Breeding for size?

[Kobi Baby]

I asked this question in my post earlier, but thought it would be a good thread of its own. I hope this doesn't upset anyone, because it isn't meant to, I just want some opinions. Here's the scenerio:

I got my ball python, Kobi, on June 21, 2007 and she measured in at 18-20". She is now at 28-30" right at 2 months later. This is 5-6" growth / month. IF she continues this trend, maybe not such extreme growth, but an accelerated growth rate at the least, and she reaches 6' or more (its may be a stretch, I know), would it be bad to breed her for her size, rather than for her markings coloring etc?

When I got her, she was the sturdiest of the litter, and much much larger than the rest. She readily eats, and would probably eat twice as much as she does now if I offered. Currently, she eats 1 adult mouse every 6-7 days.

Here's a link to my post from earlier. It has quite a few pictures of her that show her size as of today.

http://redtailboa.net/forums/misc-py...kobi-baby.html

[BoaVixen]

I am so glad you posted this! I don't know enough about it so I really want to find out what the possibilities are. And I was wondering why she was soooo long and not thin but not as thick as our baby (go to my pub. profile to see a pic). She has really pretty colors too. So unless the male you find is hands down ugly, you should try for it, if you can.

I can't wait to see what happens! She's a cutie, like her mama!

[Kobi Baby]

Originally Posted by BoaVixen

I am so glad you posted this! I don't know enough about it so I really want to find out what the possibilities are. And I was wondering why she was soooo long and not thin but not as thick as our baby (go to my pub. profile to see a pic). She has really pretty colors too. So unless the male you find is hands down ugly, you should try for it, if you can.
I can't wait to see what happens! She's a cutie, like her mama!

Thanks, that was sweet

Yes, she is very sturdy. And I often call her "my little string bean" cause she's so long. It makes her seem skinny, but she really isnt when you take a good look at her....she is an optical illusion! lol

[Stargazer]

Originally Posted by BoaVixen

She's a cutie, like her mama!

ha ha ha You can really see the family resemblance. lol

[danktat]

This has been covered here before but in relation to another topic. It was about the so called "dwarf" locality boas where in the rush to get the babies to breeder size they were picking the first to "grow up". As a result, the offspring will carry whatever genes that caused the partents to be the heartiest, fastest growing and largest of the bunch. Now it is not uncommont to find a 7' hog island boa or Nic. This could, of course, happen in nature as well but not at nearly as accelerated a rate as the subsequent generation would inevitably use the "biggest, fastest growing" of that litter ... and so on.....

To answer your question, YES you can selectively breed for size but it would not be like creating a "morph" as much as it would be like a pastel boa (which is one that is selectively bred for lighter, richer color) and not like that of albinism (recessive) or hypomelanism(codominant). Therefor you would end up with offspring that fell within the minimum and maximum of size ranges and would have to continue to breed the largest of the offspring to generation after generation to "create" [in theory] a larger ball python.

That was very basic but I hope it helped a bit.

	Hog Island Boa hogg

[Kobi Baby]

So it would be a constant search for another large BP to breed without crossing "family lines" (don't really know what to call it lol). Kinda sounds like a loosing battle...being that I don't want to keep 10 adult snakes simply to breed them.

I just thought it was neat that she is growing so fast, and is so large already. I believe she was a mid-late 06 hatchling, so this growth rate has obviously been a regular thing. Really wierd.

	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.