I am trying to breed my ball pythons. I put my male spider and my female lemon pastel in the same tank and its now been two days and they seem to be showing NO interest in each other. They mainly stay inside the hide box together and have only come out a couple times. When they have come out they show NO interest in each other. The lemon pastel will go over to its water dish and the spider will sit in the corner. Could I be doing something wrong? Have they already mated? This is my first time breeding.
First where are you from? Breeding season in the US doesn't really start till November and many people wait till December, which is what I'm doing. I don't cool/cycle my animals, I let nature take it's course. I leave my heat element at the same temp basically year round, except for my girls when they are in the process of making/laying eggs. Otherwise, I let the ambient temps change- the temps in your house. Most likely you do not keep your house the same temp in the summer as you do in the winter so your house will be slightly cooler.
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If you are in the US, I suggest postponing breeding until November or December. The females rarely ovulate before February/March-ish, so it's no big deal to wait a bit.
As for if they have or are breeding. It's quite possible that you have missed it, but if this is the first introduction it's quite possible they aren't breeding. The proper breeding schedule is three days in three days out. You repeat that for months until your female refuses him, or you notice that she has ovulated.
Also please be sure your animals are correct weight and that you are doing everything right. You can kill either snake by stressing them too much.
Have you cycled your animals in preparation for breeding. Most breeders will cycle the snakes from December thru February, introducing pairs during that time and then after warming them up to normal temps they usually see the most copulations. I suspect that it's too early for them to breed. If they aren't being cycled that will also put them off their normal breeding behaviors. Not all pairs want to breed together. I have green tree python pairings that never seem to have anything happen, but change the male and they instantly go at it. Did you fully research this before attempting this pairing? Is the female large enough and mature enough? She should be at least 3 years old and around 2000 grams before even attempting.
cooling them may help, also like he said the female should be up to weight for breeding 2000 grams is kinda high tho most breeders say 1500 but i have heard of people breeding them at 1000 and even 900 for females, that is a risk to a female, it could become egg bound which could kill her. males will breed around 600 grams.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com you say one will go over to the water dish and the other will sit in the corner? what do you expect them to do? crawl around together? snakes do not have an emotional attachment to each other. they don't become friends. make sure the snakes are ready for breeding, read a few books on ball python breeding
