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Eating and breeding?
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by JohnDoe on February 9, 2009
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I have bred numerous rat snakes and the same thing always happens... They breed, the female eats like crazy, stops completely, sheds, and then lays her eggs. This year I decided to get a couple ball pythons and try my luck with them. I found an add locally for adult cb gravid females and I decided to check it out. ( I had already bought an adult male from BHB and 2 females from the last hamburg show that are cb) To make a long story short I bought the "gravid females." After getting them home and closley inspecting them I found numerous White and/or Red Ticks. After some research I concluded they were wild caught specimens, probably, from africa. The man swears he had bought them from a friend who said they were captive bred blah blah etc. This really upset me as personally I dont like taking any animal from the wild to keep as a pet and I REALLY don't approve of the mass collecting of wild snakes and reptiles for whatever purpose, but now I have them and I feel they are calling to me for help. So I removed as many ticks as I could (24) from the three females. There are still a few in the heat pits that I didnt know how to go about getting out. I didn't want to spray them with anything because they are gravid.....you can feel the eggs as their body slides over your hand. So I firgured I would leave them until she laid the eggs then treat them and soak them all. Now, like I said I never bred ball pythons before so here is my main questtion... Upon checking them everyday and changing their water they seem to be quite hunrgy which I never experienced with a gravid female before. Can I feed them something small with the eggs being so pronounce? Or will it effect the eggs? Suprising to me, they are VERY sweet for wild caught. Only one struck at me when I was getting close to her head to remove a tick. They all seem to be very healthy and moving around alot. I have had them for almost 2 weeks now and they havnt shed yet or look like they are going to... Is this normal? I know usually with my rats once the eggs are that noticable they usually shed within a week. Please any and all advice will help. Thank you very much for your time!
Kyle
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RE: Eating and breeding?
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by Cro on February 9, 2009
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Kyle, it does sound like you got some freshly imported ball pythons, along with a bunch of freshly imported ticks.
If you read the thread below titled "mites" it describes how to use permanon products. These will also kill the ticks, if you use them as a cage treatment.
I would not be too concerned about these products hurting eggs that are allready formed and calcified that are still being carried by the females.
I might even take something like a tiny artists paintbrush or Q tip, and spray some of the permanon directly on the brush, and paint it onto the ticks that you can see in the nasal cavity. It should kill them, and they should drop off.
As far as the snakes still being hungry, some snakes will continue eating to very close to laying the eggs, and others stop way in advance of that. It probably would not hurt to feed the snakes a small sized meal if they are willing to eat it. That will start to help them regain some of the body nutrients they used to produce the young. Just avoid a large meal, go with something like small hoppers or fuzzies if you decide to feed them.
Best Regards
John Z
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RE: Eating and breeding?
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by JohnDoe on February 9, 2009
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Thank you very much for replying, I was begining to think no one was even going to read it haha. I will try to feed them a small hopper as you suggested. I will also try what you said about getting rid of the ticks and I did read the atircle titled "mites"... Very interesting I didnt know that was the same stuff. I was only concerned as I assumed that the chemical would stay on the skin of the snake and when she laid the eggs and coiled around them it might damage them some how. And I wasnt sure if I could soak a gravid female to wash off the chemical. But they do shed before they lay the eggs so even so the chem. would probably come off with the shedding. Thank you again very much for your reply. I take alot from all of your advice.
Thanks,
Kyle
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RE: Eating and breeding?
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by Cro on February 9, 2009
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Kyle, as the snakes get closer to shedding, I do not think that I would soak them while they are carrying eggs, instead I would just mist them a two or three times a day and keep the cage humid.
You are right about the permanon, it would dry on the surface of the skin, and would be removed as the snake sheds. It has been found to be very safe for most snakes. One of the exceptions is Indigo Snakes, which I have heard are more sensitave to it, and of course, amphibians.
Good Luck with them, hope you have great success hatching the eggs.
Best Regards
John Z
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RE: Eating and breeding?
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by JohnDoe on February 10, 2009
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Thank you very much again for replying! I am def. going to use the stuff you suggested for the ticks. I do mist the cage a few times a day mainly over the moss which lies over an under tank heater. Now, I just had a few more questions about ball pythons in general, being a "newbie" to balls, that I had a hard time finding thorough information about. How long after breeding will pythons shed, and once they shed will it be ablout a week until they lay? How should the cage be set up for laying purposes? Currently I have them seperated in 20gal tanks that have a heat pad under one side... In the cage is aspen shavings with moss over the heatpad(that I mist daily) and a overturned wash bin with the side cut out over the moss..... A large water bowl and a light that is set on a timer (12hrs light & 12hrs Dark...The heat pad is always on) The cage stays about 88 degrees on the warm side during the day and about 72 at night. I keep plexiglass over 3/4 of the cage to hold in humidity. I keep my rats and other snakes in racks along with some other balls but I have them all brumating right now and needed more heat for the gravid females which is why i put them in the 20gal tanks. Let me know if im doing anything wrong or if they prefer certain conditons in order to lay their eggs. Thank you VERY much!
Kyle
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RE: Eating and breeding?
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by Cro on February 11, 2009
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Kyle, as far as your question: "How long after breeding will pythons shed, and once they shed will it be about a week until they lay?" I will leave that for the folks here who breed a lot of ball pythons to answer, as I have not bred the critters for many years, and can not remember the shedding times.
As far as the cage setup, I like the idea of the 20 gallon long aquariums and keeping the humidity levels up. The one thing that I would question is the temperatures. When you say 88 degrees in the day, is that the air temperature, or is that the temperature of the surface above the heat pad ? Heat pads under the tank can create a hot spot that is too hot directly above the pad. Do you have a temp gun to shoot the temperatures of the substrate ? I am thinking that you might want to put the damp moss and washtub off to the side a bit, and not directly above the heat pad. Even at 88 degrees surface temperature, that would be a bit hot for her to lay the eggs there.
I would be more happy with the surface temperature where you want her to lay the eggs to be more in the 82 to 84 range. Does the snake spend any time inside of the tub where you have the moss? If not, it is probably too hot there for her, and would thus be too hot for her to lay the eggs there. On the other hand, if the snakes spends time there frequently, then the temperatures are probably to her liking.
Hope this helps.
Best Regards
John Z
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RE: Eating and breeding?
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by JohnDoe on February 11, 2009
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I dont have a temp gun but I use a thermometer with a small probe to check the temp between the aspen and moss. There is a thick layer of aspen and moss above the heatpad and the surface temp relativly stays around 84 degrees with the air temp around 88. I have a dimmer switch wired to all the heatpads and if it registers to hot on the themometer I just turn it down a bit (But for the most part is stays pretty much the same). All three stay under the tub the entire day unless coming out for a drink or sometimes at night. Thanks again!
Kyle
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