Follicle size and ovulation question.

i am a first time breeder. I have 3 females with follicles ranging from 32mm to 35mm. i have introduced my male since nov 1 and maybe locked with my females atleast 4 times each. as of today i have not seen ovulation but they are all plump and seems to be doing well. all of them seems to be glowing. i will try to post pics off them. my question, is it possible that i was never able to get a "true lock" from my male since the follicle sizes are large enough for ovulation to take place?

Females will develop follicles with or without a male. They can even go on to lay infertile eggs without the male present. On some very rare occasions, she go on to create exact replicas of herself(parthenogenesis). I would not worry though, just continue to pair them up 3 days on and 3 days off with each female. Males can penetrate a female in ways we think is not possible and I am sure he did his job. Keep us posted though.:gj:

Females will ovulate at 45mm, so keep pairing them. :gj:

If you can't measure in mm, what is that the equivalent to? (marble, golf ball, etc)

thanks guys.:) ill post pics of them later. i am 70% sure that my spider is ovulating now. i think.:P

If they are only around 35mm then shes not ovulating, probably just building the first year we used our Ultrasound we thought a couple females were ovulating but a couple weeks later they ovulated!

Im really struggling with finding follicles , i think im just really bad at it. Once they get to a decent size are they practically unmissable?

I have given up feeling for them this season as i just depress myself because i cant feel any.. Lots of locks , normally i just leave them be but this is a skill i want to get down to a fine art

All the videos show how to feel for them but never what part ie in the middle of the underside, to the sides ect they will be.

The reason im asking again is that im sat at work and someone has just thrown a golfball at me. If i cant feel them in a snake i might aswell chop off my fingers becasue they arent working lol:P:gj:

Hi,

It takes practice for sure - and with the big girl I have she tenses up so much I can't feel anything (she's a bit of a nervous nellie :rolleyes: ).

When they are smaller they seem to lie pretty much along the center line but as they get bigger they do seem to have to move slightly offset to one another to fit in. So near the end I always seem to end up feeling them like this;

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But having the snakes belly be relaxed seems to be the most important thing - if they cooperate you can feel them as small as a marble very easily.

If they don't cooperate you can be struggling to feel anything at all. :rolleyes:


dr del

Thanks Doc

That was a good help. Iv also noticed on the videos explaining this that they always put the ball in the tub and let it drape down abit. Does this help?

Ill have to get them ultra relaxed tonight and have a go with them. I did feel a couple of marble sized lumps in my smallest female the other day and was dancing around the room like a man posessed :colbert:. my Missus wasnt so happy for me. Since then i cant feel anything in any of them

Brilliant post tho doc Thanks again

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Originally Posted by docturgonzo

Thanks Doc

That was a good help. Iv also noticed on the videos explaining this that they always put the ball in the tub and let it drape down abit. Does this help?

Ill have to get them ultra relaxed tonight and have a go with them. I did feel a couple of marble sized lumps in my smallest female the other day and was dancing around the room like a man posessed :colbert:. my Missus wasnt so happy for me. Since then i cant feel anything in any of them

Brilliant post tho doc Thanks again

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You may not be applying enough pressure. You pretty much want to flatten her out where she is moving through your hand. Another thing, your females may not even have follicles at this point. When did you start introducing?

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Originally Posted by docturgonzo

Thanks Doc

That was a good help. Iv also noticed on the videos explaining this that they always put the ball in the tub and let it drape down abit. Does this help?

Ill have to get them ultra relaxed tonight and have a go with them. I did feel a couple of marble sized lumps in my smallest female the other day and was dancing around the room like a man posessed :colbert:. my Missus wasnt so happy for me. Since then i cant feel anything in any of them

Brilliant post tho doc Thanks again

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I don't think it matters, I let mine go down into the tub, while I hold the upper body up.

Don't be discouraged..it took me a while to get the hang of it. But when you have put enough pressure on it and she's guiding though your fingers (thumbs underneath her belly and fingers pressing her down) they feel like a string of pearls if it's before ovulation.

I have a couple of females i started introducing in September and the rest are from late october onwards.

Maybe im not applying enough pressure. I do apply a fair bit but i also ahve been feeling more towards the sides with my fingers.

You could be right and they haevent stared developing yet but the earlier couples have locked constently since Sept so would hope id feel something (the one i did feel them in was an early breeder)

Ill get some practice in tonight but its defenately a skill i want to master

Hi,

Robin suggested having something like a t-shirt on your hands to help cut down the friction of them passing though your hands - might be worth trying.

I have always used both tumbs on their back and both sets of fingers on their belly when letting them go back into the tub. But this might be because I am ambi-sinister about these things. :oops:

I still can't pop anything older than a hatchling - aside from my male lesser for some reason .:rolleyes:


del

Last year was my first breeding season and I could not feel follicles even though I tried several times before she ovulated. I finally felt follicles this season and it is amazing to feel them get bigger over time. It just takes practice. :)

So I just palpated Akina and her follicles feel either just under the size of a golf ball or right at the size of a golf ball. I looked up the diameter of a golf ball in mm and it said about 42mm. So I'm guessing they are somewhere between 35-40mm.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

So I just palpated Akina and her follicles feel either just under the size of a golf ball or right at the size of a golf ball. I looked up the diameter of a golf ball in mm and it said about 42mm. So I'm guessing they are somewhere between 35-40mm.

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Your getting closer...........................Keep waiting! I have girls that seem to have been sitting at 35-40mm for a while. I need ovulation pics when it happens to believe you though.:D

I found this page that helped me estimate how big her follicles were. They are not life size but you can get an idea. Akina's follicles are right around 35mm now that I look at it. When I first felt them they were probably around 0.5 inch.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

I found this page that helped me estimate how big her follicles were. They are not life size but you can get an idea. Akina's follicles are right around 35mm now that I look at it. When I first felt them they were probably around 0.5 inch.

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What site is that?

http://glassmarbles.com/size.htm

Sorry my internet was messing up on me. The image to the left is not true to life size but its close.

Hi guys. here are the pics of my females. i think my spider is ovulating.:)
http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/3348/p2059481.jpg
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/121/p2059480.jpg
http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/7357/p2059457.jpg

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Originally Posted by twistedtails

What site is that?

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Heres a good link... http://www.reptileradio.net/reptiler...ad.php?t=14756

That is pretty cool to see! :D

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Originally Posted by BjDavid

Hi guys. here are the pics of my females. i think my spider is ovulating.:)
http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/3348/p2059481.jpg
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/121/p2059480.jpg
http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/7357/p2059457.jpg

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WOW!! awesome! looks like she could lay anyday...but this is my first year breeding balls and i've only witnessed one lonely lock this season :(

Some good links there guys thanks.

The spider definately seems to be doing something so fingers crossed for you.

I went feeling again in another female last night and seven i counted but i still cant gage the size. I might be off to buy a small pea , a large pea , a marble and a golfball today to help.

That makes for a random shopping list