So, I recently decided I want to try breeding a few select reptiles (ball pythons and russian tortoises, to start). Here's the plan so far for the ball pythons, and I would appreciate it if someone here can tell me what I might want to change or modify.



-I have a baby male ball python who is about 18-20" long right now. Right now he's in a 10 gallon tank, but sometime in the next three monthes I'm planning on buying him a boaphile 221D cage (30"x24"x11.5" with some sort of belly heat run with a thermostat.



-Once Steve (the male) is moved into the new enclosure this summer, I would use the 10 gallon tank to house a baby female ball python that is unrelated to the male. Sometime around the holidays I would [probably plan on getting her the same setup as the male.



-Then it's the waiting game until they are both grown and ready, at which time I would go through the motions with the winter months (I have read I should gradually decrease and then increase the temperatures....is this true?), and then let them have some... "visits" together, and keep my fingers crossed.



-Pregnancy of the female is a part of this whole thing I'm still very confused about. When the female is gravid, does that then mean that you should not handle her until she lays? Also, how do you deal with the females once they have layed the eggs and are coiled around them? Seems like a dangerous situation That's the one thing I'm worried about with the boaphile cages I've picked out. They are very low and therefore have a narrow front opening, so it seems like it might be hard to deal with an upset snake.



-Offspring: I figure if, after the first few years, I can get the normals to reproduce, then the real test will come. The test to see if there is room for another breeder in the market. If the snakes do sell well, then I will definately plan on doing it again, and consider buying more snakes (the jungle pastel line insterests me, as well as albinos). If all goes right, I would like to have a small business breeding them. However, if the snakes don't sell well the first couple of times I breed them, then I will consider ceasing breeding efforts for the time being, and keeping the two snakes as pets (which is their primary job anyways )





So, that's the plan so far. What should I change about it? By the way, I would plan on building a small (10-20 drawer) rack for the hatchlings.

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