Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so i am going to be buying an adult female from my buddy.
my question is if i have him breed her to his pewter from say december till may then he ships her to me, and she doesnt ovulate till say july.
would the eggs still have a good chance of being fertile or is their a life expectancy of sperm while being retained?
i could just breed her to my het red but i have another normal female for him already. i dont have any other males that be large enough to breed this year and was wondering if this is a viable option for me.also to get some genetics that i dont have yet.
adam jeffery
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" a.k.a. farfrumugen "
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.

ball pythons can retain sperm for years, a few months is normal. you can do that, the odds of her producing would probably be better if you did not ship her after breeding though.

thanks for the reply. i know it will stress her and ill try and figure something else out.
adam jeffery
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" a.k.a. farfrumugen "
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.

It should be fine...
but also, your male can breed to more than one female.
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"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

yeah but i dont want a ton of baby het reds and normals when i could get some pewters and more black pastesls....im more or less trying to get some more morphs and blood into my collection
thanks for the reply though
adam jeffery
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" a.k.a. farfrumugen "
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.

Sperm retention shouldn't be a problem although there is absolutely no way to tell if she has retained sperm or not - so it's a coin toss there.

However, like Evan said, shipping can and will stress her out. I've had snakes shipped to me that were garbage disposals before being shipped and after arriving proceeded to go on long fasting periods. (I know they ate well before they came here because I was not purchasing these snakes, merely taking care of them long term for a friend).

The females that SHOULD have been able to be bred as far as both age and weight were concerned took two years to actually produce. Some of those gluttons took just as long to settle in enough to resume their old eating behaviors.

This is why I'll never purchase an adult or sub-adult animal with the intention of having them shipped to me again. Hatchlings and neonates are able to adjust to just about any type of short term stress without long term repercussions (usually), but adults and sub-adults (juveniles) can end up with some serious "behavioral issues".
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Stay United!

"...I say 'apparently' because despite all our progress she is not at all a tame or handle-able snake and gettting her from that cage would re-start a war.. and we've had a good armistice for several months now."-Gus Rentfro - I love this quote!

i never really thought about the fact the female doesnt have to retain the sperm......so it would be one hell of a coin toss.
thanks for the other info as well
adam jeffery
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" a.k.a. farfrumugen "
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.

Why not have your friend breed her to the pewter, then send her and half the babies to you. (Since he will take care of her and the eggs, it's only fair he gets half)...or whatever you guys work out.
That sounds safer.
-----
"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

thats a viable option for sure. i have thought about it, but i would like some more experience with incubating ball python eggs as well as the excitement of hatch day/s.
adam jeffery
-----
" a.k.a. farfrumugen "
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.