Reptile & Amphibian Forums

clutching ball pythons in a year ? For that matter any other snake other than the kingsnake family ? Thanks.
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I may be old , cantankerous, crabby, and cynical, but......

I have heard from a very reputable breeder that he can get his females to double clutch. I don't know if he wants to be named so I'll leave it at that.

Jeeze dude....seems like a waste of bandwith.

The fact of the matter is that ball pythons CAN NOT double clutch. If they did, don't you think we would have at least one documented case of this occuring in captivity...Just one? Of course we would.

BPs have a year long breeding cycle. Their anotomy and physiology will not allow a second clutch. Follicular development is a slow process, and one that can not be sped up.

Now, a couple of cases that could be confused as double clutching:

1) Getting a female back in prime condition quickly, cycling early, and breeding early may get you a clutch 10 months after the first. I suppose even 9 months.....maybe

2) Clutch is laid, but a few eggs are retained. Retained eggs are later deposited (most likely infertile if more than a few days later).

So to the original responder (who indicated that they know some details of a breeder "who can get his females to double clutch". Which case above most likely an explanation?

By the way, it is common in many species to double clutch....I'm not aware of any python that can.

:1
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jake

my addiction:
1.1? normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
0.1? amelenistic corn snake (zyklon)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)
hybrid breeders association
hybrid haven

you have to work at getting those and some of the milks to stop somewhere after 3rd, 4th, 5th clutches.

I did hear once where a BIG retic did what I would call a short year but nothing like the double clutching snakes.