I was speaking to a regional breeder that I respect about breeding timing, and she noted that she breeds year-round. I know this is common. We then discussed timing pairings without an ultrasound, and she noted that she pairs monthly, year round.
I was intrigued by this and thought, “what could it hurt, may as well?”
Is this a common strategy, and if so, what are some of the details? How long for a ‘monthly pairing’? How long after a female lays would you wait before pairing (assuming return to eating, etc…)?
Am I wrong in thinking this strategy has a lot of upside, and little downside? Thoughts?
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I think so. Part of the seasonal pairing appeal may be certain parts of the country have dramatic seasonal changes in pressure etc that line up with breeding instinct but I know different methods work well for different folks and I’m not sure all the factors that determine which would work better for you.
We start in September and end in June, obviously if we stop with individual animals if we ovulation or eggs. Our pythons are on breeding and feeding schedules. I usually pair on Wednesdays, separate on Saturday evening and feed on Monday. Of course males in shed, no pairing, boys off feed for too long it stops until I can get them to eat again.
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I have not been breeding as long as some on here so definitely would like to see other opinions.
That being said we breed year round based on females building, behavior changes {bowl wrapping etc}. I have had females lay in December and females lay in Spring or Summer, so we try to pair year round as needed to not miss any females that aren’t on our normal schedule.
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You are going to have girls that go at different times. No matter how much you want all your girls to lay on the same day they won’t! Believe Me I’ve been trying for years now. It more or less boils down to when they want to breed. So with some pairings you may have to pair them up outside your breeding “season”. I personally have come around to like that fact. Keeps things more interesting through the year.
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Yeah, eggs/babies at different times actually really appeals to me.
So, for specific example: I have a 2200g fem and one that will hit 1600g in a couple months. Can I just start pairing them once a month until ovulation happens? How long would you pair each month? Any downsides to this plan?
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