Anyone using Ultrasound?

I started pairing up my ball pythons and retics a couple weeks ago and since it's the first of the month I pulled out the ultrasound and checked all my girls. The results were pretty surprising, my biggest girl at about 3500 grams only has one follicle! Some mid size snakes have a string of follicles, one girl had a double string, so many! My biggest follicle was 12.7 mm. I have one albino girl that I couldn't find any follicles at all, I actually had another two weeks ago but since I started pairing up she developed small ones. I also had two pairs that were copulating so I couldn't check them! I bought my ultrasound on e-bay, works fantastic. The neat thing about it is that it all folds up into a laptop case and can be easily stored. This image is about a blurry as it gets, not sure why its crystal clear in some snakes and others are a bit blurry, maybe it's due to body condition.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...trasound-1.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...trasound-2.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...trasound-3.jpg

That is so neat !!!

I wish I had one to play with right now. My Pastel Lesser girl is acting like she is building again !! She laid a clutch of eggs in Mid July, but for the past 2 to 3 weeks she is acting the same way she was while I was pairing her.

She is hugging her water bowl, acting restless at times, even if not hungry. SO WEIRD.

Would love to see inside of her.

Not pairing her up, all I have left (adult male wise) is Jag, my Pastel Yellowbelly. I have the 2016 Pastel Butter Enchi Desert Ghost male, but I want to wait on breeding him. I don't want him to take a "break" in eating. So no breeding for him yet.

Anyway, very cool !!

That’s awesome! I wish I had one. I never looked into buying one because I just assumed they were super expensive. How much do they go for on eBay?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zina10

That is so neat !!!

I wish I had one to play with right now. My Pastel Lesser girl is acting like she is building again !! She laid a clutch of eggs in Mid July, but for the past 2 to 3 weeks she is acting the same way she was while I was pairing her.

She is hugging her water bowl, acting restless at times, even if not hungry. SO WEIRD.

Would love to see inside of her.

Not pairing her up, all I have left (adult male wise) is Jag, my Pastel Yellowbelly. I have the 2016 Pastel Butter Enchi Desert Ghost male, but I want to wait on breeding him. I don't want him to take a "break" in eating. So no breeding for him yet.

Anyway, very cool !!

---

I want to know if using the ultasound increases the success rate.

FYI, my experience is that the boys that like to eat, eat whether they are breeding or not. Also, this season I think i have proved, at least to my satisfaction, that early maturation is genetic. I am on my third generation of early breeding males with one of my lines. A 2017 locked yesterday. You are so patient, I'd have that 2016 boy in if he makes the weight, and Jag, as you already know I would breed just because he is a monster.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

I want to know if using the ultasound increases the success rate.

FYI, my experience is that the boys that like to eat, eat whether they are breeding or not. Also, this season I think i have proved, at least to my satisfaction, that early maturation is genetic. I am on my third generation of early breeding males with one of my lines. A 2017 locked yesterday. You are so patient, I'd have that 2016 boy in if he makes the weight, and Jag, as you already know I would breed just because he is a monster.

---

I'd actually love to breed Jag. He is STILL growing and his coloration is just stunning (imho)

But I do feel kinda bad for the female. He far outweighs her, not sure she'd be happy with me, LOL.

About the 2016 boy, I rather wait. While locks have been observed quite readily at his age/size, I want to make sure he eats well. Both Jag and the male I bred stopped eating during the breeding season. I don't want to risk that with the Desert Ghost.

Besides, I just rather breed him to the Desert Ghost girls for "visibles".

I'm normally anything but patient, but I'm so happy with my DG's, I don't feel the need to rush it just yet ;)

I do know I would have at least one interested party in a female baby from Jag ;)


to keep it on topic, I really would love to see what is going on inside of her. I have a feeling she is BUSY BUSY building, but wouldn't it be to early since she laid eggs July 10th ?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zina10

I'd actually love to breed Jag. He is STILL growing and his coloration is just stunning (imho)

But I do feel kinda bad for the female. He far outweighs her, not sure she'd be happy with me, LOL.

About the 2016 boy, I rather wait. While locks have been observed quite readily at his age/size, I want to make sure he eats well. Both Jag and the male I bred stopped eating during the breeding season. I don't want to risk that with the Desert Ghost.

Besides, I just rather breed him to the Desert Ghost girls for "visibles".

I'm normally anything but patient, but I'm so happy with my DG's, I don't feel the need to rush it just yet ;)

I do know I would have at least one interested party in a female baby from Jag ;)


to keep it on topic, I really would love to see what is going on inside of her. I have a feeling she is BUSY BUSY building, but wouldn't it be to early since she laid eggs July 10th ?

---

I have to agree, I’d be trying to get that new DG boy to Lock with any female I had available lol. But in all fairness, I have not had a male go off feed yet so I have not had to worry about that. You make a good point though about getting your DG girls up to size, why make hets when you can make all visuals next year. I guess I can see both sides :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rufretic

I have to agree, I’d be trying to get that new DG boy to Lock with any female I had available lol. But in all fairness, I have not had a male go off feed yet so I have not had to worry about that. You make a good point though about getting your DG girls up to size, why make hets when you can make all visuals next year. I guess I can see both sides :D

---

It may be hard to believe (given the price of DG combos) but I haven't really gotten into this to make a profit. I'll be happy if I eventual re-coup my investment. The Desert Ghosts (and before them, the Deserts, since they look similar) have always been my dream. I just find them beautiful and I love to look at them and take care of them.

Having a small group of them is a dream come true. While I do want to breed them eventually (to make more little visible Desert Ghosts) it actually isn't my top priority. I don't mind loosing the potential of some combos coming down in price while waiting longer.

I just enjoy the animals for now. They are finally really settling in well, becoming comfortable to the point of hanging out outside of their hide. Becoming more trusting. This process happens a LOT faster with my own hatchlings, but they have never known anything other then "my" (their) home, having been handled by me during all the (many) cleanings, never been shipped, etc

I find that juvies and subadults can take a little longer to really become at ease in a new home. For now that is all I'm accomplishing. All are eating well now, even Aurora, who didn't want anything to to with F/T at first and needed more work and patience in that regard. Sirius, the male, is a lot less shy now as well. For now that is all I want to do. When it comes to breeding, I want visible Desert Ghosts, so until then, they all get to hang out, eat and become trusting and used to gentle handling.

I "could" try to breed Lestada (Pastel Lesser) to Jag (Pastel Yellowbelly), but I dunno. Jag is a Monster and Lestada isn't the largest of the females I've had. I don't know what she would think about all that, LOL.

I too wonder which model of ultrasound, Chris ? I wouldn't need one now, but perhaps later on. While I will never have a large breeding group, it would still be nice to know what is going on inside of them.

This is the ultrasound I bought, it was about $1,200. It came from China and took about a month to get here LOL.

https://m.ebay.com/itm/USA-FedEx-Por...IAAOSwHEhaAUJZ

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cchardwick

This is the ultrasound I bought, it was about $1,200. It came from China and took about a month to get here LOL.

https://m.ebay.com/itm/USA-FedEx-Por...IAAOSwHEhaAUJZ

---

Hm, says Illinois, USA. Did you get it from a different seller ? Or did they drop ship it from China ?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cchardwick

This is the ultrasound I bought, it was about $1,200. It came from China and took about a month to get here LOL.

https://m.ebay.com/itm/USA-FedEx-Por...IAAOSwHEhaAUJZ

---

Thats pretty cool and actually affordable. My only problem is all I keep thinking is that for $1200 I could have another awesome female lol. Maybe one day.