Female BP gaining weight overnight

[ashleymarie]

So I have had my big pastel girl Nessie for a full year... she has consistently weighed 1200ish grams since I got her. She has been gaining weight since her last feed & poop which were on 30 Aug and 12 Sept respectively. She dropped 98g after pooping, which is pretty normal for her, then when I weighed her 3 days later, she had gained 20g. This was yesterday, seeing that she had gained 20g... so out of curiosity, I weighed her a few mins ago and she has gone up 16g in the past 24hrs. I know it would be possible for her to gain a little weight from drinking water, but her water level looks almost identical to what it was yesterday.

About her past owner, he worked at LLL Reptile in Escondido, CA and told me that she was one of his breeders. Since then, she has not been introduced to any males, as I am not comfortable with trying to breed anyone yet. I know that bp's can retain sperm for like 2 years and I did catch her bowl-wrapping a week ago. Like I said, I'm not comfy to breed and have not done much research about it, but does anyone have any ideas as to what is going on? Thank you for reading.

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[ashleymarie]

Please, anyone... I'm worried...

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[AllThatInThemGenes]

I would say you dont have anything to worry about yet. The 16g is a bit odd...but if the animal appears healthy in all other regards then just keep a close eye on her. if you have had her a full year the chances of her producing eggs from retained sperm is low (by no means impossible...but low). continue to watch for signs, continue to weigh her and for the most part...dont stress too much =)

[Chkadii]

I hope someone weighs in to confirm, but maybe she's gaining weight from building follicles in addition to other factors (drinking some water, etc.). Follicles don't necessarily mean eggs, though. Sometimes they build and reabsorb. If she does lay, as worst case scenarios you could find someone local to see if they'd be interested in incubating them (maybe a science teacher would be interested if not a reptile breeder) or simply throw them away. Maternal incubation is another option, but you'd still have to figure out how to house and feed the hatchlings.

If the weight gain isn't seasonally related, the only medical issues I can think of would be some kind of abcess or cyst. With that kind of growth rate, I suspect it'd be easy to see within a day or two though. If she's got her typical appetite (or its better), and there isn't any sign of weird feces/regurgitation/infection, it's probably just her getting some winter padding.

[Albert Clark]

Double check the scale and the position she is in when you weigh her would be my suggestion. Healthy, good looking bp btw.

[ashleymarie]

Thank you, all for responding. I researched a little last night about follicles and if she is building follicles, I have felt her belly up a lot haha and I can't feel any distinct dense spheres... Like you said, I'll keep an eye on her. She is very very active, much more so than usual, and she seems to be favoring her cool hide.

I'll be sure to look around in my neck of the woods for someone with an incubator in case she does end up laying. I am very grateful for yalls responses. I definitely feel a lot less stressed.

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[Lizardlicks]

Yeah I can get wildly different reads on my girls weights if I don't get them good an centered on the scale. Which uh... can be difficult now that they're big and bold and not inclined to really ball up or hold still like they did when they were babies, lol.