RCReptiles.com

[rcbell321]

What are the brime breeding ages for male and female b.p? Thanks

[NickMyers03]

there are the standards that have been followed for years that were set down buy the "ball gods" ( aka ORG big boys)

Female - 1500 grams, 3rd winter ( at least 2 years+)
Male - 800 grams, 2 years

NOW there have been many that go against this and done great, people have also gone against this and lost their animals

my general rule is this

Females - 1300 grams- healthy looking ( not to fat and not skinny, feels thick when you grasp her)
Males - as long as they are producing sperm and continue eating they can breed.



****WARNING***** some people have bred males to young and the males stoped eating resulting in the males dying. Females can become egg bound too.

[rcbell321]

Thanks. Is there an age that is too old? Such as a 6 year old female?

[NickMyers03]

there are 20 year old females still breeding and giving good eggs

[jb.t3ch]

[NickMyers03]

there are a few people that i have talked to who openly share their expierence breeding 20+ year old balls... do a google search and it might bring up some posts.

some breeders breed back to back in reptiles for years on end but most will give them a year off here and there.

i cant say if it harms them as i have not read a study on this but hopefully Ron will join in and shed some light on this

[RonCrawford]

I'm not sure if breeding them year after year is a good thing or not but I apply the philosophy of the farmers that alternate planting each season to different parcels of land in order to give the soil time to get its nutrients back. In other words, I personally give them a year off but again, it's just what I choose to do and my personal philosophy so don't take it as gospel.

[jb.t3ch]

thats pretty cool that they can breed that long.

[Buck_99]

I have a book that correlates yearly reproduction in females with smaller clutch sizes. They also believe that in the wild the females skip a year. Consider that they don't eat while incubating (correct me if I'm mistaken, folks), so they use the extra time to build up their reserves for the next round, putting them on a two-year cycle. There are probably exceptions.

Like other people who try their hands at breeding, whether professionally or for kicks, I'd like to sell some snakes and make a little dough, but I'm not willing to do that at the expense of the snakes' health. I have no definitive proof that running a female through the mill every year is unhealthy, but the correlation mentioned above, plus my own gut instincts, lead me to believe that it's better to give the girls a break.

[deborahbroadus]

I am thinking how best to put this so that it is understandable...

How would any male like to have an enema every day? Wouldn't you like a year off?

[Buck_99]

[NickMyers03]

i dont see anything wrong with breeding back to back years IF and only IF the female has regained her weight to pre lay weight from the previous year AND she is in good health all around.

Human females can give birth once an year and i know many poeple that have brothers and sisters that are less than a year apart.

now doing this for many breeding seasons in a row may harm the snakes so i would give them a year off here and there even if they were breedable

[NickMyers03]

females get gravid by choice, yes its a primal urge that drives them but they will turn down a male if not ready or willing.

my female last year who was of age and size wanted nothing to do with the males but this year shes gravid and should be laying some time soon ( due date tomorrow )