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Another..

JoshMolone Sep 20, 2010 07:12 PM

Sorry to ask another question..
But, what time of the year do you guys quit feeding for Breeding?
Then how long after stopping feed do you introduce them.
I was reading and I heard a few different things, so I just wanted you guys personal opinions/experience.
Thanks

- Josh Molone
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Got Balls?
Josh Molone

Replies (8)

SlytherLyn Sep 20, 2010 07:27 PM

I offer all my balls, including my breeders, food throughout the breeding season. Some eat, some don't. I had a male last year that ate through the whole breeding season and still successfully fathered his very first clutch of babies. I had females eat through most of the season and only go off feed towards the end. I had others go off feed the whole season. So basically, I let them decide if they want to eat or not.
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Slytherin Serpents

Have you been hugged by your snake today?

Ball Pythons
1.1 Normals het Caramel (Edward & Bella)
0.1 Normal 66% ph Caramel (Rosalie)
0.1 Caramel (Bellatrix)
1.0 Hypo (Nick)
1.0 Honey Bee (Aragog)
0.1 Hypo Pastel (Nagini)
0.1 Spider 66% ph Hypo(Nymphadora)
1.1 Mojaves (Lucius & Renesme)
0.1 Pastel Lesser (Narcissa)
0.1 Pinstripe (Arwen)
1.0 Pewter (Salazar)
0.1 Bumble Bee (Alice)
0.1 Lemonblast (Luna)
0.1 Blond Pastel (Katie)
1.0 Bell Pastel (Jasper)
0.1 African Dinker (Esme)
0.1 Normal (Madame Olympe Maxime)
0.3 Normal Babies 66% ph Caramel (Edward x Bella)
2.1 Pastel "Dinker" Babies (Jasper x Esme)

Corns
1.1 Normals het Amel, Anery, Charcoal, Diffused, Hypo (Romeo & Juliet)
1.0 Blizzard het Diffused (Tumnus)
0.1 Anery Lavender het Amel (Lucy)
0.1 Plasma (Victoria)
0.1 Opal (Jewel)
0.0.22 Babies (Romeo x Juliet)
0.0.18 Babies (Tumnus x Lucy)

Hogs
1.0 Albino Western (Hogwarts)
0.1 het Albino Western (Hufflepuff)
0.1 Tri Color (Molly)

vcane Sep 20, 2010 07:36 PM

if they will eat feed them for sure..
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Vince Pramuk []__[]

JYohe Sep 20, 2010 08:17 PM

feed all year, they stop when they want

heat all year...you'll see if they act too hot or too cold

breed from Nov till March? ish...depending on how tired you get of flipping males around....

they lay when they want ...or not...

really ,breed from Nov till March ,ovulate in June and lay in August.....If they want ....

balls...you gotta love them....

....good luck....
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........JY

JoshMolone Sep 20, 2010 08:35 PM

Okay thanks!
I was reading something that said they should never be fed during the Breeding Season, but I just wanted to clarify.
I have them at 80-82 Cool, 89-91 Warm,and they seem to like it like that.
All of them are on their heat tape.
All are eating, and gaining weight!
So no cooling what so ever?
I was thinking about just turning off the heattape at.
Ive also heard misting them?
This is my first year actually attempting to breed, so im getting pretty worked up about it!
Thanks.
-----
Got Balls?
Josh Molone

jason Sep 20, 2010 09:19 PM

You shouldn't need to cool at all. You can mist if you want, but also not necessary. On the days when you have your pairs split up, offer small meals-mine almost always go off food, but not until they've started breeding. Another tip-I almost always have breeding activity if I pair them when a storm system is moving through. Now hopefully mine don't make liars out of me after being moved this year.
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www.jasonrbartolettreptiles.webs.com

JoshMolone Sep 20, 2010 10:09 PM

Okay, thanks for the tips.
And how much do you feed your breeder males and females before breeding?
My males a good 860 Grams and my females are about 2300 and 2800.
I try to feed them a good sized rat once a week.
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Got Balls?
Josh Molone

jason Sep 21, 2010 07:54 AM

that sounds perfect. I try to feed my females at least weekly before breeding season. Your weights sound perfect. I've had males anywhere between 600 and 1500 grams breed, and a few of those males eat only a handful of rats every year. I offer them food, but they're often not interested. As long as they're not losing weight, they'll be fine.
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www.jasonrbartolettreptiles.webs.com

SlytherLyn Sep 21, 2010 10:38 PM

I already replied to the original post but wanted to 2nd the "storm" idea. I had read posts about the "storm" thing and thankfully we had several good storms roll in during the midst of breeding season and it definitely resulted in more locks when I put them together then.

As for misting, one of my pairs only bred when misted. I had paired them for months with no luck. I thought maybe misting would amplify the whole "storm" idea and bring the "storm" indoors so to speak so I misted them individually for a couple days, then put them together and misted the heck out of them and the tub, and wahlah, they finally locked up. Tried a few more pairings, nada, misted, got another lock.

Balls are funny. They really do have their own likes and dislikes and it's up to you to monk around with it and find out what works for the particular ones you have.

What works for other peoples might not work for yours. Same with feeding. As another poster said, they eat when they want. We really have no control over that.

As for heat, the hot spot should stay constant year round in the low 90s The ambient temp of the room, which would then affect the cool side of your enclosure, can drop a couple degrees in winter as long as your warm side is constant. But nothing like cooling Colubrids. My adult corns, for instance, will spend 3 months in my bedroom with no food, only water. My bedroom averages 55 degrees in the winter since the only room I heat is the reptile room. Benefit of living in a cold climate state. Easy to brumate. Wish I could spend those 3 months sleeping too

You'll have some trial and error to look forward to until you figure out what works best for you and your particular snakes. It's great to get a bunch of tips and opinions though so you have a starting point. Good luck!

.
-----
Slytherin Serpents

Have you been hugged by your snake today?

Ball Pythons
1.1 Normals het Caramel (Edward & Bella)
0.1 Normal 66% ph Caramel (Rosalie)
0.1 Caramel (Bellatrix)
1.0 Hypo (Nick)
1.0 Honey Bee (Aragog)
0.1 Hypo Pastel (Nagini)
0.1 Spider 66% ph Hypo(Nymphadora)
1.1 Mojaves (Lucius & Renesme)
0.1 Pastel Lesser (Narcissa)
0.1 Pinstripe (Arwen)
1.0 Pewter (Salazar)
0.1 Bumble Bee (Alice)
0.1 Lemonblast (Luna)
0.1 Blond Pastel (Katie)
1.0 Bell Pastel (Jasper)
0.1 African Dinker (Esme)
0.1 Normal (Madame Olympe Maxime)
0.3 Normal Babies 66% ph Caramel (Edward x Bella)
2.1 Pastel "Dinker" Babies (Jasper x Esme)

Corns
1.1 Normals het Amel, Anery, Charcoal, Diffused, Hypo (Romeo & Juliet)
1.0 Blizzard het Diffused (Tumnus)
0.1 Anery Lavender het Amel (Lucy)
0.1 Plasma (Victoria)
0.1 Opal (Jewel)
0.0.22 Babies (Romeo x Juliet)
0.0.18 Babies (Tumnus x Lucy)

Hogs
1.0 Albino Western (Hogwarts)
0.1 het Albino Western (Hufflepuff)
0.1 Tri Color (Molly)

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