weight

[anders_240sx]

Hey everyone ... I have a female ball shes 25" long and weighs 406 grams at the moment ... is this a typical weight?.. should she be more ...less ... what are bp's avg weight when fully adult ... when could they be bred?.. I have heard 500 grams a female will breed... but I dunno ..thats why I am asking everyone here ....

thanks very much
Anders

[snakehunter]

5oog is way too low to breed, she should at least be three years old! weight sounds good on your snake though.

[Tim_Cranwill]

You must be confusing a 500g female for a male. 500g is a decent size for a young male to start breeding at but a female should be 1200g - 2000g minimum their first year depending on who you ask.

[BoidKeeper]

I use 1500g as a guide for first time females that are 4'. Age has nothing to do with it, it's all about size. A ball can be 3 yrs old and still be too small.
Cheers,
Trevor

[Jeff_Favelle]

A ball can be 3 yrs old and still be too small.

A Ball Python can be 1500g and still be way too small as well. I have several 5-footers that are well over 2200g that I won't be breeding next year. Not enough weight.

[Linds]

IMHO a set weight isn't the best way to go in breeding any species. I believe as long as the females are of healthy condition/weight with extra fat stores at the age that species typically matures at then thats what you should go on. Extra stores are important because they turn all of their fat in to eggs/babies.

[BoidKeeper]

You have to have a good wiegt length ratio. Like Jeff said 1500g is not enough if the female is over 4 feet. Or if it's her second clutch she should be a little heavier for that one then she was for the second.
What the 1500g mark for a 4' female mean Linds is that if she's 4' and 1500g she will have the extra fat stores she needs to produce a viable clutch.
Trevor

[Linds]

I'm still a firm believer in age and condition determining breeding capability rather than size overall. For instance, you may see an 11 year old girl that is the size of an older female, does not mean to say she is ready to safely produce a child. Same goes for dogs, just because they are of "breeding size", does not necessarily mean they are old enough to. You can have a snake at breeding size often in its first year if you feed it like mad....doesn't mean to say it is ready to go. On the other side, some snakes may be naturally small.... they may not meet the set weight because they may in fact not even reach the common length. Does not mean they cannot breed successfully.

[Jeff_Favelle]

The 1500g mark is really set for growing females. Its a marker for new-bees to hit as they raise their snakes with hopes to breed them. Experienced breeders probably don't weigh them, they just look and determine whether or not they are ready to go. I know I do.

And these things are not delicate. They grow and breed and grow and die. Its what they do. All this wating until year 3 and 4 is hooey. They are built to lay eggs and then eat and lay some more eggs. Egg-binding is usually associated with other things (dehydration) and then mislabeled "oh, the female was too young".

[Tim_Cranwill]

With Garters in the wild, they breed their second year... PERIOD. Whenever I go the snake pits, I see these 20 inch little snakes and they're right in there with the big boys and girls.

I know that we all like to keep our snakes in "ideal" conditions but Jeff is right. They aren't made of glass. They are made to do 3 things; eat, breed and be eaten/die and decompose. That is it.

Anyway, we should always be responsible with our breeders. Not every snake would do well breeding their first possible season or being double clutched year after year. We have to use out best judgment for the health and well being of the animals because we all love these slimy little buggers!

This is a great thread and there are lots of really good points. Thanks for the info guys...

Thanks,
Tim Cranwill
www.cranwill.com
cranwill@mts.net