Reptile & Amphibian Forums

HI all,
This is my first year breeding balls, but I have been keeping them for quite a while. I have had one huge female for a few years, and she is the first one I am breeding. I have been cycling her for a few months and she is warmed back up now. On Feb 5 I put a cycled male with her for a few days, but did not witness any coupling up or mating behavior. I removed him and put him back in a few days later. same thing. Last week, I put him in again, and instantly noticed her opening her cloaca and vibrating her tail a little. It freaked me out because this seems more like male behavior. But again I noticed not copulation.
My female continues to eat, and just ate again today. However, she has been significantly swelling in her body, and it is about the last 2/3 of her that is getting very big. She is basking with her belly up, which is a good sign, but seems to do it most often right after she eats. But she started doing this one week after putting the male with her, and that seems too soon. While she never did this before, I am wondering if she is just digesting. I have never witnessed copulation.

So, my question is this: do you think she is gravid? Could she have been timed just right and fertilized the first day they were together? Why did I miss the copulation (which I have heard can last for days)? It is coming on a month that she could be gravid, and she shed about two weeks ago.

Thanks in advance for any input.
nate.

The most likely scenario is that your female is growing ova and has not yet ovulated. If so, then this is the best time for herr to be breeding. I recommend that you keep the male with her for several days at a time and MIST THE ENCLOSURE HEAVILY WHILE THE TWO ARE TOGETHER WITH WARM WATER. If your enclosure does not hold humidity well, then restrict the ventilation somewhat to raise the humidity. Let the enclosure dry out at least once each day, but continue to mist during breeding trials. Many times this advice has resulted in balls locking up almost immediately.

By the way, a single breeding right at ovulation is far from ideal. In fact, breeding up to two weeks before ovulation has been associated with poor clutch fertility. The ideal situation is to have the female begin breeding regularly several months before ovulation with as much accumulated breeding time as possible.

Mist the enclosure and raise the humidity. Get back to us in a few days and let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the reply, but now I have a few more ??? (I know, it never ends, does it?) I put him back in with her, and misted them down. She became instantly interested, and started making circles around the cage, belly and vent slightly up, wiggling her tail. He is starting to notice. The weird thing is, she is rubbing her head and neck along cage walls, and cage objects like she is trying to shed, but she is obviously not in shed.

Also, in the mid body bulge that I assume was todays meal, there appeared to be protrusions sticking out through the flesh. It was like the rat was still alive and kicking at the belly: I saw definite angular protrusions. I know that the rat isn't still alive, and I know that it isn't developing ova. Is it maybe the undigested rat being pushed around by her movement? Weird question, I know, but watching it I thought an alien was going to burst out of her belly or something.

Thanks.
nate.

I say leave them together and give them as much privacy as possible. Peak at them a few times daily to see if they're locked up.

Can't answer the "alien" question w/o seeing what you're seeing. If she has enlarged follicles, then perhaps this could account for the unusual appearance.

Remember to restrict ventilation (especially if you have a screen top) as the humidity may not rise appreciably even if you mist. It may(?) be that the misting is effective by increasing the female pheremone concentrations in the air and making this "message" more powerful to the male (turning him on)... but just an idea. I just know that it does work.

Another thing... I also recommend that you not keep them particularly warm. A female ball will actually seek out cooler temps before ovulating. Go no higher than low 80's during the day... high 70's at night should be fine. Standard hot spot temps of low to mid 90's should be adequate (they can always avoid it if they wish).

Thanks so much. I'm pretty excited about this (obviously, I'm still up playing with snakes at 1am). I will heed all of your advice. I'm getting the Dr. Seward tape soon, too. I've gotten basics from the internet and books, but you know how much more experience helps with this stuff...

Thanks again.
goodnight.
nate.

n/p