Woma breeders... I need a little info

I am knew to womas so I am not as well versed in the particulars of breeding. I have a a female woma that I suspect is gravid. She has been locked up with a male on at least 3 occassions and she recently stopped eating. She has also gained about 1lb since I got her about a month ago and has only eaten 1 medium rat. I haven't really noticed her being swollen like most other snakes I have bred. From what I have described, do you think she could be gravid?

Hello,
I am no where near an expert on womas. However I have an adult pair that I have bred 2 out of the last 3 years. The would embrace like most snakes and my female usually would go off of feed as you have described. Next you should notice her lay upside down. My almost aslways has done this. I witnessed one of my balls do this last season. I am going to put my womas together soon myself. I have had two clutches of egss from mine. But my problem has been keeping the eggs alive. Both clutches I have had went bad. I have been told to try less moisture. I also got a new incubator this season. So wich me luck. And best of luck to you. Later Mike

Thanks Mike. Any noticeable weight gain? And good luck to you also!

Hey there,
I honestly have never paid too much attention to the weight of any of my animals. I just feed the crap out of them just before I try to breed them. I am not a big time collector just an avid hobbyist. I have a total of 22 snakes consisting of balls, womas, female albino kenyan, carpets, and bredls. I do have a scale but more for incubator mix and weight of animals i am trying to sell. Later Mike

While anything is certainly possible, considering the time of year it is I would say it's unlikely she's gravid.
Womas copulate pretty much any time they are put together, but getting eggs outside of the normal season is rare.
Many also go off feed in preparation for the breeding season, some do not. I have 3 adults now that have been off feed for the last month.

I am a sorry excuse for a breeder, I guess...I have never weighed a snake I thought was gravid. I rarely weigh any of my snakes, unless a) for some reason, I am curious, b) I need to calculate a drug dose, c) somebody asks (this would include snakes that I am selling when I expect somebody to ask the weight, ie BPs). Most of the pythons species I have bred, I have been able to make an educated guess on them being gravid...provided I consider the idea far enough into the process, and take the time to really look. I've never been particularly good at palpating eggs - I tried it, unsuccessfully, a few times on gravid monitors, but I don't recall ever trying with snakes (I guess I just figured I was no good at it, so why waste my time). The other part of that is that I minimize handling when I suspect an animal is gravid.

All that said, Clay is correct - womas will copulate pretty much any time they can. Out of season breedings are typically infertile; but if you cycled them, there is a chance. Gravid pythons will regularly lay tipped on one side, or even upside down - womas are no exception (though there CAN be exceptions, lol).
You say she has eaten one medium rat in the month that you have had her...is it still in there? A pound, on first consideration sounded like a lot to me...but I have since considered the feel of a clutch of eggs, the weight of an average rat, and the approximate weight of a breedable female. Certainly not out of the question. As for looking swollen, some girls hide it better than others, lol. In many cases, if you don't know what to look for, it is easy to miss until just before deposition. (The visual cues are sometimes fairly subtle, but the more familiar you are with the animals, the easier it is to observe).
Good luck.

Thanks for the replies guys.
Harald, she passed the rat last week and thats when I decided to weigh her so she was on empty.
I forgot to mention she has also been rooting around her cage like mad the last couple of days, really tearing it apart. I haven't noticed her lying on her side but then again, I don't always have the time to check on her more than once a day.

Oh well, I guess I will find out....

How long have they been together? When were the copulations observed? Were they cycled at all? (I know you said you got her about a month ago, but I didn't know if some of these things were reported to you by the previous owner)

Hey There,
I know I didn't start this post. But I added the little I know about the situation. But I have a question about when the season is for the womas. The old "Reproductive Husbandry of Pythons and Boas" says it starts in October and runs through February. I have always tried breedin mine around December, and January. I got eggs the two time they bred and they were fertile at first according to candling. But they went bad. My reasoning was one too much moisture which somebody recently told me that they don't need alot of moisture. And two my old incubator's thermostat fluctuated alot. I recently got a new incubator with a Helix DBS-1000 and and another Helix for my old incubator. What else do I need to pay attention to? Thanks Mike

Age and weight of the adults (no, I have never weighed mine - I gauge weight the same way I do incubation media...by feel).
You say your eggs were fertile at first - I take it you mean that they went bad (as opposed to becoming infertile, lol), so you must be at least close enough with your cycling breeding efforts.
If you are using a hovabator - they suck for snake eggs. Yes, I know many people use them, but that doesn't change my response. You've got the thermostat, you can make yourself a good incubator for $50 (or less). I still use the one I made out of a cooler several years ago. It has served me well, and I like it...though I have considered getting something bigger vs just making a couple more of them. I kind of like the idea of not having all my eggs in one basket, so to speak.