I don't know whats going on....

[BleedingOrange36]

Ok, so here is what's going on. My big normal female has been paired with my fire a few times.... I have not witnessed a lock, but I have walked in on them in what seemed like a partial lock. They are left to be for about 10hrs a day, so I'm guessing I could of missed it. My female went through all of the tell tale signs of being Gravid. First she was coiling her water bowl... Paired through all that. Then she was seeking her hot side, laying inverted for hours. I would catch her laying inverted everytime I went into my snake room. She would form perfect coils inverted, and lay funky inverted also. Then for about a week ( last week) she would lay in a perfect coil on her hot side. Then she had a shed come out of nowhere. Now this week she is hanging on her cool side, and is all over. To me these all seem like signs of her being Gravid.
The problem is.... I think I missed ovulation, I didn't see a huge noticeable lower build to her. She also doesn't seem huge towards her lower end. She's a big 2500gram girl, but she is also long. I measured her at close to 6ft. I'm not sure if her build would be less noticeable because of her length? She eats like crazy, and I know she isn't thin. I just don't see a huge build on her lower end.... I'm setting up my incubator as we speak, and am picking a herpstat up tomorrow. Should I be worried about her not looking like she's full of eggs? I have not really had a chance to feel her to well, she's seems awfully cranky. Did something go wrong in the last week? Would she show all those signs and not be Gravid? She hasn't gone off feed, and will take anything I drop in there....
Please shed some light on my situation if possible. This is my first clutch, and I'm really nervous. Thanks in advance and I know the wise will chime in.

[joebad976]

Well, if she is eating she most likely did not ovulate yet. Normally they will stop eating once they ovy. Sounds like you have all of the signs that she is building. I would palpate her to see if you can feel any follicles or hold her up high and left her body drape down if the follicles are big enough you can see a nice swell in the lower third of her body. Keep good records of her sheds. I would check her daily she may still go for you.

My pastel did the same thing this past year. Had 6 nice sized follicles then boom she reabsorbed and one at a time they disappeared.
Good Luck

[MorphMaster]

Why do snakes reabsorb eggs? I know they do it, but not sure why... Do they sense that there will be something wrong with them, or something will go wrong with her??? I suppose that may be a question for a snake. Now, to get that snake to speak english lol

[BleedingOrange36]

Why do snakes reabsorb eggs? I know they do it, but not sure why... Do they sense that there will be something wrong with them, or something will go wrong with her??? I suppose that may be a question for a snake. Now, to get that snake to speak english lol

If the follicles aren't fertilized they are reabsorbed.
I just went and spent some time with her. I was able to get her to relax a bit, I noticed a slight build 3/4 of the way down!!!! I've been reading the Marcus Jayne guide, it doesn't mention the ore ovulation shed. I've seen it mentioned before, but not in that guide. Maybe her shed was the pre-ov shed and not pre lay like I thought. I introduced her to my fire male again just to be sure. This is nerve-racking lol. I want to make sure everything goes smooth. I have everything dumped into this right now. All my time, effort and money. I'm just hoping to have a successful breeding.
Thanks for your replies. I will be monitoring this thread closely.

[Domepiece]

Keep pairing, keep feeding, repeat. If she is still locking and still eating shes probably not there yet.

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Why do snakes reabsorb eggs? I know they do it, but not sure why... Do they sense that there will be something wrong with them, or something will go wrong with her??? I suppose that may be a question for a snake. Now, to get that snake to speak english lol

They can absorb their follicles for any number of reasons. She just doesnt feel like going, temps are off and shes not able to thermoregulate properly, not enough fat reserves, not paired up enough, husbandry isnt optimal, ect.

[BleedingOrange36]

I have read that some females will continue to eat up until laying. She would eat every single day if I allowed it. She's my garbage disposal, she eats anything lol. Well If she isn't there yet, than this scare was a positive because it forced me to get an incubator setup earlier than needed.

[Dave Green]

I've heard that females can eat up to laying as well; however, I've never had a female eat after ovulation. Mine have always stopped eating a couple/few weeks before ovulation. I guess they can continue eating but I would imagine it's not that common.

[PitOnTheProwl]

My het Albino ate like a fat kid on cake, I never noticed an ovy or felt anything then one day she had a clutch.
My Granite did everything right but never laid, I thought I felt 3 or 4 and then they were gone

[BleedingOrange36]

I just checked in on the love birds.... I have a lock!!! I didn't want to disturb them trying to get pic, do you blame me lol so I'm guessing my time line was slightly off. Will they still attempt to breed during or after ovulation? Is laying inverted usually noticed before or after ovulation?

[Domepiece]

I just checked in on the love birds.... I have a lock!!! I didn't want to disturb them trying to get pic, do you blame me lol so I'm guessing my time line was slightly off. Will they still attempt to breed during or after ovulation? Is laying inverted usually noticed before or after ovulation?

My females will start refusing food and the males when they know they are good to go and about to ovulate and the males seem to know and dont try, so I stop pairing at this point. As far as locking after ovulation, theres no point, shes already gravid. Snakes lay inverted for all sorts of reasons, she could be building, ect. I have juveniles/sub adults that will lay somewhat on their sides after a big meal and so on. The only time I see my breeding females laying inverted or contorted is a couple weeks before they are going to lay and at this point it is obvious they are full of eggs that they are trying to position.