Carpet breeding question

[reptiledude987]

Last year I was unsuccessful at getting a lock from my bredli. I now have an adult male jcp as well. Last night I put the males together and within minutes I observed the mating dominance behaviour begin. It was very interesting to watch. The jcp was the winner for sure which was surprising because hes so docile and the bredli is a complete a@# lol. after around 90 min together they were seperated and introduced to therir ladies. Ive started my cooling of nightr temps and have shortened the light cycle as well.

So my questions are; was 90 min long enough? When should I expect to be seeing locks? Anything else I should be doing?

[Aaron_S]

Last year I was unsuccessful at getting a lock from my bredli. I now have an adult male jcp as well. Last night I put the males together and within minutes I observed the mating dominance behaviour begin. It was very interesting to watch. The jcp was the winner for sure which was surprising because hes so docile and the bredli is a complete a@# lol. after around 90 min together they were seperated and introduced to therir ladies. Ive started my cooling of nightr temps and have shortened the light cycle as well.

So my questions are; was 90 min long enough? When should I expect to be seeing locks? Anything else I should be doing?

90 mins is plenty. I usually toss 2.1 into a tub together and see what happens. The winner will breed. Now, I have ball pythons so your method was probably better so you don't end up with mixes if you don't want them.

As for locks, you can see locks right away to a day later. Happens.

Nothing else you should be doing. Just keep an eye on them.

[Albert Clark]

Cool, and good luck with the breeding rep! Haha.

[reptiledude987]

Ok cool fingers crossed I get some jcps and bredlis!

I work long shifts at work so its very possible that i may have a lock and not even see it. For the sake of being sure how long should i leave them paired the seperate before reintroducing to their ladies a second time?

[Aaron_S]

Ok cool fingers crossed I get some jcps and bredlis!

I work long shifts at work so its very possible that i may have a lock and not even see it. For the sake of being sure how long should i leave them paired the seperate before reintroducing to their ladies a second time?

I'm not 100% sure with carpet pythons.

For what it's worth, I keep my males with my females for 3 days and then out for 3. If I witness a lock I may pull them sooner.

Also long shifts shouldn't be an issue. Locks can lost for 12+ hours.

[reptiledude987]

ok Ill go with 3 days on and 3 off. I know they can lock for that long but ive also heard of it only being around 4 hours as well. In which case it could happen and be missed very easily.

[Aaron_S]

ok Ill go with 3 days on and 3 off. I know they can lock for that long but ive also heard of it only being around 4 hours as well. In which case it could happen and be missed very easily.

Yes sir. It can happen like that. Just keep pairing until you see ovulation.

[reptiledude987]

Thats the plan ;)

[reptiledude987]

Do you happen to know the gestation/incubation period?

[Aaron_S]

Do you happen to know the gestation/incubation period?

i don't know exactly to be honest. However, from what I know most pythons usually go through a post ovulation shed cycle about two weeks after ovulation. Then it's roughly 28 days to eggs. After that, on average probably 50 - 60 days for egg incubation. I'm sure this varies from species to species so anyone reading this don't go bugging me that I'm off by a few days.

Also, remember, these are living creatures. Nothing is mechanical about them. I know snakes that have no post ovulation shed cycle, or they retain eggs a little early or eggs hatch early or late.

[reptiledude987]

Thanks aaron. I wasnt expecting an answer to the minute from time of conception just a general timeframe. Need to know how long to wait to buy my incubator.

[chairman]

How important is male combat for breeding carpets? Is it just a fertility boosting activity or will breeding not occur without it?

[reptiledude987]

last year I only had the one male and no eggs. Hopefully this year it does the trick for me. Time will tell. I will be sure to keep updates going on the progress.

[Aaron_S]

Thanks aaron. I wasnt expecting an answer to the minute from time of conception just a general timeframe. Need to know how long to wait to buy my incubator.

Start building it now. That way you can ensure the temps stabilize in your bins or make any other adjustments.

[reptiledude987]

Im buying one

[reptiledude987]

what should incubation temps and humidity be?

[Aaron_S]

what should incubation temps and humidity be?

Humidity i have at 100%. Heat I keep it at 89.7 F. However this is for ball pythons. So take it with a bit of a grain of salt until you get confirmation from a carpet breeder.

Also, hope your incubator is large! I think they have upto 30 eggs!

[reptiledude987]

I know my jcp had 21 in her last clutch and the bredli had 18 or 19. 30 would be awesome! Im getting the new exoterra incubator. the old model had issues but the new one Ive only heard and read good things.