when do ball pythons reach sexual maturity?

Question

My snakes are both approx 7 months old. they are housed together and recently have been coming in contact more than usual. they move around together so much that they are moving their hide box around. lately, if i go to grab them they get into a striking position and have been a little bit more aggressive than usually, (especially the male) is this mating season? and could they be doing it? also if they are, should i eventually seperate them, or what? thanks on any help.

Answer 1

Your female is no where near breeding size,so no they are not "doing it." However, I must disagree with the person above.
Males mature much faster than the females, as early as 6 months. Although usually it is around 1 year old.
Females are not ready until they hit AT LEAST 1200 grams. (Although a little more weight is advisable). Usually this is acheived around 18 months-2 years. If you feed less often or more often, that is only a rough estimate. It could be much sooner or much much later.
Now, on to why yours could be acting this way.....
Snakes are solitairy animals and should always be kept housed separately. Keeping them together is causing stress and can result in aggressive behavior, going off feed and even death. (although balls are not typically a snake eater,they can and do often eat each other in circumstances such as this)
http://www.repticzone.com/forums/BallPython/messages/1047439.html#1048862
Get them each their own cage and they will calm down fairly quickly and be much happier.
You can read more here... http://www.constrictors.com/Information/BallPythonsBreeding.html

Answer 2

they can reach maturity when they are about 4-5 yrs old. i have 2 of them and my female is 7 yrs old and my male is about 4 yrs old. he still hasn't matured enough to do his thing but it will come in time. the females will reach about 5 1/2 - 6 feet long and the males will be about 1 foot smaller then her. good luck in breeding. i breed them before and it is fun when you can see the babies hatch from the egg. i had them before and they just got old so i gave them to family to keep and have as their pets. i got back into it about 5 yrs ago when my female started getting big. good luck.