Question for breeders

I've been stoked for my normal female to give birth for weeks now. She ate throughout her pregnancy, but I have not given her anything in 3 weeks now. I swear she has dropped at least 5 'fake' plugs by now to throw me off [waxy urates where no other poop was present]! As well as go into a heat-conservation coil often. Does anyone have any pictures of their boa's plugs? I heard they are slimey, but no matter how often I check, they are dried out before I see them. How often will they give birth with/without shedding? She shed on June 3rd and is now making a complete mess of her tank trying to get out. Hoping this is a good sign!
I know I probably shouldn't be so paranoid and she'll have them when she's good and ready, but I really want to learn as much as possible! Makes me want to get one of those ultrasound machines.
Questions, comments, pictures appreciated!

Do you have a picture of her before breeding and a really recent picture of her now... not coiled up? Also do you have a weight on her before breeding and one now? Did she have her POS shed? Did you mark it down and count the days till she should have her litter?

I know at work it's pretty easy to look at a female and tell if she is or is not pregnant by now.

I'll post links since I think some of them are too big for the forum

When I got her: 15 -/+ pounds. I was told she was 6 years. I received her on 10/1/06
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=3526402
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=3526405

She was 16.5 lbs when introduced to the male. from Nov. 1st to December. Many, many copulations and pre-ovulation swelling noted.
P.O.S. in January [finished that shed on Jan 10th I believe, both were fed then reintroduced that evening], continued copulations.
Pulled male out beginning of March after 3-4 weeks of no activity [opposite sides of tank, body bumping, etc]

Jan. 10th + 150 days is June 9th.

That above pic is of her as of May 22nd, as is this one: She was 20lbs as of that weighing.
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5401280

This is her 2 seconds ago: she was curled up, but I gently moved her. I've been giving her a soak every week, other than that I do not touch her.
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5611838

maybe it's just my computer, but those links so not work. The page is just full of a lot of "error's".

I'm going to resize them and just post the HTML link. they are working for me, but i guess they are too big.

and now I got them looking good in 72res and 800X600, but putfile is not loading at all for me. So I don't know when I'll be able to put up pics that work. Sorry!

Photobucket.com is pretty good.

Ok, let's try this again!

When I got her: 15 -/+ pounds. I was told she was 6 years. I received her on 10/1/06
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...7103184035.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...7103183973.jpg

She was 16.5 lbs when introduced to the male. from Nov. 1st to December. Many, many copulations and pre-ovulation swelling noted.
P.O.S. in January [finished that shed on Jan 10th I believe, both were fed then reintroduced that evening], continued copulations.
Pulled male out beginning of March after 3-4 weeks of no activity [opposite sides of tank, body bumping, etc]

Jan. 10th + 150 days is June 9th.

That first post pic is of her as of May 22nd, as is this one: She was 20lbs as of that weighing.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...2610410759.jpg

This is her 2 seconds ago: she was curled up, but I gently moved her. I've been giving her a soak every week, other than that I do not touch her.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...5421544553.jpg

well, today is her due day. She is 'digging' in the back corner with her face and not curled up at all, just wandering around with her tail up in the air. She dropped a very small urate and some liquid 45 minutes ago. It's not 'waxy' like a plug was described to me, but I'm still keeping a close eye on her! Wish me luck!

****Good LUCK**** How exciting !!!! We're gonna need pix too of course! :sunny:

Here is some pics of a gravid boa...

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y88...2007/03-15.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y88...2007/03-14.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y88...02007/03-1.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y88...02007/03-3.jpg

If yours is all over and trying to burrow, you'll have them any time at all! Good luck!

Thanks for the pics! Sometimes i doubted if she she was fat enough to be close to popping! But i guess not! I missed the start of it, but as of 2am, she is done giving birth! And is currently eating a nice big rat.

still resizing pics, but Total count - 12 babies, 2 dead, 8 alive, one with 1 eye EEK! that looks dead, but has a heartbeat, 11 slugs, disappointing but I guess it's her first litter or I did something wrong. I'll be going over my notes and seeing what I can do better next time.

Hmmm, you should post some more specifics about the birth and the babies...your numbers don't add up. How big was she before she got prego? How big was the male? Ages? One eye!? What temps were you keeping her at? I sure hope you waited 24 hours before feeding the mom!

Oops, sorry for the typo/math error, lol. 11 babies, 8 perfect, 3 stillborn [one of which has one eye] No idea where it came from. It's in the freezer if you want pics.
She was 16lbs and 6.5' before mating. 6 year old virgin.
Male is 6lbs. and about 5'. also was virgin, 3 years old.
Her tank has it's own thermostat, always 90-91 at the hottest surface, 84-85* warm side, 70s cool side.

Tank?

16 pounds is borderline. Try to get her up to at least 3.25 pounds per foot of length before breeding her again.

Better luck next time! Congrats on the ones that made it!

Congratulations! You might be dissapointed this time but I wish you luck for next time. Just take Jimi's advice and you'll probably have a wonderful litter the next time you try to breed.

Her tank is 6'X4' wooden and front-opening. I had talked to several people, some that saw her in person, and they all thought she was a fine size to start breeding. Just out of curiosity, where did you come up with 3.25 per foot? [seems like an odd number] All the babies were a nice size, btwn 78 and 150 grams.
Thanks for the advice!

Just a rule of thumb I've gone by. 3 pounds is a dead minimum weight per foot that most breeders utilize. I always go up, or better, to ensure perfection. 3.25 is my guidelines.

Okay I know I want to see baby boa pic's!

Where are they!? LOL

Ask and ye shall receive! lol.
taken just today:
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/6/16318101171.jpg
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/6/16318101163.jpg

when born:
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/6/16219463483.jpg
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/6/16219463416.jpg

icky slugs
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/6/16219463417.jpg

Cute! I got to play around / clean two boa litters yesterday. Wormy little guys! What's up with the extra tail pic's in the first two's photo? That got me confused! I at first thought there the birthday cars were over another baby boa... but it like photo shopped in? :::confused::: lol

Congrats on your litters!
yep, i play around with photoshop. Scott still has to choose his 4, so I wanted him to see both the boa, it's weight, number and tail markings easily in one picture. I will also do that when making photo ID's of balls and beardies. A full size body shot, then a tail, head or back markings shot on one photo.

Wish they were my litters, but they belong to Peter Kahl.


I see now in the pic's. That's a cool and good idea.