First time breeder seeking advice

Hey folks this is my first time breeding and I'm looking for a little guidance from some more experienced breeders. I have a 5 year old female Butter that I am breeding to a 4 year old male Mohave Enchii. The female was 3377 grams when I started pairing them on 11-6-20. I paired them every 3 weeks with successful locks each time. During this time she was pounding medium rats; the male has been fasting since starting breeding but has excellent body condition. I paired them again 1-8-21 and didn't see a lock and it didn't seem like they were interested. The female had started what I understand to be typical building behaviors i.e. being on the cool side of her bin, bowl wrapping, and lying on her side. She's looking massive and lumpy. She stopped feeding 1-19-21 and weighed in at 3881 grams on 1-23-21. She just shed 2-3-21 and is now back on the hotspot most of the time. What I am wondering is did I miss an ovulation? Was this recent shed likely a pre-lay shed? Should I continue to pair them or not? I have an incubator (C-serpents) all set up and running and have my incubation tubs at the ready. Any advice would be greatly appreciated; thanks in advance gang!!

Possible you missed ovulation. What do you mean by "lumpy"? Sharing a pic would help. Have you been palpating her at all throughout this time? The shed timed with going off feed and heat seeking sounds like you missed the ovy. No reason to keep putting the male in at this stage, either you missed it or she just isn't going this year. Wishing you the best of luck! First clutch is really exciting!

Thanks for the reply! By lumpy I meant big and swollen in her lower half. I have been palpating for follicles and have watched several videos on how to do this but am not confident in my skills at this juncture. I have been trying to post a picture but I can't figure out how to post a picture here. Thanks!

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...img_1579_4.jpg
Here she is!

It's hard to tell with her. She looks pretty thick throughout right now, but this phase (if ovy was just missed) you often can't tell. In the next few weeks leading up to laying you should start to see more and more swelling. More and more laying in unusual positions to allow the skin to stretch out as the eggs get bigger, instead of a nice coil.

Palpating can be really tough to get the hang of. Even if you aren't having much luck, keep at it each year and you will get better. The key is having her relaxed enough where you are feeling. If she is tensing up it's pretty impossible to feel, so it takes really getting the technique down of holding just the right place that as she glides through your hands, it's not a place that she is using her muscles to move. Much past ovulation you won't be able to feel anything as the egg density changes, so probably not worth trying with her anymore this year. When you finally get it down, it can be incredibly useful to tell where she is pre-ovulation so you really know when stop putting the male in and when to be watching for ovulation.

Update: I think I had it all wrong, guess I'm getting too anxious;) She has returned to cool seeking, soaking, and bowl wrapping. This morning she has clearly changed color (looks like the glow), her coloration is much lighter and she's very bright. I'm guessing that her recent shed was a pre-ovulation shed and maybe she wasn't interested in breeding as she was going through the shed process. This past Tuesday I attempted to feed her and she struck and wrapped the rodent but didn't eat it(very unlike her). We are getting some rain storms moving in over the next several days and I've had a few of my males shed so I think I'm going to pair them tonight throwing the sheds in there for good measure and see what transpires. What do ya'll think? Thanks!

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Originally Posted by WindeyD

Update: I think I had it all wrong, guess I'm getting too anxious

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by WindeyD

;) She has returned to cool seeking, soaking, and bowl wrapping. This morning she has clearly changed color (looks like the glow), her coloration is much lighter and she's very bright. I'm guessing that her recent shed was a pre-ovulation shed and maybe she wasn't interested in breeding as she was going through the shed process. This past Tuesday I attempted to feed her and she struck and wrapped the rodent but didn't eat it(very unlike her). We are getting some rain storms moving in over the next several days and I've had a few of my males shed so I think I'm going to pair them tonight throwing the sheds in there for good measure and see what transpires. What do ya'll think? Thanks!

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Hmm. If she is eating again it's entirely possible the shed is why she was refusing food, though I can't for the life of me see why it would prevent her from mating. A freshly shed female going into season usually makes my boys ravenously pursue them to mate. Worth a shot to throw a male in a see what happens. You shouldn't be seeing glow unless she is really close to ovulation, in which case she might continue refusing males. Generally a shed pre-ovulation is still quite a ways off from ovulation and the mark of her really starting to build those follicles, but there are always exceptions. Without palpating successfully it can be really hard to tell exactly what's going on.

Did you do winter temps and night drops or are you keeping the temp steady throughout the year? Plenty of people have success without doing them, but not doing them could help explain why you were seeing cool seeking before that shed.

When she was refusing the male did you only try that one time that month? Missing a lock one month shouldn't make or break things, but generally if mine don't lock I will continue pairing them that month a few times till they do (until the follicles are big enough it doesn't matter anymore). I try to get at least one successful lock per month if I can help it.

I keep my snake room and the tubs the same temp all year long. There was only one pairing without a lock, so if they lock now it’ll still be one this month. She didn’t eat the rodent offered, she reluctantly struck and constricted it but didn’t eat it. Thanks!