Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi there,
I have some females that look to be late season breeders, and I was wondering how LATE some of your seasons have been? I have seen some breeders post clutches hatching in late July, and even August. So, when have your LATE females ovulated, and how long do you keep breeding them? Thanks to all who help.

swich

Ball pythons can be bred all year long if you can create the right environment. I have had clutches laid as early as Feb. and as late as Nov. I just had a clutch of lessers hatch Jan 1'st. The majority of my clutches hatch between Jun - Aug. Paul

I have personally had clutches laid in every month of the year with the exception of October & November. I just had my first clutch laid in December this past Dec 30th, two more laid in January, two more in February, and 8 already ovulated and scheduled to go in March. Most years I have clutches hatching from March through November. I have found that females develop follicles much earlier and much later than the "traditional wisdom" would indicate. I ultrasound females about once a month and begin placing them with a male when follicles reach about 1.5 cm, whenever that may be.
Grant Whitmer

Very interesting, to know. What do you keep your temps at if I may inquire since temp changes are known to stimulate follicle developement and create viable sperm in the males. Do you keep lower temps year round?
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Nita Hamilton
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Ball Pythons
ballpythonworld.com

I know I am swimming against the stream of conventional wisdom here, and I do not hold myself out to be an expert on ANYTHING!
But.....from my personal experience I do not believe that temps and traditional cycling methods are necessary. This year I maintained temps in my snakeroom around the mid 80's with a 14 hour light and 10 hour dark photoperiod. Around the middle of September (before making any changes to temps) I used ultrasound to check follicle development on my breeder females. I found about 10% already had advanced follicle development with follicles from 1.5 to 2.5 cm. I put males (no cooling) in with these females and they went right to town. These females have laid clutches already or have ovulated and are ready to lay any day.
Anyway, around the first of October I dropped the temp in the snake room to 79-80 degrees 24 hrs a day (no night drop). I maintained hot spots at arund 88 degrees 24 x 7 also. All females are developing follicles normally (actually a month or so earlier than ususal).
As for temp effects on males. As you suggest, I have heard that higher temps decrease male fertility. This may be true, but I have seen no evidence to support it in MY personal experience. I have bred females in the middle of the summer with sustained temps in the snake room in the mid to upper 80s and have not experienced any loss in fertility or impact on egg viability. The one thing I have noticed is that males (especially young yearling males) aren't as aggressive breeding with temps in the mid 80's. However, the older "professional breeders" don't seem to miss a beat.
I have experience on other differece this year compared to previous years and it is exactly opposite from what I would have expected. In previous years (again against conventional wisdom) probably 2/3 of my breeder males continued to eat throughout the breeding season. This year all but one of my beeder males has stopped eating completely. Not sure why, and I would have thought that not dropping temps to the mid 70's at night that if anything their appetites would have increased compared to previous years?? I would be interested in others experiences along these lines.
Grant Whitmer

Hi Grant - interesting info. I'm curious as to how often you breed a male to each female? I try to get in 4 or 5 lock-ups, sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the male. Did you have any issues with poor fertility when you discovered that your females had already developed follicles in the 25mm range?

Thanks, Ryan

Ryan,
My breeding methodology this year has been as follows:
1. Wait until female has follicles between 1.25cm - 1.5cm before placing with a male.
2. Place with a male every 4-5 weeks until follicles are > 2.5cm - 3cm. At this point in the season I have run about 2/3 of my females with males and and about 2/3 of those have already ovulated or have follicles at or close to 2.5 -3cm and won't be put with males anymore.
3. I have had three females (a little less than 10%)absorb their follicles or whose follicles have "stagnated" and not grown after being placed with a male.
4. I have found that some females (maybe 40-50%)will grow follicles 1.5cm-2.0cm without ever being placed with a male. I have had females that were never placed with a male develop follicles over 3cm which they eventually absorbed.
5. If females aren't bred by the time follicles are 2.0cm the odds increase the bigger the follicles get that they will not successfully go on to produce a clutch. By 2.5cm it may be a little better than 50%-50%. By 3.0cm the odds are stacked heavily against you.
5. This year I am averaging just under 3 copulations per female before ovulation and >90% ovulation rate. I have one male that already has 9 ovulated clutches and I have 5 more in his rotation that have been bred at least once. I expect at least 14 clutches out of him this year (which would be a record for me).
Words of caution:
1. There is no way this could be done without ultrasound.
2. Every year is different and maybe it is just coincidence that this year is turning out much better from a breeding standpoint than last year for me??? I used traditional cooling methods and ultrasound last year and had an absolutely terrible year, only achieving about a 50% ovulation rate for the females I placed with males.
Good luck
Grant Whitmer

Thanks for the info, Grant, sounds like you should have a great season

Ryan

July and Aug are normal clutches!! The late ones are the people that have clutches hatching in Oct and Nov!
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Nita Hamilton
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Ball Pythons
ballpythonworld.com