Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if males reaching breeding size/weight and being successful breeders within the first year is common place? I am amazed to see it posted as often as it is.

Also what is the average age and weight of females when they are sexually mature? I am assuming around 2 1/2 years and minimum of 1500 grams is the norm..am I off on that?
(and yes I have seen people post mentioning the smallest females they bred but do not recall seeing the ages, or seeing the average/accepted being mentioned.)

Thanks guys for any help on this..
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Randall L Turner Jr.

You never experience life until you have kids..then you realize what you should have done rather then what you did do

I was interested to learn from Tracy Barker recently that the majority of her female ball pythons do not successfully reproduce until 3.5 or 4.5 years of age.

It is NOT common for a male to successfully reproduce at less than a year of age. To anyone saying they see it 'all the time' - I say bull****. First you have to find the one that will voluntarily consume enough food to reach the appropriate size in LESS than a year, then only a few of these will even breed, and fewer still actually sire offspring. I say don't count on less than a year for males - it may happen once in a while, but if you're talking about PRACTICAL, then don't even consider it. Feed the hell out of males and females when they're young and if the male is a good feeder, then most likely he'll breed at 1.5 years. If he's a finicky little mouse-eating bastard (like mine were), then wait 'till next year.

According to both the Barkers and The Snake Keeper, it is the larger and older 'seasoned' males that make the best breeders- greater than 3 years and 1000 grams or more.

Different breeders have different philosophies and methods of feeding so as the saying goes, "mileage may vary".

I for one would love to grow my animals up quicker but do a terrible job of feeding (would help if I raised my own rodents).

I have no doubt that some breeders with some lines can consistently get males to breed at 8 months or so and females at around 18 months. There will always be some animals that can't do this but with good genetics some breeders will often be able to hit this.

I'm actually doing good to get males to go at 1.5 years and females at 2.5 years. I do have my first female currently breeding at 1.5 years but she is only just 1,500 grams so I’m by no means certain she will produce.

True, I agree that a little older male will be better, but it does happen with some regularity that a young small male will begin breeding before he's a year old.

My male pastel hatched in June of 03' and started breeding females in february and he's probably around 600g.

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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com
You never experience life until you have kids, then you realize what you should have done rather then what you did do

Of 30 males I have raised only one produced offspring at less than one year old, ONLY ONE!!!!! This is a whole new sales ploy. Hey if it happens great! But to expect it is insane, regardless of weight. Just my 2 cents. But honestly!!!!! Douglas Beard

My pastel male (hatched early July 03) recently started breeding at a weight of 727 gm. He bred a 2100 gm normal female for about 30 hours, and then he went into a shed. He'll shed soon and I have no reason to doubt he'll breed this female again. She's in prime pre-ovulatory condition. I fully expect her to lay eggs this year, knock-on-wood!

Last year my butterscotch ghost male was at 800 gm and showed no interest in breeding the one female I paired him with, but this female did produce fertile eggs bred to another male. This year the male (at 1000 gm) is breeding this same female very well and I expect her to produce, again k-o-w.

That's my limited experience with males less than 1 year old.
Scott J. Michaels DVM