Female acting "restless"

I have NO idea if that has anything to do with possible breeding/follicles/eggs.

Maja, my big Bumblebee female has been locking up with my male off an on since last December.
I have never observed a ovulation. Once I thought I saw one, but most people said it didn't really look like one. Could have missed it, though.

She did the water bowl wrapping, hanging out in the cold area, hanging out in the warm area and she has been refusing food for about 3 or 4 weeks now. She has also not locked up with the male last time I tried (as I know of).

Then she shed about 5 days ago.

Now she is driving me batty. She is suddenly RESTLESS. But she doesn't want food. She has fresh water and everything else is on the up and up. The temps and humidity are perfect and as they always have been. The other snakes in the rack act "normal".

I'm not even sure that she has follicles or eggs. And about 3 weeks ago I had the scare with the loose probe and the temps going to high. All the snakes "seemed" fine then, they still do, aside from her weirdness. Because of the heat scare I don't even know if that may have destroyed any follicles that were there?

Anyway, has anyone ever had a gravid BP female acting restless ? She acts like she wants out of the tub. But when I open it, she just hangs around. I have double, tripple and quadruple checked all temps and everything. I did try feeding (no go)

I just put the male back with her to see if that is what she wants, lol.

My girl is due to lay on 7th April and she is restless as can be. She is roaming her Viv, tipping things over, getting into weird positions etc xx


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Last night she showed ZERO interest in the male. This morning she is locked with him, or at least their tails are lined up.

So I guess she hasn't had a ovulation yet, since they are supposed to refuse males ?

She is driving me crazy. I just want to make sure she is alright and was trying to figure out why she was restless..sigh.

They do get restless before laying, however with everything else you said, I don't think its time. I would go ahead and carefully "feel her up" after the male comes out. If she is paying any attention to the male odds are she was just looking for love.

Where is she located when she is not restless cool or warm side, a female that has ovulated will move to the warm side.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Where is she located when she is not restless cool or warm side, a female that has ovulated will move to the warm side.

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She had been more in her warm side, esp. ever since she started refusing food (about 3/4 weeks ago, need to check)

Prior to that, she was on the cool side, wrapping the waterbowl at times.

About a week ago she shed, and a few days leading up to that she crammed her top end into the water bowl which she has NEVER done before...

So she had been on warm side for a couple weeks, then the weird water bowl diving, then she shedding, after the shedding the weird restless ness. Which is mostly on the cool side, because she is in the front of the tub, where it opens. Its as if she wants OUT. When she takes breaks from being restless, she is kind of in the middle between warm and cool, not coiled super tight, either..

Temps, humidity, all on par.

Feeding was still refused during the restlessness.

The male was ignored , last attempt (before last night) was before the shedding, they didn't lock.

Now they are locked.

I just want her to be ok..

I'm not worried about whether the breeding works out.

My priority are the snakes I already have ;)

Hatchlings would be nice, breeding is exciting and the hatchlings I "would" get would be marketable (although profit is not my priority, either)

But most important to me are the adults. I still have lingering fears that the "overheating" episode a few weeks may have caused some hidden issues...
Although I have not noticed anything with the other snakes and with Maja, its just the weird restlessness.

Since its the first time I'm pairing them all up, I don't know if any "odd" behavior is due to that, or possibly because of other reasons.

Ah!!! Water bowl cramming. My big enchi girl started this crap last week. She did it last year too. She would actually rotate ends. Sometimes head, sometimes tail. She is ovulating as we speak. Looks like she ate a frigging watermelon and boy is she grumpy.

LOL. I know, it is all so weird to me.

She hasn't done any of that stuff in all of the 6 years I've had her...sheesh.

The thing is, after the waterbowl cramming she shed. So maybe this was the shed BEFORE ovulation and she DID want the male and tried to get out to "get some" ??

sigh, if only they could talk!!

The problem with all this is there are always exceptions to the rule. Sometimes a female will accept a male "late". I can't remember who it was but there is a respected breeder that said he actually had a female lay while he was still pairing and the male was in the tub. Some will eat "late". Neither of these things are the norm however. What I have found is that a particular female stays true to her own patterns.

