A Breeding question

For those of you who have bred Boas, and actually had your gravid females eat during gestation...what was their routine as far as defecations go?

See, every gravid female I've ever had, including the ones that weren't bred, but cycled and ovulated anyway, have never eaten for me during gestation.

Now I have TAZ, my Honduran Fire Belly, acting gravid by not leaving the heat, consuming more water, and even her demeanor has settled down. But she's actually eating, which is a first for me.

My concern is, she is not within her normal routine for defecations. Here's her records for the last few months...

1-16 consumed a 400 gram rat
1-22 normal defecation
2-09 Perfect Shed (on schedule)
2-12 Refused to eat
2-15 Urates
3-06 consumed a 300 gram rat
3-20 Perfect Shed, maybe a POS ??? (never witnessed an obvious ovulation, but this shed is out of schedule for her)
3-26 Normal defecation
3-27 consumed a 300 gram rat
4-19 consumed a 300 gram rat
4-29 Perfect shed Maybe a POS ??? (now I'm confused. Another shed out of her normal schedule)


So my concern is not so much that she's gone a month without a defecation, as it is she's eaten twice without doing so, and this she has never done.

So for you guys that have boas that eat during gestation, have you noticed if it throws their defecation schedules off? Feeding time is coming up again, and I'm really skeptical about feeding her if she doesn't give me a turd soon.

Your input is appreciated.
Rick

With a gravid (or suspected gravid) boa, I stick to the 3-4 week feedings...and feed the same size, or slightly smaller than usual. I skip any feeding that would fall within 3 weeks of when I anticipate babies (I don't have a solid reason to offer for that - it's something I started after a female bullsnake got eggbound. With a boa, I suspect that the membrane would break, and the baby would just come out....but it's a habit, and I'm not changing it, lol).
While my practical experience with gravid BCI is relatively short, I've bred other boas - They may not defecate after every feeding...and the amount may not be nearly what you are expecting (esp if you are feeding on the small side).

Yeah, I pretty much go 3 weeks as well, gravid or not. I didn't mean "coming up" as in tomorrow, but sometime next week I'll think about feeding everyone. And I did drop her prey size by a hundred grams for the duration. Considering she's about 7 ft and maybe 12-14 lbs, I don't think it's a large meal at all.

This meal coming up will be her 3rd without a defecation. That's sorta way out there abnormal, isn't it? Should have gotten at least some urates I would think.

Richard,

My last gravid female ate well for me and she went a little longer than normal before defecating. she had multiple sheds as well, 3 if i remember correctly. I know that they can slow their metabolism down, does this slow down their digestion as well or could that be vice versa? If so, could be why it takes them a little longer to defecate when pregnant. My thoughts anyway? Harald makes a good point about the smaller size prey as well. Good luck with her.

Bill

How long has she been "gravid"? My dh sunglow went 4.5 weeks give or take a day, without defacating after eating. That was her last meal. She took herself off feed and layed on the heat. Seemed like she took longer than any of my other females to drop. Most of my boas I have seen ovulate, her I didn't. She started to scare me a bit, but everything worked out good.

Another of my females had 3 sheds while being gravid.

Most of my females eat when they are gravid. I usually feed them a small rat every 3 weeks and then take them off feed towards the end. They usually end up with 3 meals when they are gravid.

I have noticed that gravid females do tend to not be as "regular". I generally know when to expect this or that, when they are gravid it seems to be more of a guessing game. I personally would only feed a her small rat and probably make it her last one until she drops. Or atleast until she gives you this turd your so desperately looking for! LOL Good luck with her.

I've never tracked the defications. Over the years all of my females have eaten during gestation. I also space it out 4 weeks and smaller than normal prey item (if normally get 2 jumbos, then only one; or a large, then down to a medium). I had noticed the defications during this time were smaller than normal (not just because of the smaller prey but noticablly smaller in size) and I always just assumed it was because they were using the extra 'fuel' for the developing babies mass. I also never feed during the last 4-6 weeks. The theory is that it could possibly cause a premature delivery as the female is defecating too close to partition (which we also sometimes see a baby 'slip' out when they are passing the waxy stool).

I wouldn't worry, maybe give an extra week before the next feeding.

In my limited experience I have had boas eat during gestation and not eat during gestation. Both have had longer times in between defecation. A good friend of mine has taught me that gravid boas will usually defecate less due to the possibility of accidentally giving premature birth, especially near the last month or so. I have seen boas with larger litters usually defecated less than females with a smaller litter. I have also recorded boas shedding out of cycle during gestation, atleast 2 sheds during ovulation with 2 of my females.

Thanks for the replies. I did compare other gravid females that I've had here in the past. Thing is, they have always refused to eat, so after that last meal got passed, it was just a little wet fart here and there until parturition. So in reality, I have no data of my own to compare with.

I started counting days on 3-29-11 because of not just the shed, but her behavior as well. She quit trying to eat me when I change her water or have to clean her cage, she's constantly in HCP, noticeably drinking more water, etc. But then she went and shed again on 4-29-11, so I guess I'll count ahead for 2 dates. LOL

She's just not acting at all like my other gravid females, so I'm stumped a bit. Seems the consensus is that she'll be fine, so maybe she'll go before her next meal. That's still next week sometime. If not, I'll go ahead and let her have a smaller rat.

April, this next meal, or maybe one more, was going to be the last I offered her anyway, until I know for sure that she's gravid. I have read of the turd babies many times, and I definitely don't want that. LOL I'd happily wait an extra week, but I'd have to do that with everyone, or they'll get all worked up when rat smell hits the air, and they aren't getting any.

Thanks for all the replies.
Rick

My most recent dropped a small turd two weeks before birth that would
match with the prey size of one or more of her last 4 meals during gestation.
She also dropped another the day before