Reptile & Amphibian Forums

can you raise a pair of ball pythons together from a very young age and not have any worries about the male trying to breed with the female when she isn't ready yet? if that is the case, when should they be separated?
thanks!
-will

The female can breed when she does not have enough weight to back it up. Good luck.

I wouldn't worry about it. Who do you suppose separates them in the wild so they don't breed too young? (Do you think large numbers of females die every year in the wild, from breeding too young?) And, what is too young anyway? If she is old enough to produce eggs, and she is bred, there should be no problem. If she isn't old enough to produce eggs, still no problem.

I prefer to keep one snake per cage, just because I find it a lot easier to feed/clean/etc. But breeding "too young" wouldn't deter me from keeping them together--other reasons would.

Rodney

I can see your point Rodney but what about the fact that the snakes aren't in the wild? Doesn't that have a bearing on how you would choose to do things with them?

I mean sure, the animals in the wild have nothing keeping them from breeding too young but they are free roaming animals able to go wherever they please, living their lives where they are supposed to. We have chosen to lock them up in a confined space and thier every need is dependent upon us. There should be a trade-off somewhere.

Take for instance the average life span of a ball python in the wild compared to being captive. The average life span in the wild is bound to be many, many years lower compared to being captive because of predators, man, environment, etc. Does that mean we should try to immitate those conditions as well when deciding what to and what not to do while the snakes are in our care? Should we change their environment to extremes just because that's the way it is in the wild? Or should we introduce a predator like maybe a King Cobra just because it occurs in the wild. I know that's obsurd but you get my point.

I just think when someone makes a comparison such as you did it needs to be made across the board instead of one particular aspect. If you think about it this way it might be cause for some caution when basing decisions on this kind of rationale.

Because we take away these animals freedom I think there should be a trade off to the animal. I think this tradeoff should be to give it the healthiest possible conditions and make life as good/comfortable as possible. Taking that into consideration I believe it has been proven to be somewhat detrimental to a female BP's health as well as her offspring to breed her as soon as she's "able" to breed.
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Rob Talkington