Reptile & Amphibian Forums

how long should i cool them down for? what should the temps?
ect...
THANKS

Man, I feel your pain. I know from needing the same info that Womas are the "secret snake". Since I got mine a year or so ago 9 out of 10 of my questions go unanswered on this forum. From what I understand 60 degrees is very cold to a Woma, and the cooling period at its coolest should maybe be about 1 month, with the month before graduly dropping temps to get there and then slowly warming them up after wards. I believe misting is appropriate in the last month during warm up. I remember reading about keeping an eye out for swelling in the females mid section which is a sign of ovulation. Also that if the snakes start acting like they want to breed and you do see swelling to start warming them again and put them together. This basic info was taken form an older issue of Reptiles magazine. I believe it had articles about Blue Beauty snakes and Nile monitors in that one too. There may be some good info on Python Petes site, the link is in the breeders section of this site. I hope my info is accurate enough to help. I would keep them between 65 and 75 degrees for the majority of the cooling period, nothing to extreme. I hope some others chime in, I could use some assurance about breeding these guys too. Hope this helps Tom

Hey guys,
Here is what I did last year. Basically just winging it.

I normally keep my snakes in the mid 90's on the warm end. I dropped the temps down to the low 80's during the day and I let the night drop lower. I am not sure how cool it got during the night. I started this in Nov. I placed the pair together in mid November and kept them together through Feb or so. I noticed them hooked up quite a bit. I cut the top out of a rubbermaid container for a nest box and set my incubator at 90 degress. It is important to incubate the eggs dry but with humidity.

This year I am taking a different approach. Once my animals stop feeding I am putting them together and keeping them together. At my new house I have a notice an ambient temperature drop so I am going to cycle them naturally. Basically I am going to watch my animals and react however necessary. My male and one of my females has already stopped eating so I put them together last week and they have already started breeding. I am planning to separate and re-introduce them a few times until she become gravid.

Again Basically I am just winging it.

Good luck with them! They are great animals!
Brett

Any decent breeder who sells an animal should be willing to share the info on proper care... this includes wintertime cooling temps.

Who was the breeder? Have you asked him/her?

Doug T

Everytime I ask a question about womas I get little or no reply and almost no useable information.
I asked about sexing and tail lengths (because my "male" and "female" seem to have the same lenght tail) and got no replies.
Why so secretive?
-----
0.1 Rubber Boa
1.1 Eastern Hognose Snakes
2.3 Western Hognose Snakes
1.0 Durango Mountain Kingsnake
1.1 Woma's (new!)
Spadefoot
Black Knobbed Sawback
Northern Diamondback
Florida Redbellied Slider
Western Painted
Southern Painted
1.0 African Hedgehog
1.0 Sulcata
2.1 Leopard (Babcocki) 1.0 borrowed (thanks Bobby)
2 Plecos
2 Silver Dollars
3 Bosemian Rainbows
1 African Dwarf Frog
1 Khuli Loach
1 Cory Cat
1 Upside Down Catfish
2.0 Fire Guramis

uhh... I think that is it.

I am not too sure why people are so secretive. Maybe because some believe that it may hurt their investment? Some may feel that they have put their time in and learned the hard way. Also, you really never see too many people post pictures of womas breeding or with eggs. Really you don't see to many messages pertaining to breeding procedures with any species of pythons. How many times do you see a message about "This how I bred my "yada yada yada."? Perhaps most of the breeders do not frequent this forum? I agree with Doug, ask the breeder.

In my case I read everything that I could find on python breeding and gave it a shot. Last year was my first year and I got 15 eggs. Only 5 hatched. Where did I go wrong? Incubation or cycling? I am going to make changes to my method to see if I get better results. I really do not have a concrete recipe for breeding womas. I am just applying the information that I could find on how breeders breed other species of Australian pythons.

Brett

Sorry I forgot to answer your question. The best way to sex a woma is to probe it. Find an experience herper or a herp vet to probe the animal for you. Do it a couple times to make sure you are right. I would not rely on tail lengths for sexing any animals.

Womas are one of the easiest pythons to breed. We don't have any set cooling temps or lengths here. The natural temp drops in winter are enough, I don't think our snake room drops below 73 ever. Both males and females will eat during the whole breeding season up to ovulation. Incubation is the most important part. The eggs need high humidity, but need to be on a dry surface. Incubation temps should be between 87-88deg. Anything warmer and your going to cook them. It's that simple.

Eric
ESReptiles.com

also what is a good feeding regiment for hatchlings in hopes of getting breeders?

Rudy
-----
0.1 Rubber Boa
1.1 Eastern Hognose Snakes
2.3 Western Hognose Snakes
1.0 Durango Mountain Kingsnake
1.1 Woma's (new!)
Spadefoot
Black Knobbed Sawback
Northern Diamondback
Florida Redbellied Slider
Western Painted
Southern Painted
1.0 African Hedgehog
1.0 Sulcata
2.1 Leopard (Babcocki) 1.0 borrowed (thanks Bobby)
2 Plecos
2 Silver Dollars
3 Bosemian Rainbows
1 African Dwarf Frog
1 Khuli Loach
1 Cory Cat
1 Upside Down Catfish
2.0 Fire Guramis

uhh... I think that is it.

Clutch size varies. I am not too sure what other breeders get but I got 15 eggs last spring from my 3 year old female. It was here first year breeding. She is a big girl and feeds on large f/t rats.

I feed my little ones every 4-5 days and small meals. I like to get them on rats as soon as possible. Instead of feeding adult mice I feed rat fuzzies and so on. My little guys seem to be always hunger! I have seen them chewing on the hide box when I move it.