Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How big does a male have to be to breed?
I don't know the weight(I don't have a scale), so if someone wants to make a guess, I'd appriciate it. I've got an 07 pastel that's just over two feet long and pretty thick, eats two small adult mice a week. I don't know how big/old he has to be to breed, but he's my first morph so I'd like to breed him this year if possible?
I've heard something about letting two males fight and then putting the "winner"(whichever I want to breed) in with the female to help get him breeding. Does this work? is it safe? if so, how would I go about doing this?
Thanks
-----
www.freewebs.com/snakesandstuff
"Let us step out into the night and pursue that mighty temptress, adventure." (Albus Dumbledore)

My menagerie
4.4 Ball Pythons 1.1 Amazon Tree Boas 2.0 Corn Snake 1.2 Black Rat Snakes 1.0 Dumeril's Boa 2.1.10 Bearded Dragons 2.1.4 Crested Geckos (and 2 eggs!) 1.1.4 Eastern Box Turtles (eggs?) 0.3 Chickens 2.1 Cats 1.1 Ferrets plus lots of mice and feeder insects

They need to be 500 grams. my male that im breeding this year is an '07 and is 3 ft long at 600 grams. so your is probably a tad bit under the wieght. However you never know, put him with a female and see what happens. Just make sure she dosnt eat him or anything.

I guess I've got until Dec to grow him up a bit more!
-----
www.freewebs.com/snakesandstuff
"Let us step out into the night and pursue that mighty temptress, adventure." (Albus Dumbledore)

My menagerie
4.4 Ball Pythons 1.1 Amazon Tree Boas 2.0 Corn Snake 1.2 Black Rat Snakes 1.0 Dumeril's Boa 2.1.10 Bearded Dragons 2.1.4 Crested Geckos (and 2 eggs!) 1.1.4 Eastern Box Turtles (eggs?) 0.3 Chickens 2.1 Cats 1.1 Ferrets plus lots of mice and feeder insects

500 grms is by no means a benchmark weight for males, yes some can breed at that weight BUT if you breed them that small you may have a hard time getting them to eat when they NEED to eat .. Starting them off breeding at 500 grms doesn't give you any room for error if he has a hard time getting back on feed after your done breeding him.. Some males will continue to eat when they are young and some won't , the problem with that is you can't tell which ones will breed and feed and which ones will only breed and not feed, the only way to tell what the male is capable of is to try breeding him, just because he's a good feeder doesn't guarantee he'll eat when he's been around females.. With that being said I would NOT try breeding a male under 600 grms (unless he's real close to that weight AND he is short and thick in overall size and not long and thin) in case he ends up being one of the many males that won't eat for several months if he's near the girls, that way he at least has the weight to carry him thru for some time if he won't eat.. Males over 600 grms will generally do alot better than males under 600 grms . If you want to keep them around for breeding next year you really need to pay attention to your males that are under 600 grms.. Not all males are created equal either so you really need to know your males well before introducing them to females, weight isn't everything , it just gives you something to compare against. Age is every bit if not more important than weight I think (assuming he's obviously over 600 grms that is)... Anthony McCain...