I got a breeder het pied female ball python from another local breeder, im just getting started, he said she was paired to a male at some point this year and had believed she had follicles growing but he thought otherwise when she took a meal last week. Shes currently in blue and to me she looks lumpy, but since shes in blue i dont really want to mess with her too much.
Any thoughts and information from more experienced breeders welcome. Any tips on breeding is also welcomed, id love to hear from you on your experiences.
(please no bashing on my choice to get into breeding ball pythons, i know some people dont like hearing such…)
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The downside is she may have reabsorbed because she didn’t feel comfy enough right away with a new location. I purchased a girl with palpable follicles on one girl and she reabsorbed after I brought her home.
Some questions to better know the situation…
Has she been staying on the warm or cool side?
Also how long have you had her?
Have you seen her ovulate?
When was her last shed?
Do you have a photo of her so we can see her body condition? Sometimes I worry because I’ve seen newer breeders post photos and it’s a snake who actually became egg bound and has a lumpy appearance.
(No one here will really bash or attack you, but we do like to remind people to be prepared because the market is very oversaturated and accidents can still happen so make sure you have a good reptile vet planned out in case of eggbinding or prolapse or issues with the hatchlings)
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He had me pick her up after she took food, so if she did reabsorb it was before i got her.
I picked her up last night.
Shes been on both warm and cool side but was wrapped around her bowl last night.
Since i just picked her up i haven’t seen her ovulate and i dont know when she last shed.
I dont want to bother her cause shes in blue, and since i just got her last night i do not have a picture of her.
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I’m going to reply, be careful, I have 2 massive females who have both been gravid and STILL ate. (They are both pigs, I swear) so I’m always very cautious towards the yes they are 
gravid if they have been paired. In which case, I feed them small rats or adult mice once a month. If they don’t lay, I bump back up to large rats. Unless you have an ultrasound machine, it can be very much a pain in the rear.
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I think he fed her a medium rat, i thought i heard somewhere that some females will occasionally eat when gravid but i cant even begin to remember where…
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Yeah it really just depends on the snake.
One of mine ate every two weeks right up until 3 weeks before eggs.
It’s a bit hard to say honestly. When she sheds I would take a very careful look at her belly if she lets you hold her up. If she does, try and hold her as up and down as you could without letting her dangle too much but take a quick look at her belly from the side. If they’re getting close to laying they have the bigger belly bulge and sometimes you can make out the egg shapes in a row. When you go to put her away after, you can let her slide through your hands and with just a little bit of pressure with your fingertips on her belly you might be able to feel the bumps of the eggs.
If she’s really shy she may just be too tense and won’t let you get a good look or feel. =/
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She was swelled up and very lumpy and now looks kinda normal? I also dont know what im feeling for yet when it comes to feeling for follicles. Shes also staying on the cool side mostly.
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She was swelled up and very lumpy and now looks kinda normal? I also dont know what im feeling for yet when it comes to feeling for follicles. Shes also staying on the cool side mostly.
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Cool side mostly means you might of seen her ovulate when she looked swollen and lumpy. They often get described as ‘looking like they are a football’
They spend more time on the warm side once they ovulate. Usually they shed around two weeks after that…but not all BPs stay on schedule.
If anything… It’s best to have an incubator set up and tested before eggs arrive. I’d consider it as a just in case scenario
The only time my females refuse food is the period of time between their POS and when they lay.
Here’s a great breeding pictorial you can use to reference throughout breeding! 
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