Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok i know times have changed and thigns are a lil diff now but i am seeing all these questions about breeding weights and everybody is praising the 1500 gram mark. now in slightly older books you look at them and it says a minimum is 1000 grams but more is always better. now why would info from reputible breeders in books give bad info? to me that meens they have bred mulitple animals at that size with success for them to say that it was ok as a minimum. i personaly havent breed any female that small yet but this year i am in debate about a girl who will be around the 1200 mark and feel she will be fine due to first year breeding. just wanted input on breeding info weight verying from 1000-1100 in some of the slightly but not to much older books

You can breed balls at lower than 1500 hundred grams. but more than likely you will get smaller clutches and eggs and smaller babies. I have a ball that will never see see 1500 grams. She is more than 4 years old and tops the scale at 1369 right now she bred last year and had 5 tiny eggs. Out came 5 tiny babies the smallest one being 14 or 16 grams. Some balls are normally bigger than others I think the ones that come from Ghana are bigger than the other one from togo or other places. You can also have a 2000 grams girl that is not ready to lay they may need more weight on them. I would say if a females is 3 years and has been eating good with good body weight then she could be bred if she is 900 grams.

Ohh by the way I am not a Pro. LOL
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Thanks and Take Care
Thomas Jones
Thomas@rockinreptiles.com

Could you post a pic of this 14 gram baby?
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John Vandegrift

Here is the only shot of the snake.

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Thanks and Take Care
Thomas Jones
Thomas@rockinreptiles.com

Thomas said this very well. He is the first person I have read that stated more about age. Here is what I wrote just the other day about male breeding weight since that was what was asked.

It is more than just weight, it is sexual maturity/age. You could have a 3 month old ball that weighs 900 grams and it will not breed.
I promise snakes in the wild do not get as big (as often anyway) as those that are in captivity. In captivity they get a regualr diet where as in the wild they can go longer at times without even seeing a meal.
Have you all not noticed on tv shows how 'adult' snakes are so much thinner, as a rule of thumb, than those we see in our collections.
Now with all that said, weight does matter in the sense that you do not want one that is too small to handle a big female or be intimidated by her.
Be good and best of luck with your projects!
here is the link to the above post that is still on page on of this very page/forum.
http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1357863,1358192

A 3 month old at 100 grams could do the act of 'breeding', the question is would it "take"? The answer is no. Look at dogs, and yes I have bread them as well, do you ever hear anyone ask how much a female has to weigh in order to breed? No, you hear all about age. Why are snakes so different? I think everyone is in a big hurry to make a buck OR to experience the act of reproducing snakes.

We need to think about what is best for the animal, in this case, snakes. You can breed all you want and POSSIBLY lose the female you just bred. Now you are out the money you would get form the babies AND also out the origianl investment of the female.
What are the chances of a snake dying due to early attempts at reproduction? I do not know. I am not willing to try it and lose the money I invested OR the life of the animal I bought because I liked it.

Now on the original question about false information. No I do not think they gave wrong information, I do think that we all learn more about all this as time goes on.

Best to all!

And like the rest, I would not qualify as an expert. I do have some common sense though and have my own experiences in this matter.
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Brian Oakley
Phoenix, Arizona
BrianOakley@qwest.net

I'd have to say that if she's 1200 and looks like she has enough fat reserve go for it. I would. I think if shes not ready she won't go. To me, I look at it like this. If a male gets to one of these smaller females in the wild and she was ready he would do his job? I wonder how many die of complications due to preg in the wild? Also, I read on here once or twice of bigger females dieing in the middle of breeding season. Whatever you decide good luck,
Casey
P.S. I'm for shure no expert.

I think alot die after breeding is due to improper cycling of the female.But hey what do I know??
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Thanks and Take Care
Thomas Jones
Thomas@rockinreptiles.com

-the new one by the Barkers, as well as the one from Satan (The Complete ball Python, by Kevin McCurley)-recommend 1000 grams as a minimum. Very few (if any)have the level of experience of these folks, so I believe them.

Brad Chambers

While I am no pro, I use the 1500 gram mark pretty strictly. I did not breed my 05 Ember Het Hypo female this year at a fat and healthy 1200 grams, just because of her age. My thinking is, I would rather have 8 or 9 big and healthy and fat eggs next year, than 2 eggs, a few slugs and a nippled egg this year.

If a female is 3 years old, and over 1200 grams, and fat and happy, maybe. I just like a female to LOOK big enough to breed. I just took out my Het Green Ghost to clean her cage, and she is 1700 grams. Based on her weight, she could breed, however, she JUST laid a coule of months ago, she is steadily putting back on weight, and is still way way way too skinny to breed.

3 years old or older, and over 1200 grams, or 1500 grams, and 2 years. That is kind of my take.

But only at 3 years of age (actually never tried to breed a two year old). Last year I bred two females in the 1200-1300 gm range and got clutches of 6 and 7 eggs, all good.

Brad Chambers

this will be the girls third winter

Reading any Leopard Gecko book you will likely find a breeding minimum of around 35g. However ask the question in any forum and all you'll hear is "That's too small, they need to be 50-55g". So why is that?

To me it seems like second generation breeders (Those that learned from other's and not thru trial and error) like to use what is the ideal minimum in lieu of the true minimum breeding weight. That is, in order to sound like a more responsible breeder they use a safer number instead of stating the minimum.

Remember the minimum weight is just that, the average minimum weight that females can successfully reproduce, not the ideal.

I agree with the age and weight thoughts the weight is important but age is more of a factor but I rarely say any thing about it as I don’t conceder one for breading regardless of weight until they are sexually mature . I guess I should think more like a newbie when considering a question . David of DS Reptile Rescue