Reptile & Amphibian Forums

when i got my first ball python, i got her from a pet store that i used to work at. i bought her knowing nothing about her, and how to take care of her. but know shes living like a spoiled princess. a few months later a man came into my work with a ball that he no longer wanted. so i took the ball for free and now hes spoiled too. the two of them are like brother and sister, they hate being apart.
so these two snakes opened my eyes to the world of ball python. at work my friend marty runs the show in hamburg pa. i went to that show with my boyfriend and bought 7 more ball pythons. 4 females and 3 males. most of them only a few weeks old. and two of them are a few years old. thats what im guessing.
one of the females is a wild caught, shes shy about everything and its understandable. shes of breeding age. and i have two other adult males that are of breeding age too. i have to fatten them up a bit cause they wont eat and theyre skinny.
so heres the question...
sorry for the babble..
where should i start? what do i need to do for them so that they will breed? what steps should i take?
iam serious about these snakes and i have read a few books on balls, but it would be more helpful to me if i had different kinds of feed back from people and breeders who know what theyre doing and who have done it before.
any type of information or in put would really be appreciated.
thank you!!

First off, sounds like you are keeping them together at least the first two. Each snake should have their own enclosure, that would be one reason why you are having problem feeders. I would also recomend you visit www.ballpythons.com and order the dvd breeding ball pythons, it really lays everything out for you.
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Nita Hamilton
4.13 Normal BP's, 1.0 Het Orange Ghost BP, 1.0 Het Pied 1.0 50% poss Het Orange Ghost BP's

First off......I'm glad you have chose to breed....you will freak when you get your firts clutch. Here are some simple suggestions:

Step 1 - You need a good consistent supply of rodents. I produce my own....but you certainly can buy them as well.

Step 2 - Get your housing situation figured out. You can build or buy an enclosure that houses the snakes individually. You want this enclusure to be controlled by a thermastat so you can keep your hot spot temps at the appropriate consistent levels.

Step 3 - place the enclosure in a room where you can have reasonable control over you ambient temp (the room temp). This plays a key role in the female cycling each year.

Step 4 - you will need some method for incubation. Many options.....just research it.

Step 5 - Make sure you have additional housing capacity for your hatchlings when they come along.

There is a ton of info on "how to" breed ball pythons. I use a combo of Ralph Davis's formula and Dr. Seward Ball Breeding videos.

There is more details to think about. I would encourage you to rake through all the breeder websites and this forum. That's what I did. You cn get a ton of head knowledge this way.

Good Luck
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Jim Perron
Python Passion Reptiles
pythonpassion@hotmail.com
www.pythonpassionreptiles.com

Excellent post. Excellent advice.
Always nice to see someone lending a helping
hand to get people pointed in the right direction.
Nice website too!

Good luck this season.
Chris