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Here is a cool pairing(I thought)The male is a ch02,really reduced pattern.The female is a really washed color,but has good contrast and a busy pattern.She just started shrinking from a heavy ovulation.He has been breeding her with another,better looking reduced pattern for about two weeks.Let me know what you think.

Fingers crossed.This is the last female that I am breeding this year,that isn't already gravid.Like I said,FINGERS CROSSED!
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Here are the reduced pattern males going at one of my 2700gm female.Both of them are trying to breed her in this pic.She also has just started to shrink after a heavy ovulation.Let me know what you think.
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HEre is another one from a little bit of a different angle,fingers crossed!
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She just started shrinking from a heavy ovulation.He has been breeding her with another,better looking reduced pattern for about two weeks.Let me know what you think

Once they ovulate, that's it, no more breeding. If they are doing what they are doing in the picture, then she has not ovulated. Ovulation spells the end of everything except fertile egg development and egg deposition. No fertilization or breeding takes place after it (usually).
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I have been switching these two males back and forth between two different females.Both females were mated through ovulation and are still being mated by these two.I have males constantly trying to breed females long through and directly past ovulation.Just trying to show breeding pics(even if this wasn't the actual fertilization,thats all)

And if you are refering to the swelling and shrinking statement,Maybe I am seeing things,but I notice in my females,they get very large in a concentrated area,then the mass seems to reduce and become less pronounced and concentrated.Maybe it's just me.The last three years that I have bred ball pythons I have noticed this,sometimes a less drastic
swelling,but noticeable.Am I wrong???

I think the point is that there is no reason to put a male and female together after she ovulates. There is only a very small period of time during ovulation that the eggs are fertilized and then are shelled. Once they are shelled it is too late and the rest of the time is just incubation. So it would be better to put the male with a female that hasn't ovulated yet or by himself. Hopefully you aren't housing these snakes together as a matter of course.

Laura

Actually I do keep a few pairs together in the off season(summer)Not a few pairs in the same enclosure,but a pair in an enclosure.You mean to tell me no-one out there keeps more then one ball python per enclosure?Yeah,right!I have been keeping snakes for a while now(not just the three years with ball pythons)I have kept pythons of the same species together for a while with no "ill" affects.I am not speaking of overcrowding(stacked on top of each other.)
As far as immeditely removing any males after mating and females ovulating,I don't believe it is neccessary to rush a male out,when the female has ovulated,that he has been breeding.If I am wrong,and you are not speaking of hygene(I clean all of my enclosures daily when it is not breeding season.In the breeding season I spot clean daily)and you are speaking of stress towards a gravid female,maybe?But I have had no problems with egg-laying or females carrying her eggs full term and delivering,to show me they are stressed.It hasn't been a problem for me in the last three seasons.Maybe I am just lucky.
How do most of you honestly keep your ball pythons,singly?pairs?
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I simply meant that is is a good idea to house them separately. I honestly house all my snakes individually and they are only together for mating. Housed this way, I know exactly who is eating what, when they are shedding, what their feces and urates look like etc.

I was not implying that it is specifically harmful to a gravid female to have the male around. I was saying there is no point in continuing to breed them (if they will breed) once ovulation has taken place. I am coming from the perspective of having valuable males who's sperm is at a premium and shouldn't be wasted.

Laura

Point taken.Thanks for the conversation.

There actually might be some small risk of leaving the male in during ovulation. I remember reading years ago about the Barkers loosing a female of some large python species (African Rock?) and if I remember right they thought it was ruptured by a male's persistent attempts to breed during ovulation. As big as some of these girls swell I suspect they at least would be most comfortable (in as much as that’s possible) alone.

I guess anything is possible and the point you and jeff are trying to make are that why risk it?To a certain extent I don't risk it,but,sometimes you must make due with what space you are working with.I know this makes me sound insensative to them as living creatures,but,believe me,ALL OF MY BALL PYTHONS are in perfect shape and treated as if they were my own children(better sometimes(lol)
Once again,point taken and absorbed.This is a learning experience everyday,if you can't take advice or listen to other peoples ideas your mind is closed and not working.If I have learned one thing it is that this study is a learning experience everyday,or else I probably wouldn't be as into herps as I am.
Thanks and lets keep this going!

Everyone(if you would)post some pics of your favorite/strange breeding pair/combos/projects this year!Or is it a secret?(lol)
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Ovulation is the movement of the fertilized ova through the oviducts. Once it occurs, NO amount of mating is going to make any difference. It is therefore useless. The only time its useful is when the breeder in question can't make the call on whether or not ovulation took place. If there is any doubt, the male is put back in. If he mates, its generally assumed that the female did not ovulate, and only yolked up.

As in all Pythons that I've seen/worked with, there is always a swelling that occurs well before ovulation. Many people mistake this for ovulation. If you snakes ovulated like you say they did, the you will have eggs in 60 days or less. If not, then you did NOT witness ovulation.
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Got it.

One of those females almost looks like a ghost (hypo)!! Do you know its origins? Because its killer!

Which one is that. If there is a hypo there all 35 of my females must be hypos
If im wrong sorry, I just dont see it man.

I have a few adult females that have that appearance,this will be the first year i am breeding them.As far as where she came from,I picked her and another one up that is similiar from a lady I know that keeps a few reptiles.She had the two females i picked up and a really nice male,but I have all of the males I need for this year.I think it is something,hypo,ghost???That is why I figured these reduced pattern males would be a good match.My female that is really light is in shed as we speak,she was bred by a really nice hypo burgandy male.I will post some pics of her post shed.
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Apparently a genetic ghost should not leave a pattern of black pigment in the shed. Although I’ve also seen this temporarily in a non genetic ghosts and heard and seen it in at least two het ghosts it's a good check list item for identifying a possible genetic ghost.