So... people are wondering, how do I prepare my animals for the breeding season?
Well, over the past few months while babies are hatching...
I am feeding up the females that I am planning on breeding for the next year.
I start breeding around my birthday, which is October 29th.
This basically means I start in November, as I have had later and later years every year due to the fact that I feel like some females don't bounce back fast enough, so I make everyone wait.
Plus, the males tend to be skinny still from the season before.
So I wait and see what I can manage with the females, and go from there.
Now, you are asking, what do I do to get the breeding season going?
NOTHING.
Well, not nothing, really...
I actually just introduce males into the females tubs.
No cooling, no brumating, no changes in anything other than the external temperature and weather.
Rain is fantastic for breeding, as the barometric pressure goes down, which stimulates the Ball Pythons to wanna get jiggy, so to speak.
So, maybe this year, as a change of pace, I may start when the first rains come. But then again, I live in Southern California, and rain comes and rain goes... I think I'll stick with my original plan.
So to summarize, I don't change anything in my room. The only thing that changes is that seasons have changed, and the temperatures outside change as well.
Water, feed, clean, enjoy.
Such is the way of a snake breeder.
Hopefully that helps, and have a great weekend, my friends!
Yeah, I haven't even TRIED breeding yet, but lat year my boys all seemed to have pretty clear idea when winter started and ended. And it wasn't just their eating habits--I put everyone together when I clean tanks, and last winter the boys were picking their favorite girls and following them around. (They had favorites! Isn't that CUTE?)
ReplyDeleteThe house was certainly colder, true, and everyone gets lots of daylight!
Thanks Heather, just what I wanted to know. Do you continue feeding the females through the whole process if they will accept food?
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteI do try and offer, but I tend to get much less food for this time of year, as there will be plenty of refusals.