Posted by:
LdyPayne
at Wed Nov 15 14:51:40 2006 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by LdyPayne ]
Though I am no expert on breeding ball pythons, or breeding anything in general, but I do try and keep myself well versed on what others have done (ie reading what people post here and other sources). However I do have to agree excessive weight on either male and female is bad for their health and breeding ability. A bit of extra weight is good to keep the animal going during the rigors of breeding and producing eggs.
As the majority of ball python breeders incubate eggs in incubators instead of allowing the female to incubate the eggs herself (hence she won't eat for a much longer time) too much weight on her isn't necessary. Most females will eat during most of the gestation period though smaller meals than normal should be offered. Once the eggs start to develop inside of her, they do take a lot of room and thus, less room for food.
The real question is how much extra body fat is good, and how much is too much?
Far as I know there has been no studies of the amount of body weight wild ball pythons build up to lead to the breeding season and how much weight they loose during breeding and gestation/incubation. Snakes in the wild spend a lot more time searching for a meal than they do in captivity but when they find food, they will eat it, even if they recently consumed a meal. Hence why most snakes will take a second meal if offered after they finished eating one, or even a few days later.
It would be a good project for somebody who can get down to Africa and do a study on wild populations of ball python adults. Tagging them and going back at different times of the year and weighing them. A record can then be made of how much they weigh before natural cooling times, during peak breeding season and after eggs are lain/incubated for the females. The long fasting time most wild females undergo in nature may explain why most do not clutch every year, taking a year off to regain lost weight and build up some fat reserves to hold them through incubation fasting.
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RE: fat females - LdyPayne, Wed Nov 15 14:51:40 2006