Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just out of curiosity, what are the weights of the smallest females in your breeding programs? I'm not really interested in breeding my female, just wondering. She is five years old, and she's definitely no where near the 2500 grams that some breeders females are! While she has always been extremely healthy and an agressive feeder, I just want to make sure she isn't undersized. Thanks for any info.

Although the magic number is 1500 grams for a female to breed, it really depends on her length as well.

I have females that are solid/dense and shorter but still are over 2000 grams, then I have really big girls that are skinny at the same weight.

My smallest girl is 1500 grams, but is very firm all over and I think will have a good clutch. At the same time, I have a girl that is 2500 grams but is too skinny for my liking to go this year.

Jessy

If you don't plan on breeding her then there is no reason for you to worry about matching her weight with breeder weights. Breeder females need to have fat reserves for producing eggs - pet females not so much. As long as she is eating fairly regularly and doesn't look skinny then you needn't worry. At 5 years old depending on her length Id say average pet size 1500 or so.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

11.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

while I don't have that many girls going this year, the largest girl is just over 3000g and has produced eggs for the last 3 seasons (she'll get next year off for sure) and my smallest girl is 1800g and is over 6 years old. She's a great eater but just doesn't get much heavier. This is the first year she has bred and I've palpated 8 follicles in her so I'm hoping for a good clutch of 50% het pied babies from her. I will have several females next year that will be entering the breeding program at around 1600g next year as long as they keep up with their eating. My magic number is 1600 while some people say that's too high, I like the high percentage that the females are going to take and give me eggs.
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Josh Hutto
JKReptiles

2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
0.1 High Contrast Albino (Gulf Coast)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel, Gulf Coast)
1.2 het citrus ghost(Gulf Coast line)
1.0 citrus ghost (Gulf Coast line)
0.1 graz pastel female
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

Thanks for the posts guys. I feel a lot better! I was concerned my girl (Pele) is too small - just under 1500 grams - but I guess she's okay. It's pretty difficult to measure a wiggly snake, but my best effort shows 44". Just wanted to make sure I'm not stunting her growth. At five years of age, can I expect her to get any longer, or has her growth pretty much tapered off? Thanks again for the imput!

her growth has probably slowed a little but snakes will grow throughout their lives.
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Josh Hutto
JKReptiles

2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
0.1 High Contrast Albino (Gulf Coast)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel, Gulf Coast)
1.2 het citrus ghost(Gulf Coast line)
1.0 citrus ghost (Gulf Coast line)
0.1 graz pastel female
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

Thanks Josh!