So last year was my first round of breeding and everything went well. Ended up with 5 healthy eggs that all hatched and are all doing well, aside from 1 who needs some help eating. During that breeding cycle, I was pairing the male/female pretty frequently (2-3 times per month). The pairing was both first time breeders so I wanted to give them ample opportunities. The male was solid the whole time, never really went off food for more than a couple weeks, which is why I was comfortable pairing that often. She laid in the beginning of July and quickly gained all her weight back. There was a feeding day where I had some other animals refuse and used this female as the cleanup crew (ended up putting down 3 small rats in one go, I was impressed).
Anyway, fast forward to today/the past month or so. Shes been exclusively cold-side for at least a month and refused her last meal. Its making me wonder if she’s possibly building a new set of follicles and has retained sperm from last season since they were paired relatively often. She doesn’t look particularly ‘large’ at the moment (like shes got large follicles or anything), but this was similar behavior to last year when she was getting paired.
My question is, is that feasible that she’s going off of food (similar to how females do during breeding) and building those follicles that quickly after laying? I mean, its only been 4 months since she laid and I know ball pythons aren’t really ‘double clutchers’ like colubrids, which is why I didn’t intend on breeding her again this season.
Has anyone had this happen? I mean in realty it’s somewhat up to the female if she believes shes able to carry another set of eggs, but if that is the case it seems awful quick to me.
