goodbye cresteds, hello balls

[markNcc]

Well, the last of my cresteds are gone, including my last two eggs.........for now anyway. Life has gotten too hectic here lately so i needed to sell my cresteds. I traded my last couple for a pair of well started normal ball pythons. (much lower maintenance when i'm out of town)

I just put them in their new home, a 20 gal. long. The male is about 2' long and the female about 16"-18'' roughly. They are exploring right now and seem to have no problem with each other. So here's my question......is it ok to keep them together sense they are male and female? I'm not interested in breeding them, but i'm not worried if/when they do breed either; i just don't want the female breed too soon. I'm assuming there is a "too soon" with balls???

Thanks for any input,
Mark

[firecrested]

male balls can breed as early as 6 to 8 months old.  It is possible to keep them together.  I dont do it but it is possible.  Only thing is if one gets sick then the other will too.

I wish I new you wanted balls for your cresteds.  I could have gotten you a male pastel and some normal females really cheap.

[Anthony Caponetto]

If the female doesn't have follicles (which she won't unless she's mature), she won't produce eggs.   There's still a dozen or more good reasons not to house them together, but the female becoming gravid too early isn't really one of them.