Re-Breeding Question

Ball Pythons
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#1

I don’t know if this has been asked before or not, but I’ve gotten quite a few different responses/views and would like some insight from new breeders and the veterans in the business.

My question is: When do you start re-breeding your breeder females?

Let’s say I had my female breeder lay in February 2020. Would I start pairing her back up again next February 2021. Some say I shouldn’t start pairing her until August of 2021. Others say you can start again in November 2020, but isn’t that to soon?

Love to hear from others on this.
Just on the record - I don’t have any females breedable at the moment.

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#2

I start again when/if the female looks ready by having put back on healthy weight

Last year I bred six females. Three of them I paired up this year and right now it looks like only one of them is going to go. The two that look like they will not I put more on the male because until this week he has spent the entire season hiding from every female I have paired him to.

Of the remaining females, one I sold and the other two I looked at them and could see they had not put back enough mass to be able to safely breed. As such, I never even considered them for the rotation.

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#3

Not like this :joy::rofl: dangit Bobby

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#4

For me they need to meet 3 conditions

Back to pre-lay weight + more

6 months minimum between laying and first pairing

Does not guarentee they will go but those are my standards

If a female completely slug out they will get the year off.

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#5

Pretty much the same. But I have set schedule that i start my pairings at the end of october and stop at the end of july. I will start putting the males in with the females that are typically early and wait to put the males in with the females that had laid later in year or who have not put back on the weight. I hope that make sence. :rofl:

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#6

Well my animals are the boss of me, I do things on their schedule…plus it allows me to spread those clutches out, easier on me and the feeder colony.

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#7

We don’t even think about breeding our girls again till they are back to breeding weight and are healthy. If that means they need a year off they get it. Over all though almost all of our girls are ready to go about 6-8 months after they lay.

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#8

For example: If they lay in march i wait until they are back up to weight and feeding regularly. In september i check their weight. Keep feeding. If they are up to weight i start palpating for follicles at the end of september or even when i check their weight at the beginning of september. I dont use an ultrasound, but you can also ultrasound them. Once i feel follicles, i start pairing and if they arent locked i separate on saturday night, feed on sunday, and pair again on tuesday.

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#9

I forgot I had even made this thread being a year old. Hopefully someone else will have this question and will be able to check this and see what has happened. After my first season all my girls ended their season weighing more before I started to pair them, and they haven’t missed a meal. I will start repairing back in mid-September to early October for my females who laid in early March. :slight_smile: