Ovulating? Already?

[vpjimmyd]

Okay guys, I'm in my first season. I've got 1.0 pastel to 0.3 normals and 1.1 het pieds going. I just introduced my pastel to Hera last Saturday (9/25) for the first time this season (previous owner said they locked last year, but no eggs). They locked up right away and I kept them together until Tuesday (9/28). I just checked on her, and this is what I saw.







Keep in mind, this is my first season, and I've never seen ovulation first-hand, but I've seen a lot of pictures of it (mostly on here ) and this sure as heck looks like ovulation to me.

So what do you think? Should I be watching for a post-ovulation shed and then some eggs? What are the chances that she would already be ovulating less than 8 days after they were introduced for the FIRST TIME? (trying really hard not to get my hopes up too high)

Oh, man! This is exciting! Thanks in advance for your help.

[vpjimmyd]

Okay, after looking around at some other ovulation pics again I'm starting to second-guess myself just a bit. There's definitely a pronounced bulge there, but it's not quite as dramatic as some of the ovulation pics I'm seeing. I still think she's ovulating (fingers crossed!) but I guess she could just be building.

What do you think? Building or ovulating?

[shelliebear]

Looks like building to me, from the pics I've seen. I've never bred myself, but I've heard when they ovulate it, you'll know--they'll get HUGE like they just ate a fat, huge rat.
But building ain't half bad either I'd stick em together again in a few weeks or so, just in case, but she could produce babies for you.
Don't give up hope!

[bones93]

Keep an eye on her and see if she goes off feed ect. Also keep pairing the male every 3 days. 3 on 3 off rotation. The bulge will only last a few days. When is the last time she fed for you?

[llovelace]

Keep pairing, once she does become gravid, she should start refusing the male, although I have a girl who continued locking with her male until 6 days before she laid.

[don15681]

if she's ovulating, it's from last year's breeding. keep an eye on her and keep putting the male in until you have eggs.

[vpjimmyd]

Thanks for your thoughts, guys. She's been eating like clockwork. Last time she ate was a medium on Wednesday of last week (10/1). There's no way this bulge was from that.

Also, I checked in on her this morning, and she seemed to be back down to normal size. I came into this whole thing fully expecting to be pairing them for months before getting any eggs. For my own sanity, I'm going to act like this wasn't ovulation---but if it wasn't it, I'm excited to see what is. Her bottom third looked HUGE compared to normal when I opened her tub. My first thought was "this is the real deal." Time will tell, I guess. We can all look back and laugh when she lays her eggs in March.

I'm definitely going to keep introducing the male for as long as it takes.