Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a pair of burms. The female is albino, and the male is normal. I have seen them lock up 7 times. They could have locked up more than that i have seen. The last time was on 2-25-06. The fist time they locked up was at the end of Nov. I have moved my male away from her about 2 weeks ago. She even stop eating back in Jan. Now She doesn't even look to be gravid at all. She has became a little more agressive since 3 weeks ago. SHe seems like she wants to feed. Befor I could walk in the room and she would just sit under her light and not even look up. Now she is up and trying moving around and when she smells rats , she seems to become more active. Now I was told by some top end breeders not to feed her until she has laid her eggs. Now it didn't make since to stop ,but This is my first time with burms and I'm not a high end breeder. Now i hoping to get some in sight about this. Now she doesn't look thin. Stop eating at the end of Nov. when I was told to stop feeding. I have no idea what is going on. I thought about now she would have gotten a little fatter or even seen some thing. If you have any info please let me know. Thank you. Joe

I would offer her food. I'm breeding mine for the first time this year so i'm not an expert. Mine should lay in 10-13 days and she has refused all food for the last 6-8 weeks.

I'm going to do that. Now is yours showing signs of being gravid? Can you tell? SOme things didn't make sense what I was being told. Thank you for your reply.

Sometimes females may take a few months to ovulate after first copulation takes place. Often females don't "take" with even the first half dozen breedings as perhaps their bodies have not developed egg folicles yet. I always allow my males to breed the females until the "hard ovulation" as I call it first appears. This is unmistakable as it is an enormous swelling from the midway point of the females' body to about 3/4 down toward her tail. This large ovulation usually lasts for a day and a half to 2 days and then disperses downward. During this time she will be restless and will writhe about, twist and show signs of discomfort. Even this is not a 100% guarantee of fertile eggs but it is a good indication that there should be. Just be patient and allow a few months for this and allow your male to breed her as many times as he wants to until you see it.
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David Beauchemin
High End Herps.Inc
http://HighEndHerps.com

Thanks for the info. I have them a part right now. I'm going to put them back together today. See I was told that breeding season was from nov to march. And that was all. And that they will have there eggs in march. I didn't know it will go longer than that. SO should i feed her? I really hop she will be gravid.Once again thank you for the info. I will keep you inform with her. thanks joe

Joe, "breeding season" in captivity is not determined by the calandar but by you.

Burmese do tend to follow the fall-winter-spring seasons when it comes to breeding, yes. And those are the usual months that they will continue to breed, yes. But the seasons can be different, temperature-wise, from one state to another and what may be "spring" for someone in Texas will be very different from a "spring" in Wisconson. This can cause very different breeding activity for breeders that live in different regions. I have found that even when we attempt to force mid year breeding that the burms (and other python species) still somehow sense the real seasonal patterns and still will follow them. I still have burmese that are actively breeding and one female that still has not given me an ovulation.

I personally do not feed my females during breeding season. I prefer to not take a chance with throwing their cycle off of one of reproduction. I do feed my males every week or two to maintain their level of energy and subsequent stamina. For my females I feed them extra heavy between July and September so as to build up additional fat stores for them to maintain a good body weight and to have an inclination to reproduce during the 6 months of breeding between October and April.

I hope this answers some of y'alls questions.
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David Beauchemin
High End Herps.Inc
http://HighEndHerps.com

I forget that most people actually have seasons. I live in San Francisco where it averages 55-65 degrees year round.The only way you can tell the difference between summer and winter here is rain in the winter and fog in the summer.

Here is a link to some pics I took the other day of my female. I think you can see she is gravid. Hope it helps..John wilson
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