It does not do any good to worry. It won't fix anything. Nothing you have said sets any alarms off with me, but I don't know the animal and I can't see it. If there was permanent damage done by overheating, there is nothing that can fix it. You can kick yourself in the butt if you want, but that will change nothing. Stuff happens. The best thing you can do to help clear your mind is examine the girl. Deborah can probably describe how to do this better than me.

You are right, it doesn't do any good to worry.

But I still do at times ;) Can't help it. I got quite attached to those buggers over the years.

I think I may just turn on the incubator and start getting the temps and everything ready in a couple of weeks JUST IN CASE that last shed was the post ovulation shed.
Worst thing that could happen is that I turn it off again if "nothing" happens ;) Or I might get a ovulation within the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for all the help, advice and kind words. Its always so different when its ones own animals.

Its like that with horses. When someone elses horses has an emergency or a bad colic, I am on top of it with helping (I have lots of experience with it, unfortunately)
When it is my own mare, I'm a mess...

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Originally Posted by zina10

You are right, it doesn't do any good to worry.

But I still do at times ;) Can't help it. I got quite attached to those buggers over the years.

I think I may just turn on the incubator and start getting the temps and everything ready in a couple of weeks JUST IN CASE that last shed was the post ovulation shed.
Worst thing that could happen is that I turn it off again if "nothing" happens ;) Or I might get a ovulation within the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for all the help, advice and kind words. Its always so different when its ones own animals.

Its like that with horses. When someone elses horses has an emergency or a bad colic, I am on top of it with helping (I have lots of experience with it, unfortunately)
When it is my own mare, I'm a mess...

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No harm in firing up the incubator. I thought I missed an ovy and fired mine up early this year only to turn it back off. Horses are in their own league with stuff to worry about, mare A kicked mare B in the head etc... Maybe your vet is visiting soon and has a portable ultra-sound? hint hint.

Scary thing is, we really do not have great vets around here at all. For horses or reptiles.

I DO like my regular vet, and he does horses too, but nothing that needs any kind of specialized care or treatment.
I had to trailer my mare almost 3 hours away to the Auburn university to have colic surgery performed (talk about a bill, omg..) but even just any more then ordinary treatment or fluids..you have to drive hours away.

So sadly, no portable ultra sound. Do I wish, though, that sure would make things easier, LOL!!!

Man that sucks. Our vet and ferrier always made regular trips to the barn. It had to be pretty serious for the horse to have to leave. I can't imagine working with horses and not having a vet on call. I guess the animals were pretty pampered. The place I apprenticed at the horses didn't even have to go outside. The whole place was air conditioned. The animals I personally owned were not that sheltered. I used to take them to the beach all the time, but close to shows they got the diva treatment too.

Based on the timeline of when she moved back to the warm side and when she had a shed that would lead me to believe that you may have missed the ovulation.

Y ou are basically describi bg a move to the warm side + shed two weeks late which would be textbook.

Now it is possible to miss an ovulation most are ovious some not always depending on the animal.

Here is a little trick pick her up and hold her head down and tail up making sure you see her profile, then switch and reverse tail down and head up.

If gravid you will actually see the eggs move and will be able to count them.

It's not unusual for some females to be restless, the only concern I have are for females who are restless and way overdue.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Based on the timeline of when she moved back to the warm side and when she had a shed that would lead me to believe that you may have missed the ovulation.

Y ou are basically describi bg a move to the warm side + shed two weeks late which would be textbook.

Now it is possible to miss an ovulation most are ovious some not always depending on the animal.

Here is a little trick pick her up and hold her head down and tail up making sure you see her profile, then switch and reverse tail down and head up.

If gravid you will actually see the eggs move and will be able to count them.

It's not unusual for some females to be restless, the only concern I have are for females who are restless and way overdue.

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Oh, she is not going to be happy with me ;)

But I will try that upside down, right side up trick. Haven't heard of that one yet, but it makes sense.
I used to try to feel for follicles but gave up. I couldn't feel a thing and I wasn't sure how much pressure was safe. I played it safe.

