Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My husband and I own 2 ball pythons... the female is large and has been around for a few years now and is eating rats... the other ball python, we do not know the gender and it is a smaller ball python...bought as a baby 1.5 years ago. As of a couple months ago, they are living together in a 50 gallon tank and have been getting along beautifully. I've noticed some out of character behavior in my female though... she's been digging around a lot and slithering around the water bowl again and again. The smaller python is usually under the bowl and has been when she's been crawling around it. They have a big half log on the warm side of the tank, which is now stuffed filled with the dirt substrate and moss. One of the snakes did it... there isn't room for a snake in there, it's stuffed. The female also appears larger in size... like she is fatter, almost as if she just ate, but it's been about 8 days since she's been fed. I do not know the sex of the other python, but is it possible (if it is a male) that they could be breeding on there own in there and the stuffed log is a nesting site?? Any feedback would be helpful!

It really looks as though she is nesting... since that log is filled up with substrate. PLEASE PLEASE give me some advice... things to look for, ways to know if they have bred... I plan to also ask my Vet, but he is difficult to get in touch with sometimes.

I hope you find this since it is a late response.
Your situation sounds like mine. I have a female and male that house together. Both about 4 years old. I never tried breeding nor did I intend to. I figured that if I did not induce mating temperatures or lighting, they most likely would not mate. The female has always had a voracious appetite. But she stopped taking food which is really unusual for her. Then she began to get fat!!!! I knew after 2 months of refusing food and her abdomen really distended, that she was gavid. She stopped eating in January and laid eggs in May. I had tried to prepare her a nesting spot, but she chose a corner in the tank over a heat pad. She removed all the substrate to get as far down as she could. Does this help. Maybe you should wait and see if she stops eating. Their eggs begin to take up too much space in their abdomen and they can't eat. And she will look really bloated. Good luck with whatever happens!
One more thing.. It was a total miracle. I took her eggs and Incubated them, and 4 gorgeous babies hatched out in July.
Funny how people try so hard and don't succeed. For me it was a complete accident, but meant to be.

Anna