Breeding Trials of BHP (Het for Axanthic) 2010

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Keep posting all as for some of us it is and will always be a learning process as not everyone knows as much as bandy andy, obviously!

Any photo's of the happy couples coupling?
 
There is no set rule for cooling James. If anybody tells you that then they are full of it. Every Reptile keeper keeps their animals in their own unique way. Every state has it's own set of weather patterns as well as photoperiod. It's a matter of trial and error, some get it right the first time and others could take years to figure it out. I commend you for taking the time and effort to log your observations and to share them on a publi forum.
I have found that pythons actually look for the cool end at this time of year. They know they have to cool down to be able to breed succesfully. We usually drop our temperatures over night to around 15 degrees. We supply males with even lower temperatures by placing them in the cages that are directly in contact with the floor. In a bank of four cages they would be in the lowest cages. We supply them with a daytime hotspot of 28-30 degrees. This hotspot is very localized as we use ceramic heat emitters. There is still a big part of the cage that stays cold. This gives them the ability to choose where they want to be. There is no choice involved with the night time drop, they have to be in the cold. We start to cool them beginning of June and keep them cool for exactly 6 weeks. We raise night time temps over 2 weeks and then introduce the males to each other. We observe them while they combat for about an hour. We seperate the boys for a couple of hours and then introduce them to the girls. This routine is followed every year and we have consistent results every year.
Don't mind the people that don't have anything positive to add, there are many of them on this forum.
 
yes james_scott i leave the male in for 2 days out for 5 and so on till July
i am also keeping an eye on the female for abdominal swelling in the last third of her body
i have not seen them hooked up yet but hear is hoping ill take some pix tomorrow when i put male in and post them
hears hoping
 
After the first night of trials it didn't take long until I realised I needed a bigger hide that would fit both the male and female in it. I constructed one instantly with ample size but have started to wonder what people are using as a laying box in a few months. Due to the size of bhp's plastic kitty litter trays are out of the question (commonly used in smaller species) so what are people using? Are there any commercially available plastic boxes?
 
yes james the hide ha to b big enough for both it is funny to see the the top of the hide rocking and rolling with the two snakes inside my hides are made out of timber 250mm high 450mm wide with a entry hole in the top of the hinged lid with a bottom on them this gives the snake plenty of room and insulation when they are all curled up for night what size enclosure are you using
put them togeather on tuesday and both are keen was watching them for a while if only they would get things lined up so to speek he gets into position she moves out of position so close are well it will happen i hope my wife called me peeping tom ha ha ha leave them alone she said i cant i have to know so excited
 
Hows everyones pairs going, just caught one of my pairs going at it again today. its finally getting to that real cold level now so a week or two of weather like this should cool them well. very exciting :)

hope all your projects are going well.
 
see if this pic works
 

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After the first night of trials it didn't take long until I realised I needed a bigger hide that would fit both the male and female in it. I constructed one instantly with ample size but have started to wonder what people are using as a laying box in a few months. Due to the size of bhp's plastic kitty litter trays are out of the question (commonly used in smaller species) so what are people using? Are there any commercially available plastic boxes?

Last year was my first time breeding bhps - I used a large AusPost parcel box as a hide/lay box. Just put some slightly damp sphagnum moss in when she was due to lay. I went for the cardboard option just in case the eggs stuck to the bottom so I could cut the cardboard away. Didn't need to worry in the end though, they came straight out no problem.
 
I found that putting a cut of astro turf with vermiculite was a good bottom layer to the egg laying box to prevent egg stickage.
 
I've found each time I put the male in with the female they are much more comfortable with each other and the female is the one to initiate contact. She instantly moves all over him and within minutes will lift her tail to expose her cloaca and goes straight into her hide. If he doesn't follow she will repeat the process for around 4 times before she either gets lucky or gives up. I'm sure if the male were more mature he would follow her in mire often and much quicker. Still the reaction has been good and better than expected.
 
I have found over the last week with sudden drop of temps the bhp's are only going under the hot end for around an hour then both move to the cool end again.
I also made an appearance at the recent VHS meeting and was interested to hear Roy pails say he only has heat on his bhp's for 4-5hours per day at this time of the year. I'll stick with 8 hours this season and see how it goes.
 
hows every body bhps going my have seemed to have stoped corting and mating not much action curl ut togeather but nothing else hope the deed has been done
 
How much are axanthics normally? and how much are hets?
 
Axanthics are still going for $2000 on the market. Hets too are not cheap!
How is everybody going with pairing? Any inverted famales yet?
 
looks like my 2 girls are preggars, they have deffinately ovulated now its just a wait to see if the male did his job. my girls surprised me as they seemed to get sick of the boy at the end, got very flighty when he was in there with them and trashed the enclosure. probably about 5 seen matings for both females. now waiting for the prelay shed:)
 
we mated our 2 4y bhps around the same time as you James,ours are on aspen bedding , if she should be gravid she looks definitely fatter but its hard to tell , would the eggs stick to the aspen bedding.She tends to bury herself a lot during the day under the aspen bedding.
 
Well doesn't appear mine were if size or age this year but it was a great learning experience as it showed that even young bhp's will attempt to mate if the seasonal guides are adhered to. Congrats to all that were successful and thanks for posting your findings. This has been a really positive (for the most part) and educational thread. Week done everyone!
 
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