Breeding questions

[mattff]

I know I know. Another breeding question thread. Just curious how long experienced breeders wait to breed their females? Is it by weight? If so, how long does your females take to reach this weight? I have two 2004 50% het for albino females. One is around 220 grams and feeding once a week on one live weanling rat. The other is just over 100 grams feeding on one live small mouse once a week. From your experience, how long do you think my snakes will take to breed? I am not looking to push them, just curious on advice in size and age. Thanks a lot.

[mykee]

Age is not that important when considering breeding a female, weight is. For a 1.5 year old well-fed female, a minimum suggested breeding weight is 1500g. Females can be bred lighter, but it's not generally recommended. A female that is fed a larger food item once a week can get up to breeding size in 18 months, but most will wait until their females are 2.5 yrs. old. I have had great success breeding females that are 1.5 years old and between 1700-2000g. Also. if you EVER want to breed your females, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND you get them off of mice. Form what I've seen, mouse-eaters take FOREVER to get to breeding size, and even then don't have adequate weight:size ratios in my opinion. One live (really bad idea) small mouse once a week is not enough food for a female ball that size. Try to get her on weanling F/T or F/K rats, one every 5 days if she's interested. Good luck.

[mattff]

Thanks for the info. The smaller female is a very picky eater and will not eat rats for me yet. Hopefully, I will get her on rats shortly. She was at 55 grams when I got her a month and a half ago so she has gained some weight. My feeding schedule varies. I should have noted that in my first post. I feed every 5 to 7 days depending on how busy I am. Thanks again.

[mattff]

Also, I am trying to get them on F/T but they haven't gone for it yet. I hate feeding live. I get nervous every time I do it. Hopefully they will switch soon. Thanks.

[BoidKeeper]

Make sure you F/T rats are hot, not warm, hot. I measure mine with my reytek and they are normally about 95 or more when I try to feed the snake. Also you can offer two rodents, one live and then one fresh kill right after the first one is down. Then after a few times you'll have it on fresh kill. Once that happens you can try the same trick to get it on frozen thawed.
Cheers,
Trevor

[Oni5000]

Boidkeeper:

What do you use to get your rats that warm?

[mykee]

Hot water.

[CamHanna]

I use my space heater; not that anyone asked me. :(

[joebagadohnut]

Just put the rats in a cup of warm water for 10 minutes.

[BoidKeeper]

Yup.

[Bristen]

Originally posted by joebagadohnut
Just put the rats in a cup of warm water for 10 minutes.

even a completely thawed rat at room temperature will not reach the 95F temperature that Trevor was talking about earlier in 10 minutes in a simple cup of water. I thaw out much more than just one rat at once, so I place them in a 5 gallong bucket. I put the frozen rodents in quality Glad freezer bags (purchased at dollar store) and double bag them. I place the bags in water at about 75F for an hour or so, so that they are completely thawed out. Afterwards, I heat up the water to about 102F and reheat the water to 102F every 15-20 minutes. After reheating the water a couple of times, my rodents are a nice toasty warm temperature of about 85F to 90F. At this temperature, I have no difficulty getting my ball pythons eating. I even have had great success of converting live eaters in a single meal to frozen/thawed.

Good luck!
Bristen.

[Vengeance]

I thaw mine in hot tap water for about 20 or 30 mins, then I take them and stick their heads under a heat lamp I have. Get's the head up to about 100 oF, my neonates haven't missed a meal yet.

[mykee]

Yup, I just run really hot tape water and throw in my already thawed, room temperature rats for a less than 5 minutes. Voila!! Hot rat.

[BoidKeeper]

Yeah I don't use a cup I actually use a bucket.