So ive been teying to breed my first ball pythons, i have a male albino pied proven, and a female albino het pied proven. So ive had over several locks with pictures and dates since april of last year but absolutely nothing. I just upgraded from racks to 40s to now 4x2x2. And i cant tell if my girl is pregnant or gravid. She has refused food for the past month or two but is thick, and has been staying on her warm side. No funny belly up laying or anything but i also feel like her spine is pretty prominent like shes gravid. Help would be great 
Also edit, i dis just put my male with her to see if she goes for him or not, since i know if they are pregnant usually they refuse the male too
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I’d say she’s gravid seeing how huge her lower third is with prominent scale spread and not having eaten in a month.
Did you catch ovulation from her? When was the last time she shed? Did she suddenly swell up like this within the past day or has she been like this for a little while?
Edit:
I would remove him at this point, if she’s this large already she most likely will not be receptive to him and if he makes any more advances on her it will only stress her out. Just a heads up
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Im not exactly sure if she has been like this for a while, as shes been staying thick but i havent necessarily noticed her spine and the fact that she is a little bigger that ive seen her last. She also hasnt shed in quite a bit. Also okay! Ill get him out thank you
Edit, when i went to get him out they were locked so ill have to wait. Up to what point will a female accept a male before her lay? If she will
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Thats surprising!
Usually when females are further along they reject the males or the males lose interest… I’ll go out on a limb and say it is possible your female is ovulating and the largeness you saw prior was the female building up her follicles.
I’d mark that down on a calendar… if this was indeed an ovy you’ll want to wait about 20-30 days and she might shed, this will be the pre-lay shed. Another 30 days after she should be laying eggs.
Let the male finish up his business with her and keep them seperated for now. It could be possible for a female to still accept a male during ovy, but usually the process of ovulation is uncomfortable for the female so I’d imagine its unlikely- but thats just my speculation.
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Here is the breeding schedule I loosely follow, based upon if I feel my females are ready or not (body condition, weight, appetite, and how long its been since they last laid). For example I waited until last month to do a pairing for a female that laid for me earlier last year and I began pairing another female in November of last year.
And the reproductive cycle of the female to get an idea of how long things could last during each phase of the cycle and to get a general idea of how their mannerisms and behavior can change during breeding.
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