She is still with the male. Would she allow him to breed her if she was past ovulation? I only put him in there with her to see if she was restless for wanting her male ..
When I put him in she was very non excited. She stopped cruising but she just laid there like "whatever" while he spurred and spurred (first time I got to see that, very cool)

I expected them to be apart this morning, alas, they locked.

As soon as they are apart I will try that trick to look for eggs..

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Originally Posted by zina10

Oh, she is not going to be happy with me ;)

But I will try that upside down, right side up trick. Haven't heard of that one yet, but it makes sense.
I used to try to feel for follicles but gave up. I couldn't feel a thing and I wasn't sure how much pressure was safe. I played it safe.

She is still with the male. Would she allow him to breed her if she was past ovulation? I only put him in there with her to see if she was restless for wanting her male ..
When I put him in she was very non excited. She stopped cruising but she just laid there like "whatever" while he spurred and spurred (first time I got to see that, very cool)

I expected them to be apart this morning, alas, they locked.

As soon as they are apart I will try that trick to look for eggs..

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Well sadly they don't all read the same breeding handbook lol

While we give averages and things that are supposed to happen they are things that I have seen that were not ordinary like feeding right up to their laying date, 2 pre-lay sheds, no pre-lay shed, laying over 50 days POS....now I have not seen a female being receptive after ovulating but again they don't all follow the manual to a T ;)

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Well...I am a failure :(

I grabbed Maja and held her upside down by the tail. I swear she gave me some looks...and boy is she heavy and its kind of awkward to hold them that way. She didn't really relax and kept trying to move up, but couldn't quite make it. So then I moved her and held her by the neck. That didn't impress her much either..

I don't know..It seems like something moved inside her body , but I didn't see individual shapes. She does look rather "full" for not having eaten in a while.

After turning her over again to try once more and a long reproachful look from her, I gave up. I guess whatever happens, will happen, LOL

And here she is, the trouble maker, back to resting on her warm end. :rolleyes:

I'm sure if snakes had a middle finger, she would have shown me hers...

aww...but isn't she pretty :) For a over 6 year old Bumble Bee, look at her color. Taken in bad light, yet she looks so nice. Such a good girl, too.
I love that girl, even though she is driving me crazy!

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2812/...7298593a_b.jpg

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Originally Posted by zina10

Well...I am a failure :(

I grabbed Maja and held her upside down by the tail. I swear she gave me some looks...and boy is she heavy and its kind of awkward to hold them that way. She didn't really relax and kept trying to move up, but couldn't quite make it. So then I moved her and held her by the neck. That didn't impress her much either..

I don't know..It seems like something moved inside her body , but I didn't see individual shapes. She does look rather "full" for not having eaten in a while.

After turning her over again to try once more and a long reproachful look from her, I gave up. I guess whatever happens, will happen, LOL

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When I have tried this I hold them near the both ends so they have an illusion of support. There is no way to say this that it doesn't sound odd, but I treat all mine like horses. They have to let me touch them where I want and handle them how I want. This is of course much more easily done when you hatch them yourself. The first thing they see in the daylight is me. The first thing that touches them is me. This process begins before they are all the way out of the egg. So far, knock on wood, nothing I have hatched so much as hisses at me. All the ones I have kept to this day let me do as I please with them. Females that I am keeping are "felt up" every time they go back in the tub from the time of their first sheds. Both sexes are taught to allow me to inspect the vent and to touch their heads. I use the same pattern every time I clean their tubs. Animals that I have purchased are harder to acclimate. It does not seem to matter how old they are. Most eventually grow accustomed to the routine. The odd hard to deal with ones are once again dealt with like horses. Negative behavior is not tolerated. If they hiss or get in a striking position when there is no food present, they are coming out of the tub until they calm down. Long story short, let the animal get used to what you expect from her. They need to be relaxed in order to do "pregnancy tests" or to inspect follicles.

