Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok heres the deal i keep my female ball in a Rack, inside a 32 qt sterilite tub.

with 94 degrees in the back and 78 degress in the front

she breed with my male albino for two weeks (BACK IN JULY) i only witnessed 2 copulations and seperated them when days would pass and i no longer saw copulation.

since then she has not doen anything until about 5 days ago she looked pretty swollen but since then she has "deflated" and refused a meal today.

here are some pics of my story...

July 22, The 2nd and Final Copulation.

Aug 21, 1 month later...

October 4, im definately not sure but this got me excited

October 9, 5 days later...( she defecated 2 days earlier)

October 11, she deflated...was she just teasing?

thank you sooo much for looking im just so anxious about this and i saw her swell up for some days and her skin was tight and now she deflated. ( just when my hovabator arrived in the mail)

what do you guys think?????

She may have reabsorbed due to not having enough body weight (she looks really skinny in that first pic) or being too hot (94 degrees is VERY warm for a ball, and a 32qt. tub doesn't allow for much temp gradient).

They need proper body weight and calcium build up to produce eggs, because the egg mass is directly converted from the mother's body mass. They don't gain weight while gravid at all -- maybe a gram or two. Then after laying, they are super skinny and have basically nothing left on them. Your female doesn't look big enough to healthfully produce a clutch. How much does she weigh?

They also need cooler temperatures to properly produce follicles and fertlize eggs. I don't cool my snakes, but I also only keep them at 90 degrees in the back of the rack (3 feet long) and the front end is whatever room temp is -- generally 75-78. Smaller tubs have smaller space and with a 94-degree hot spot, you're not giving any space for cooling down.
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~* Jen *~

Pink Lady Constrictors

thank you so much for the advice, i IMMEDIATELY lowered my Helix to 89. should i go lower? i have no idea how much she weighs now( no scale) but when i first bred her she was at 1400 grams. she has been pretty much off feed. maybe twice a month she'll accept several adult mice or one small rat.

reabsorption... is that like game over??

89-90 is just fine. 1400g is far too low to be bred, they need to be 1500g minimum. Considering that she's barely eating since the last time you weighed her, she's probably less than 1400g at this point. She is not healthy enough to produce eggs and you run the risk of killing her by breeding her when she doesn't have proper weight. She is very skinny.
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~* Jen *~

Pink Lady Constrictors

Odd, I got more eggs and bigger babies from my 1400-1500 females than my 2000 gram girls this year not to mention jumped back on feed and just as fast it seemed. I think alot depends on length/girth proportion, and age(sexual maturity). Im not debating your opinion Jen at all, just ours differ, and I think it can be a per snake basis.
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the female in question is an early 05. Tonight as i type she is nowhere near as skinny as she looks in the " aug 1st pic" shes just not swollen like 5 days ago. she had no interest in a small rat yesterday. the male ate yesterday and is in with her as i type. fingers crossed.

thanks for the heads up and valuable info.

ps i saw ure site
i also have an 03 Colombian Rainbow male.
any luck breeding those two?

Not yet, it isn't late enough in the season.
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~* Jen *~

Pink Lady Constrictors

I keep my adults in 32 qt tubs with the temp on my helix at 95. It's not to hot. Where is your probe? Is it in the tub or on the tape? 95 isn’t 95 when it has to go through the tub, substrate and to the snake. Your snakes will let you know if they are to hot. If you see them spending to much time in the front of the tub you might want to lower your temps, otherwise I wouldn’t worry about it. Watch your animals. Just my opinion.
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blackrockcaptives.com

She is ovulating it appears not gravid yet. It can take multiple lock-ups just to stimulate her to grow follicles. 5-10 good lock ups usually IMO. When she swelled up is when he needed to be in there(for good measure), once they grow follicles they ovulate/swell thats the perfect time. Get him in there ASAP and leave him a day or two, I bet they lock up for hours. You should be good. If the male is off feed is a possible clue that she has not yet ovulated. You probably can take him out anytime, though. Ball pythons can breed up to four and five months before ovulation with fertilization still occuring(not recommended to trust). Theres a chance that she has ovulated and you'll see eggs about 30 days after the most recent or next shed(post-ovulation shed), but more likely you'll see her swell dramatically for 24 hours or so (ovulate), shed a couple weeks later and then lay eggs in 30 days from shedding. Hope this helps
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i cant believe it. i dont think a full hour went by?!

anytime
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I really don't see anything in those pics except the female hugging the water dish which is normal for this time of year. Keep cooling the animals at night and keep feeding them once a week. Most don't ovulate until the spring so you have lots of time........

If you have to question it it's not ovulation. They swell upto twice their girth for 6-18 hours.

Corey