Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi i have a mid 09 female spider ball and she is 309 grams empty, will she be ready by febuary of 2011? I feed her every 5 days and shes growing like a moster.

Just needing some excperienced advice,

thank you,
Brice

Hello Brice,

This is a great question.
And the best answer...well, the most honest answer is...

Only time will tell.

Sometimes you have a girl who eats like a pig...never skips a beat...even eats while she is deep in shed...and without hesitation. Then, strangely...they suddenly stop.
This often occurs at the 500 - 800 gram range. Some people have referred to it as "Hitting The Wall". It is common.
(I have a theory about this "WALL". I think it has to do with the changing of the cage size parameters.)
They just plain stop feeding. And it seems that nothing you try will change their minds. They will not feed consistently again until they decide they are ready. It can be very frustrating for the keeper.
Sometimes you can trick them into going back to their old bottomless gut-like ways by using an African Soft Furred Rat....sometimes that won't even work.
Time.
Time is often the only answer. They must decide to start again.

But on the other hand, once in a while you get that AWESOME female who WANTS to Grow! Grow! Grow! These girls will often be ready before you had originally expected them to do the deed.

Some females, which are good feeders, tend to grow long and lean initially. They often take a little longer to produce eggs regardless of their weight or age. But when they do produce...they usually have larger clutches of eggs in their first season to breed.

Other good feeding girls are shorter and stouter. These girls will often breed earlier than the long lean body types. But usually they lay smaller clutches of larger/heavier sized eggs.

As the animals continue to mature the clutch sizes tend to sort of average out...regardless of their youthful body types.

I wish you the best with your female.
Just try NOT to be in such a hurry to breed the animal that you subject it to unnecessary risks. Wait a year when in doubt. A live healthy female with one more year of growth is always worth more than a female who does not survive, due to stress from an over zealous keeper who is intent on breeding it "asap".

Even if a young snake breeds early and survives...the time needed to replenish her reserves and get her back into breeding condition could require you to postpone breeding her the next season...or even two. Depends on how fast she bounces back.
It all depends on the individual animal.

In general, my opinion is that it is wise to be conservative with the young females.

Now young males....that can be a different story.
PROPERLY MANAGED, a young male can do a decent job as a breeder without putting his health at risk. Again it is up to the individual animal in question.

Hope that answer (although long and drawn out) was helpful.
Best wishes on your projects.

Your friend,
Harlin Wall - WALL TO WALL REPTILES!
970-245-7611
970-255-9255

Thank you im just gonna take it week by week and see how she grows and if i think shes ready i'll ask a bunch more breeders thier opinions when the time comes and see what they say.

i appriciate the advice very much
thanks,
Brice

Giving you said she was born mid '09 (going to assume June), by Feb. '11 she's only going to be 21 months old...less than two years old. I wouldn't plan on breeding her in fall of '11 (she would be roughly 27 months old). She could be at the right weight by then, but I don't see the advantage in power feeding and rushing to breed snakes. Best to wait that extra year and feed on a more normal schedule for ball pythons.
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PHLdyPayne

You are not power feeding, just feeding an appropriately sized meal for the snake every 7-10 days and she still gets up to size by the 2 year mark?

I ask this because we have a female Pastel who is well on her way to doing just that (barring the expected 1000 gram fast). We have fed a mixture of large to small rats, ASFs, and the occassional mouse, all live.
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.1 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

Bolitochrome,

Re-read the posts already made.
I think they may also apply to your question.
Hopefully your girl will continue on the "serious feeder" path.
She will be ready when SHE is ready.

Every individual matures at their own pace.
We all remember that guy in 7th grade with thick facial hair...or that girl in 5th grade who already had....well never mind.
I think you get the idea. lol.
Good luck with her.

Your friend,
Harlin Wall - WALL TO WALL REPTILES!
970-245-7611
970-255-9255

Brice,

You are welcome.
Keep us informed on this girl. It will be interesting to see what she produces, how many, and when.
The advice the PHLdyPayne gave was very good.
When in doubt...wait it out.
Take care.

Harlin

I just wanted to add to this thread considering i have a 15 month old female spider that is very close to 1700 grams and i have already began pairing her up with a virgin male pastel ghost that is 1000 grams. I never power fed her at all just a little larger sized rats the one would normally think to give (she did just fine with them). I was worried with her young age that she would want nothing to do with my male and both being virgins that i would not see any signs of copulation but i was very pleased to see them locked up 4 days after i introduced him and he has been steady for the last 2 weeks. So we will see in a few months if a 1 year old bp female can produce. Ill be sure to update.