She is a pretty girl. Hopefully she will give you some little ones.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

When I have tried this I hold them near the both ends so they have an illusion of support. There is no way to say this that it doesn't sound odd, but I treat all mine like horses. They have to let me touch them where I want and handle them how I want. This is of course much more easily done when you hatch them yourself. The first thing they see in the daylight is me. The first thing that touches them is me. This process begins before they are all the way out of the egg. So far, knock on wood, nothing I have hatched so much as hisses at me. All the ones I have kept to this day let me do as I please with them. Females that I am keeping are "felt up" every time they go back in the tub from the time of their first sheds. Both sexes are taught to allow me to inspect the vent and to touch their heads. I use the same pattern every time I clean their tubs. Animals that I have purchased are harder to acclimate. It does not seem to matter how old they are. Most eventually grow accustomed to the routine. The odd hard to deal with ones are once again dealt with like horses. Negative behavior is not tolerated. If they hiss or get in a striking position when there is no food present, they are coming out of the tub until they calm down. Long story short, let the animal get used to what you expect from her. They need to be relaxed in order to do "pregnancy tests" or to inspect follicles.

She is a pretty girl. Hopefully she will give you some little ones.

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I agree with you, and all of mine are awesome in that regard. She was never ugly about it, I just felt bad, LOL. She is so heavy and was hanging there so awkwardly. When I held her "head up" I felt like I was choking her with her weight. I didn't have my hand to far up the neck of course for that to actually happen. She is SUCH a good girl, that snake has never so much as hissed. I was just thinking to myself how she must be wondering if I lost my mind with the things I was doing, LOL!!!

She is just very strong and muscular. I don't know if that has to do with her coming out and moving about every so often throughout her life. Its not so much that she isn't relaxed, but I can't tell what is muscle and what is possibly something else with her. She never goes completely "limp noodle". Once she is moving, she is all muscle.

You are so right, too, about horses. So many people do not realize just how dangerous horses can be. Not only are they 1200 pounds, but POUND PER POUND they are 7 times stronger then humans. And way faster. They can hurt and kill you instantly. Either accidentally (spooking, falling) or quite on purpose. So important to have 100% respect from a horse, without question. Just last week a lady got kicked at my barn. Her "baby" didn't agree with her picking up his back foot. He shattered her leg. She had to be taken away by ambulance, could not get off the floor where she fell. It took only one instant, and you never see it coming.

I think my problem with Maja is, I don't want to hurt her, I don't know how much pressure is needed to feel something or how much is to much. I'm learning here :)
This morning she is still on the warm end and is looking really bloated to me. Also no "restlessness" yet. I will take her out and see what her tail looks like, later. I also don't want to bother her to much, esp. in case she actually is gravid.

Here is the blimp this morning...lol

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2937/...2f3cd6e2_b.jpg

That is starting to look like something to me. I'm 80% sure there are good things on the way.

I got kicked once. It was the first and only time I ever passed out in my life. I was "teaching" a mare to rack at an indoor facility working her around the stalls which was standard practice there. A groom made a mistake and brought another mare out of her stall facing the wrong direction. She fired back so quick all I saw was the glint of metal from the bottom of the shoe. It caught me in the shin cutting me all the way to the bone as well as taking a nice chip out of my shin. I managed to get my animal stopped and parked out before I passed out. The only thing that saved my leg from shattering is that a lot of the force was absorbed by the body of the mare I was on. I found it ironic I got hurt that way. I was always far more concerned with the hackney ponies that we trained there also. Those little high strung things are like frigging ninjas.

Dang, that had to have hurt so bad!!! Its bad enough when I bang my shin into the hitch on the truck (ouch) but I can't even imagine the pain of a horse kicking into the shin hard enough to chip it.
No wonder you passed out. I would WANT to pass out. And its so true...Ponies can be evil little things, ponies and donkeys you have to watch!! LOL

Wow, we are off topic, oh well. LOL. The weird thing was I have had worse injuries and not passed out. It actually hurt more when they cleaned it at the emergency room. I think a higher power intervened because at the time all I was thinking was I am going to get this animal secure and then kick the groom around the barn about 50 times.

The most violent and impressive power display I ever saw from a horse though is when my ex got bit by our stud and lifted and shook in the air by her thigh. She had been warned not to get near him during that time of month. She has a scar to this day that reminds her to never make that mistake again.

It was such a pleasant surprise to me that so many horse people are also snake people. Love it!