Could I have jumped the date gun?

My hubby and I are new to the BP breeding world and with our 6 year normal who was bred with our pewter and spider with seen locks we thought we saw all the signs and with her shed on dec 4 we had thought this was her pos. But after looking at her and with her tail suck awhile ago it looks like she might be shedding in the next few days. So after going over some info we believe that after this shed we should have eggs in 25 - 30 days. So basically when we thought she was going to lay it was actually us feeling her folicles and her building then the tail suck showing us that she finally ovulated. If I'm wrong feel free to let me know since this is so new to me, but fun lol. Here are a few pictures from today, the wet newspaper is from us moving the tub and she also likes to move her water bowl.

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps54e5d799.jpg
http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...psa8acc1a1.jpghttp://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps0e06891f.jpg

And this pic below is of her tail suck we saw on Jan 3, 2013.
http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps06a02689.jpg

When did she ovulate? When did you start pairing?

From the info I've been reading from http://www.ballpython.ca/gallery/breeding.html It looks like she ovulated Jan 3, 2013. And she was paired last year with the pewter before we bought them both, she's had 3 clutches before with the previous owner. And we started pairing her with the pewter again and the male spider in the begining of October.

Also, when my husband checked her earlier she was soaking a bit in her water dish.

She wouldn't be coiled up like that during ovulation, they stretch out and it looks like they ate a nerph foot ball. That isn't what I would call a tail suck either. It looks like all the fat in their tail was sucked out, not bulging like they have to poo/lay.

I would say she is building especially since she is soaking in the water bowl. People mistake building for ovulation all the time. They look huge and sometimes lumpy.

I'm very new to breeding as well but to me it looks like she might be in the building stage still.. Keep pairing them..

I just took a peak at her and she is still soaking in her water dish. I'm still somewhat confused though, we can feel the eggs. Will she lay eggs for us soon or our we just getting excited over nothing :(

Your most likely feeling follicles, not eggs..

Ok then :) So if she is soaking and she does look like she will be shedding soon, would this shed be her pos then? And should we put our male with her until she sheds?

Ok found some pictures for you

My girl building, notice how huge she looks, including close to her tail
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...eeding/004.jpg

Same girl ovulating, notice how her tail looks like all the fat was sucked out of it, the lump is higher in the body, not near the vent, she an extreme example. I believe this picture was about a month after the first one
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ding/035-1.jpg

And here is a girl that laid 1-2 days after this picture. Notice how the eggs visibly move down towards her tail. The first half of her body is thin, the rest is massive
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...Isis/013-8.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nimph28

Ok then :) So if she is soaking and she does look like she will be shedding soon, would this shed be her pos then? And should we put our male with her until she sheds?

---

I'll be the first to admit I've never bred my balls...but I did purchase a possibly gravid female yesterday, so I'm on the lookout for building behavior. I've done my reading and I've discovered that pre-ovulation sheds can be quite unreliable. Sometimes they can easily be mistaken for normal shed cycles. However, if your girl did just recently shed and is going back into shed, then this upcoming shed could be your pre-ovulation shed.

Also, you can keep pairing until the pair don't show interest in each other or until she ovulates. Good luck!

Pair them until you see an ovulation.. After ovulation she will shed, that shed is her post ovulation shed..

Ok so if she is soaking in her dish does that mean we missed the ovulation and she will be shedding soon or is her ovulation still coming?? She does look like she will be shedding soon though.

possibly a pre ov shed, soaking is what they do before ovulating.

Quote:

---

I've done my reading and I've discovered that pre-ovulation sheds can be quite unreliable. Sometimes they can easily be mistaken for normal shed cycles.

---

Preov shed is nothing but a normal shed that occurs before the ovulation.

Females will glow after the pre ov shed until they go into prelay shed, if a female isn't glowing, she isn't going to ovulate.
They are always glowing during the ovy too ...

Yellowbelly female breeding
http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/PICT0501.jpg
Same yellowbelly female glowing and ovulating
http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/a...eOvulating.jpg

Black pastel female between season
http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMG_0896.jpg

Black pastel female glowing ...
http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/PICT5861.jpg

So she is still building to her ovulation then. Will this next shed be her pre ovy shed then? If it is after she sheds she should be glowing and noticibly brighter then yes? Sorry for all these questions lol. With her soaking in her water dish should I still put my pewter male with her for a bit? How far from eggs then are we roughly, just curious lol, tia.

Depends on when she started growing follicles.
If she just recently started then you have another shed period to go through before the prov shed.
If she's been growing them for awhile then this shed should be the pre ov shed.

I'd definitely be pairing her still, most of my females will lock a time or two even in glow, but then they just shut it down, no food, no breeding.

We have felt the folicles for quite a bit but I'm also new to this lol. Would it be ok to put mu pewter with her even though she's been soaking all day so far?

Keep pairing on your scheduled routine unless the male is shedding. The whole process takes time and personally I think trying to keep track of which is her Pre-Ovy shed will drive you crazy. Watch for the OVY and then you can count on having eggs in about 50 days or so.

I have been pairing since early November and have numerous locks and some building. My females are now going through their shed cycle and I expect some to start glowing after this shed.

Stick with it.

So far she's been soaking in her water dish all day today. Also a big thanks to everyone for the pics and responses :D They have helped. Another quick question though lol, since she has been soaking in her water diah all day would they even link if I put in my pewter? This shed should be coming soon, her eyes are really milky. I've also noticed on her mid to lower section her scales aren't as tight like her belly is getting bigger and stretching them a bit.

Just alittle update, we put our pewter back in with her and since yesterday evening they've been locked up :) Hopefully this next shed will be her pre ov shed and then she should be glowing right??

You will know when she is glowing. I think Jerry's pics illustrate the difference between glow and no glow very well. Keep pairing her up and let nature take its course.

I've always been told that you know your snake is glowing when you open her tub and do a double take because you think you have the wrong snake...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BHReptiles

I've always been told that you know your snake is glowing when you open her tub and do a double take because you think you have the wrong snake...

---

Absolutely True, and if they glow they usually go. LOL;)

Thanks guys/gals for all the awsome info, and for hwlping with all my questions lol. So far she still looks like she's going to shed soon and her belly area looks very full and is stretching her scales a bit lol. Also while she is getting ready to shed some of her darker spots do look alittle different, alittle lighter even when she sheds. I'm just going to wait and see what happens in a few more days once we take our pewter male out. And hopefully after this shed she will get her glow on :)