Hi Joan,



In answer to your questions, no, I certainly don't consider a four foot, 2500 gram female ball to be obese, so while I can certainly entertain obesity as a possibility in this reproductive failure, I obviously wouldn't put any money on the weight factor being the cause, especially without seeing the animal. Measurements are nice, but even if the length is a little off (which it often is when describing snakes), the actual proportions of the snake in question can change radically. So without seeing the animal I wouldn't dare try to pinpoint the cause of the slugs. I just wanted to let those who stated that they had never heard of such a thing, know that this phenomenon does exist in snake breeding. Actually I have seen a few female balls over time that I would consider to be obese, not many, but a few. I agree that it is the juvi balls that tend to get over fed more often than adult females. Heck, it seems these days that any adult female that attains breeding weight is quickly bred before she can ever get to the point where she is too fat.



Also, as stated in another part of this thread I don't have any formal research to back up this assertion, just many years of breeding colubrids and pythons and observations based on my successes and failures, which to me are far more valuable. As well as the observations of other keepers with far more experience than myself. Also, I would rule out the males being at fault when they would sire other clutches with 100% fertility but failed with the overweight females. Simply put, with fat females, I failed more than I succeeded. When I started paying more attention to the female's proportions, my egg infertility/failure dropped to almost zero. Where it remains today. Thanks.



Will

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