She's confusing me...

In the beginning...there was Elvira and Spencer...

Elvira:
http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps55eea30a.jpg

Her daddy, Spencer:
(He's the lighter one)
http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...pse78137fd.jpg
http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps8c508cd0.jpg

They had some fun starting late January:
http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps9e27b034.jpg

February 16th, Elvira shed, and went through a very nice color change, which I assumed was the starting of glowing.
http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps0b5677c5.jpg
http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps0c3ecbcd.jpg

After looking at this pic as I'm about to post...she looks rather "swollen" here...could this have been ovy? (date taken, 3/26)
http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...psde5fa75f.jpg

Or perhaps this one? (Date taken 3/30)
http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps92a73196.jpg

Anywho...if either of those are ovy, then this post is pretty pointless...as that would remove my confusion.. but, might as well finish it now! So! She started showing signs of shed about 2-3 days ago, at the time (up until about 2 minutes ago while uploading those photos) I thought I hadn't witnessed an ovy, and she was either going into pre-lay shed, or screw-you-no-eggs shed.
My confusion arose because she was pounding food from pairing -> ~beginning of March. Yet, recently she has been very much hot-seeking, coiled, and then I found her laying inverted.
Moar pics
http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps2a451697.jpg

Here you can see that pre-shed belly nice and bright. She was more inverted prior to me opening the tub, again, no food for about a month now...
http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...psc675f12e.jpg


Soooooooo....with all that fun info, whatcha think? :) Was that ovy on those pics that I just overlooked and can I hope for some eggies in ~30 days?? Or...am I seeing things, and she absorbed... Either way the 'bator is running.

Just knowing what I've picked up from this site, and not having any breeding experience of my own, I think it looks like an ovy. Fingers crossed for you!

I have missed all my Ovys so far :o and I look in on them twice a day or more.

She's looking pretty plump on 3/30 :)

Good luck !!

That pic from 3/30 looks like an ovy to me!!! Now to wait for some more experienced members to give their opinions :p

It very well could be ovulation, but a lot of people forget about vitellogenesis. Vitellogenesis is when the females body is producing yolk for the follicles and as the follicles fill up with yolk it can cause some visible swelling. Sometimes people will see this and think they're seeing an ovulation so they quit pairing up their snakes. Then they wonder where the eggs went.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MarkS

It very well could be ovulation, but a lot of people forget about vitellogenesis. Vitellogenesis is when the females body is producing yolk for the follicles and as the follicles fill up with yolk it can cause some visible swelling. Sometimes people will see this and think they're seeing an ovulation so they quit pairing up their snakes. Then they wonder where the eggs went.

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She's been refusing the male since late march, but I kept him/her in rotation because I didn't think I witnessed an ovy. We shall see I suppose! Thanks for all the feedback everyone! :D :D

If she's refusing the male that's a pretty good sign that he already got the job done.

Looks like she was glowing and now it is gone so I am going to say this is her prelay shed. She looks like a big girl and it is easy to miss an ovy on a bigger female. You can try holding her up and letting her body drape down. If you look at her belly you should be able to notice a bulge. Does not mean she ovy'd but at least something is still going on. As she gets closer to laying you will be able to actually count the eggs in her belly. I have noticed that prelay sheds are taking longer than normal sheds (could be my patience growing thin lol).

Anyway, I think she will be producing eggs for you.

Id say she ovied in that 3/30 pic. She is looking pretty lumpy in that last one. Im thinkin most definitely prelay shed! :gj:

Thanks everyone! I could not be more excited right now (even though it's just a "super normal" clutch), as this will be our first clutch!
I was really bumming when she went into shed thinking she absorbed and we weren't going to see any eggs this season. Then I noticed the pics and her looking plump and now I'm freaking happy dancing all over the place :D :D :D :dance: :dance::dance:

Looks like an ovy to me! Keep in mind they don't always "stick to schedule". I had a girl lay her eggs in what I thought was her pre-lay shed; so 30 days early! And another lay hers almost 2 months after her pre-lay shed.

Best thing I've learned is to try to not sweat it and let them do what they're going to do. So long as everyone is healthy, just try to relax and the eggs and eventually hatchlings will come.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blue Apple Herps

Looks like an ovy to me! Keep in mind they don't always "stick to schedule". I had a girl lay her eggs in what I thought was her pre-lay shed; so 30 days early! And another lay hers almost 2 months after her pre-lay shed.

Best thing I've learned is to try to not sweat it and let them do what they're going to do. So long as everyone is healthy, just try to relax and the eggs and eventually hatchlings will come.

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Wow! Those are some pretty crazy extremes tto both ends! Yea, I think I get so caught up in the "time line" I start to overthink things and worry myself. Thanks for the input :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RoseyReps

Wow! Those are some pretty crazy extremes tto both ends! Yea, I think I get so caught up in the "time line" I start to overthink things and worry myself. Thanks for the input :D

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Yes, those are the biggest extremes I've had. 90% of the time they're pretty close to "schedule", but every so often one will decide to do her own thing.

Pre-lay shed complete! Countdown to eggs begins :D
http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...psf874a5b3.jpg
http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps145f013a.jpg