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Posted by serpentcity on May 16, 2003 at 00:21:04:
In Reply to: opps...n/p posted by larryskeepers on May 15, 2003 at 16:23:25:
: With the pressure to get "return-on-investment" so strong, many people attempt to breed small females. The 1500gm benchmark is probably a good minimum, but remember BP's are long-lived snakes that can reach impressive masses (see jmoore posting in the new forum), and it is advisable to breed at 1700 gm plus. I know someone ("I have this friend...") who bred a female of a particular morph ("the names have been changed to protect the innocent..."), successfully producing babies: at the start of breeding the female was under 1000gm, at ovulation she was at about 1350gm (ate during breeding). After losing the weight of the eggs, this female is only back up to about 1300gm nearly a year later. I think this strongly suggests the female has been stressed by the whole experience. For this reason I elected to not breed a 1300gm, 18 month old het albino female this year even with a breeding albino male in my care. Better to get this girl upwards of 2000gm for next season. I don't care if the price drops, I'll probably get a better clutch to make up the difference. Good things come to those who wait, etc.
As for males, no minimum is probably OK, but you may lose time during breeding if a small male isn't fed, to get him bigger for the next season. Incidentally, some of the small males you see in the classifieds, that people say are producing sperm plugs...it may just be smegma they're seeing!! SJM
