest problem people have with w.c balls is the set up. You cannot keep them in a freedom breeder on newspaper and offer f/k rats or they will never feed/breed. A dark small box in a rack system with cypress mulch and a few weeks off time with small live rats at night and every imported female we have set up has fed without problems. A lot of the females we have sold have breed the following year too, not all but a lot have so the 3-5 year time frame is bull.

Good luck with her and let her settle in on her own time. If your looking for more info on how to acclimate w.c females Ron Billingsly has a good article on imports that is a lot better than vpi's book.( Other than their w.c. info is a great book, but the w.c section is terrible)

Hope this helps.

[JASBALLS]

The Barkers do not have a good out look on imports at all.
The advise in the book is not the best, and judging from there success on breeding imported animals, it is not there strong point.

The best way to get a import to feed is to set it up in a dark rack system on cypress mulch with a ambient temp of 84*-86* and leave them along for 3-4 weeks. Give her water and other than that leave her be.
After 3-4 weeks offer a small live rat late at night, put a few lab blocks( for the rat to eat so it doesn't chew on the snake) and leave the room. Check back in a few hours or in the early am, (remember the rat has food) and the rat should be gone. If not let her go a few more weeks and try again. During this time do not bother the snake at all, fresh water that is it, do not handle her. After a few tries she should start feeding. The biggest problem people have with w.c balls is the set up. You cannot keep them in a freedom breeder on newspaper and offer f/k rats or they will never feed/breed. A dark small box in a rack system with cypress mulch and a few weeks off time with small live rats at night and every imported female we have set up has fed without problems. A lot of the females we have sold have breed the following year too, not all but a lot have so the 3-5 year time frame is bull.

Good luck with her and let her settle in on her own time. If your looking for more info on how to acclimate w.c females Ron Billingsly has a good article on imports that is a lot better than vpi's book.( Other than their w.c. info is a great book, but the w.c section is terrible)

Hope this helps.

Have you ever produced one egg? Not from a wc. But have you actually bred ball pythons and produced eggs? Not trying to start anything, Just wondering out loud as usual..

[josh@outbackreps]

We bred pastels a few years ago, and sold the group before the females laid.
Our business has always done well buying and selling large quantities of high quality animals, but we are breeding some balls, boas, and rainbow boas too.

We have a bummble bee ( my 5 year old sons snake) and some unproven odd ball males ( sable type, honey cinnamon, black pied, etc) breeding a bunch of female right now. Should have 5 - 10 clutches this year. Breeding has never been a big concern as up until this season we never had the room but we are looking forward to getting in on some cutting edge projects next year .

Should be working with black pastel ghost , Ivories, hypo bumble bee's and some other interesting combo's next year, and of course the sub Sahara projects.

[kc261]

If your looking for more info on how to acclimate w.c females Ron Billingsly has a good article on imports

Do you have a link to that article? Or where does one get it?

[littleindiangirl]

Do you have a link to that article? Or where does one get it?

Go to kingsnake.com and search for the name Thebigsquease

[littleindiangirl]

Now as to the Barkers not being able to breed WC animals, why are they credited with the first breeding of so many difficult species and morphs of more common ones? If your referring to the burgundy albino, I suggest a closer look at how many animals they have actually gotten WC and bred.

I have a WC, although the Billingsley method did not work for me, it does not mean it hasn't worked many times before. I started the Barkers method and my WC girl immediately ate within 2 weeks. We followed many suggestions for our WC girl for months and got no where with it. Try different things, but really think about how her security is, and the husbandry. I agree with Ron when he says that the reason they wont eat is 90% husbandry problems.

To the OP, there are many different ways to get them to feed, and not one way is right or wrong. If you give us an idea of your setup, and how often you handle, peek at, offer food etc. Any information will help us narrow down what you have done and what else we can offer.

[ozzypython]

Ok right now i have her in vision cage thats 28"W x 24"L x 24"H
she care fresh for substrate ,hide ,corkbark 3pcs ,water tub with inch of water, one heat pad thats at 95 degrees on 24/7,and lite that turn on in the day time. check on her every day but dont touch or pick her often. thank u any help welcome

[josh@outbackreps]

If you change her set up to the following she will feed. Otherwise it will be a lot hard acclimation period.

Blanket box/ rack system - even if you have to put her in a 28quart sterilite from walmart with a heat pad set on a thermostat.

No light- it will just stress her even more.

Cypress mulch- it hold humidity better and is more natural, something about it just makes them happier.

Leave her alone - check on her once a week. Even peaking in is stressful she needs to feel alone and by herself to be comfortable enough to feed.

Not trying to be critical but if you follow those guide lines she will feed!

[NateDogg13]

Ok right now i have her in vision cage thats 28"W x 24"L x 24"H
she care fresh for substrate ,hide ,corkbark 3pcs ,water tub with inch of water, one heat pad thats at 95 degrees on 24/7,and lite that turn on in the day time. check on her every day but dont touch or pick her often. thank u any help welcome

95 degrees is kind of high for a 24/7 temp, how does that keep the ambient temps throughout the night?

[ozzypython]

between 80- 85 give or take