Breeding Q's

[Serpent-King]

Hi, I have a couple questions about ball python breeding. In a week I'm getting two hatchlings, one male one female. They'll probly be about 15 or so inches. And by next year about this time I want to be able to breed the female with my current male, well I hope it's male. Is this possible? Well I don't want to breed her too young and get her egg bound. So is it possible to do this safely? With a feeding of a big rat every 5 days I could probably get her to be of good size and weight. Tho I'm still not sure. Anyone else done this? Or have an opinion? Thanks

[BoidKeeper]

She may reach 1500g in 18 months. I feed mine 1452g of food in since November of 2002 she gained 915 grahms in that time. She is at the 1200g mark now and should hit 1500g by December. I feed her about every 5 days, never less then that. I personally would not recomend large rats, too stressfull. Smaller meals more often is what does it. A smaller meal is digested quicker so she can be fed again sooner. If you went with large rats and every 5 days you may be putting fresh food on partially digested food.
My two cents and some of my experience.
Cheers,
Trevor

[BoidKeeper]

Here are some numbers that might help put things into perspective.

I got Togo Dec. 1st 02 and shed weighed 195g

Here are her sheds and weight gains.

Dec 21,02, 291g

Feb 21,03, 397
Gained 106g

Apr 13,03, 566g
Gained 169g

May 17,03, 632g
Gained 66g

June 15,03, 745g
Gained 113g

July 8, 03, 871g
Gained 126g

Today she weighs 901g. If she was to put on 100g a month then by Dec she would weigh 1400g, 100g shy of the 1500g mark.

Her meals were;
From Dec 4, 02 to July 14, 03 she's had 39 meals weighing a total of 1473g.
Since Dec 1,02 she has gained 706g.

I hope that helps to give you some idea of growth rates.
Cheers,
Trevor

[reptilez]

So is there a minimum age or something for female balls, or do u just use the 1500g mark?
-Reptilez

[BoidKeeper]

Just the 1500g mark. A ball could be 5 yrs old and only weigh 1000g. That female I menthioned abouve was born in 2001 and never fed properly. I friend had them and sold them to a guy then almost a year later bouth them back and they were about the same size as when he sold them. She was a small hatchling though probably about 80g but she still should have been heavier then 195 almost a year later. I have one female that from July 02 she went from 174g to 1100g this July.
Cheers,
Trevor