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Confusing Female...

Abby

Goblin
Joined
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Alright, so bare with me. I have a female who I cooled last fall and began pairing up in November. This is Belome, she was approximately 1300+ grams at the start of breeding and 4 years old:

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She is a very receptive breeder, her first lock was on 12/3/09 with a dinker male, Monty:

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She locked up with Monty 12 times from 12/3/09-01/28/10. She also bred with another male, Randal 13 times from 12/12/09-5/22/10. He is a gigantic normal as far as I know, he has some very nice pied markers down the length of his belly.

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Anyway, she has shown me lots of signs of being gravid, and I thought she had her pre-lay shed on 4/8/10. She had a shed a month before, so I figured the closeness suggested one was her pre-ovy and one was a pre-lay. I never saw this female ovulate, and she continues to eat throughout this entire time period. Obviously she didn't lay so that wasn't her pre-lay. I have palpated her several times and I feel 4-6 bumps every time, so I know she is gravid, just don't know when to expect eggs! Here are some pictures of her throughout:

Looking lumpy 1/1/10:
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During what I thought was her pre-lay shed 4/8/10:
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Right after said shed 4/8/10:
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Laying inverted and looking big on 5/15/10:
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Soaking on 5/17/10:
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Now - Out of curiosity I decided to throw my little Mojave boy in with her to see if he had any interest in breeding. What do you know, he was very eager to despite his small size. They've locked up twice, once on 6/4/10 and once on 6/8/10. This is Thardus:

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She has been soaking A LOT lately. Always in her bowl. She also appears to be glowing, here she is on 6/9/10:

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I picked her up today and noticed a swelling mid-body, but she doesn't have the "tail-suck" going on yet so I'm assuming this is a pre-ovulation swelling. What do you guys think?

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This is my first experience breeding Ball Pythons, so any help is appreciated. I know she will lay eventually, I just want some opinions on her. I hatched a clutch from a WC gravid back in 08 but it just isn't the same as breeding your own :)​
 
I'm sure someone that takes a more scientific approach could give a better explanation as to what you are experiencing....but I never enjoyed science class very much! :p

I'm mainly writing to let you know that you're not the only one in that boat. I've gotten to the point where I have a good idea when mine have shed their post-ov skin (obviously when I miss the actual ovulation), but I still get left waiting an extra month with several of them.

Yours certainly looks like she'll lay eggs soon, but that's about as helpful as I can be. I do know that I can feel eggs before they ovulate; however, after ovulation the eggs are much softer and much harder to detect.

Good luck. From the looks of it, your first breeding season should be a success....just not sure when!!
 
I'm sure someone that takes a more scientific approach could give a better explanation as to what you are experiencing....but I never enjoyed science class very much! :p

I'm mainly writing to let you know that you're not the only one in that boat. I've gotten to the point where I have a good idea when mine have shed their post-ov skin (obviously when I miss the actual ovulation), but I still get left waiting an extra month with several of them.

Yours certainly looks like she'll lay eggs soon, but that's about as helpful as I can be. I do know that I can feel eggs before they ovulate; however, after ovulation the eggs are much softer and much harder to detect.

Good luck. From the looks of it, your first breeding season should be a success....just not sure when!!
Thanks for your input Matt :) I'm guessing she hasn't ovulated yet myself, so it'll be atleast a bit over a month :rolleyes:

Now for a more fun question: Who do you think daddy will be? :rofl:
 
i honestly think shes either ovulating or about to ovulate by ur pictures. Just remember even the BIG breeders have the same thing happen and i often see pictures of males in their cages with the females that have already laid their eggs and are coiled around the eggs. if i was in ur position id just mark down sheds and check tubs from 25 days till 40 days on a regular basis (maybe once in the morning and once in the afternoon or night) also i tend not to be abled to feel the lumps too well after they have ovulated and turned into eggs.
 
i honestly think shes either ovulating or about to ovulate by ur pictures. Just remember even the BIG breeders have the same thing happen and i often see pictures of males in their cages with the females that have already laid their eggs and are coiled around the eggs. if i was in ur position id just mark down sheds and check tubs from 25 days till 40 days on a regular basis (maybe once in the morning and once in the afternoon or night) also i tend not to be abled to feel the lumps too well after they have ovulated and turned into eggs.

