I just palpated a few of my females for poops and giggles and it turned out to be very interesting. I have been pairing up one of my females (pinstripe) since December or so. She is 1300g completely empty. (an '07) She has been breeding very well with two males. I see a lock almost every time I put a male in with her. However her follicle development has been very slow. I have not felt any follicles until today and I think I felt 4. I will palpate later this week to see if I get the same number. They are about the size of very small marbles. Now, the other female that is currently gravid (and due to lay eggs any day now) was bred at a bit larger size and she was palpated several times and found to have 5 follicles. She was a little over 1700g before she ovulated. And just for poops and giggles I decided to palpate my friend's snake (I'm caring for her until my friend gets her own place) and I found 3-4 follicles. This female has not been in with a male (and won't be) but is in the same rack as breeding females and males. I do not cool except for the natural drop in room temperature in the winter here. I find it interesting that without cooling and exposure to a male she has still begun to develop follicles. This female is 1200g and is estimated to be about 5.5 years old.
I have not palpated my smallest female. I did introduce her to a male to induce a feeding response (which worked! She's been eating like clockwork ever since and has gained about 100g!) She is just under 1000g. I think the last time I weighed her she was 970-something empty. I'm curious to see if she is developing follicles and if so how many.
Palpating these females did kind of show me that smaller females will throw small clutches if bred at a small size. My 1300g female only has 4. A 1200g female only has 3-4.
Do any of you bother to palpate females that are not intended for breeding in a given season just to see how many follicles they have or if they are developing at all? And if a female has not been exposed to a male or purposefully cooled, then what other factors may be playing a role in her follicle development?
Sorry just some ramblings as I was thinking. Figured I'd write it down and get some feedback from other breeders.
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