Thanks for your input Shane! I think she is starting her ovulation as we speak actually, I put the male mojave in with her again after the last picture, and they are currently locked but she looks VERY swollen mid-section. I can't really tell how her tail looks since they are locked up, but once they separate I will give her another look over. I'm excited! Who do you think dad will be? :D
 
Considering my luck thus far this season, my vote has to go to the mojo! :D
 
Considering my luck thus far this season, my vote has to go to the mojo! :D
I would be so happy if he turned out to be the daddy :D I love mojaves and I think he's exceptional... Plus her reduced pattern would look really nice on a mojo!
 
yea often times it seems to be "practice locks" until u see her bowl wrapping alot. depending on if she retained any sperm ..... she might have.... but honestly i think the mojo has perfect timming! good luck
 
yea often times it seems to be "practice locks" until u see her bowl wrapping alot. depending on if she retained any sperm ..... she might have.... but honestly i think the mojo has perfect timming! good luck

Coooool! :) I'd be so excited to hatch out some mojos. They would be my first morphs. He's a little guy but I know he is producing plugs so I'm sure he can do the job. We'll see what happens. I won't be disappointed if one of the other boys wins though, Monty looked like he could've had something to him and Randal was my first python ever, I got him 10 years ago and I do want a baby from him eventually. All babies are good babies too :D
 
She's probably still building and you'll probably see her ovulate in the next week or so. Your just feeling the follicles when palpating. They sound big so she is probably close.

I had a girl I thought was going to be laying this year, same thing, didn't see ovulation, she was big, she shed....

Then while checking to see if she laid yet I saw her ovulation. She laid this last week so all is good. Just check her everyday and you'll probably catch the ovulation. It will probably be big so don't be too worried when she looks like she might explode.....:blowup:
 
She's probably still building and you'll probably see her ovulate in the next week or so. Your just feeling the follicles when palpating. They sound big so she is probably close.

I had a girl I thought was going to be laying this year, same thing, didn't see ovulation, she was big, she shed....

Then while checking to see if she laid yet I saw her ovulation. She laid this last week so all is good. Just check her everyday and you'll probably catch the ovulation. It will probably be big so don't be too worried when she looks like she might explode.....:blowup:

Congrats on your girl :) What are you expecting out of that clutch?

I check almost all of my snakes a few times a day, so there is a great chance I'll witness the ovulation :yesnod: I guess that is the benefit of having your racks in your bedroom, lol! I'll get a picture if I can help it :)
 
I just took a couple pictures of her, to me she looks like she may be starting her ovulation - she looks swollen to me but maybe I'm just being wishful :p Here are a few pics. I'll just have to see after they split up, but by then it may be too late!
 

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Congrats on your girl :) What are you expecting out of that clutch?

I check almost all of my snakes a few times a day, so there is a great chance I'll witness the ovulation :yesnod: I guess that is the benefit of having your racks in your bedroom, lol! I'll get a picture if I can help it :)

Expecting snakes.....mainly BP's

A small butter in the 400-425g range got the job done. He's a full 18 months old, just a live mouse feeder I could never get switched over. He did good to, no infertile eggs. Funny part is after she did ovulate he started taking F/T rats out of nowhere....:shrug01:

Mine are all in the bedroom as well, so I know what you mean. I like to check them in the morning and evening while drinking my coffee. My wife complains that I have a whole wall of racks and she can't have a dresser. I told her she can get a dresser if she wants, she just can't keep it in here.
 
Expecting snakes.....mainly BP's

A small butter in the 400-425g range got the job done. He's a full 18 months old, just a live mouse feeder I could never get switched over. He did good to, no infertile eggs. Funny part is after she did ovulate he started taking F/T rats out of nowhere....:shrug01:

Mine are all in the bedroom as well, so I know what you mean. I like to check them in the morning and evening while drinking my coffee. My wife complains that I have a whole wall of racks and she can't have a dresser. I told her she can get a dresser if she wants, she just can't keep it in here.

That's awesome about your Butter :) Hopefully this little dude does the trick too. I'm not 100% on his age but he's probably 400+ grams. He's probably an 08 or an early 09. I don't know for sure because my scale only goes up to 300 grams :shrug01: I bought it for my geckos, lol. I need to invest in a bigger one soon.

haha! My fiance makes cracks about my wall of racks and terrariums too, I moved in with him the beginning of last year so he's always like "My room has transformed into a zoo!" but he doesn't mind, luckily :dgrin:
 
haha! My fiance makes cracks about my wall of racks and terrariums too, I moved in with him the beginning of last year so he's always like "My room has transformed into a zoo!" but he doesn't mind, luckily :dgrin:


He had a girl move in with a room-full of snakes??? Who would complain? He should :bow01: you!!! :D
 
He had a girl move in with a room-full of snakes??? Who would complain? He should :bow01: you!!! :D

hehehe... He does :D He doesn't complain about the snakes, but they definitely aren't "his thing" :rolleyes: When I first moved in I brought a 16 ft retic with me.... That was fun!
 
It would have been awesome to see his face :D you bringin out that 16 ft retic for the first time hehe ;)
 
It would have been awesome to see his face :D you bringin out that 16 ft retic for the first time hehe ;)

hahaha... Well he got to see pics of her before I brought her, so he knew I had her but yea, when I got her out the first time in person he was nervous. He told me I was crazy :rofl:
 
hahaha... Well he got to see pics of her before I brought her, so he knew I had her but yea, when I got her out the first time in person he was nervous. He told me I was crazy :rofl:

Your crazy for having the retic but not all the roaches/KSBs ets? :toetap05:
 
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