Not what I hoped to see

Hi,


So I had a feeling I needed to come home a day earlier than planned from my trip.

I got in at 5pm and immediately went to check on all the snakes and especially on my amel corn who had had her pre-lay shed on the 1'st of June.

I did manage to catch her right in the middle of laying her clutch which I had really wanted to see - but the clutch itself wasn't exactly all I had hoped. :(

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/...ingrotated.JPG

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/amylaying2.JPG

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/amyseggs.JPG


I did try and candle them but can only see tiny thin veins in 4 of the clutch and don't think anything is going to come of any of them if I'm honest - I think she knew as well as they were getting fairly battered about by her when she was laying the last couple. :tears:

But she does seem to have held better condition than I was expecting and has already eaten a small half grown mouse so if she bounces back well enough I might think about double clutching her.

But that's a decision for another day - should I keep her on smaller meals for a couple of weeks?

She only missed one weeks feeding during all of this and normally eats fairly large full grown mice with relish but I wasn't sure allowing her to go straight back to that was wise.


dr del

wow, Derek, that isnot a good birthday present at all, what a wench she is!

no comment on the food, never done colubrids, but my condolences.

Hopefully you can get a couple little worms out of those eggs. Better luck next year, don't give up!

Aw, I would be so disappointed as well. Cheer up mate, always next year! And hopefully she'll throw 20 good fat eggs! :gj:

if your thinking about double clutching you'll want to feed her heavy for about two weeks then introduce the male.

what's her age,weight etc. ?

slugs are a bummer but it happens to everybody,it's no indication of future clutches.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

But that's a decision for another day - should I keep her on smaller meals for a couple of weeks?

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I usually give them one or two small mice then go back to feeding regularly. I personally never intentionally double clutch mine, but if you want to, you might want to feed a little more frequently over the next couple of weeks.

As for the eggs, the two in the left box that you have marked look pretty good to me. The other two on the right look questionable, but you never know. The rest are definitely slugs. Sorry that this happened. I know it sucks! Were they both first time breeders?

Awww! Derek! :hug: Hopefully now that your girl's given you a "trial run", she can produce some fantastic little ones for you on the next go 'round.

Derek,

You and I are living in the year of the slugs... I'm sorry, and I feel your pain as to how frustrating those suckers can be.

:hug:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blueapplepaste

I usually give them one or two small mice then go back to feeding regularly. I personally never intentionally double clutch mine, but if you want to, you might want to feed a little more frequently over the next couple of weeks.

As for the eggs, the two in the left box that you have marked look pretty good to me. The other two on the right look questionable, but you never know. The rest are definitely slugs. Sorry that this happened. I know it sucks! Were they both first time breeders?

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I second this info ;).Sorry for the slugs :(.

Bummer. Good luck with the four...maybe they'll surprise us. Hopefully she'll produce some really nice stuff for you next year.

My regime:-

Small feed post lay, if she will take it.

Bump right back to an appropriate food size when she has her post lay slough.

I do not double clutch a young / 1st time female. If she throws out another smaller clutch herself then I will mark it on her records for future years.

She may not, indeed, accept a male again this year anyway, but, it's your call.

Nope, these gals who have produced slugs this year don't seem to have lost much in the way of body weight.

I know how disappointing it is to receive this news, however, there's always next year.........& the female will be larger & ready to go :)

Lex

Hi,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by twh

what's her age,weight etc. ?

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To be honest I am not quite sure on her age - I have had her for roughly 8 years but before that the boss at the pet store had her for at least 4 years and she was originally handed in to the shop as an unwanted pet.

She is tiny though - four feet and a half maybe? and her post clutch weight was 473g. She is kind of a bucket so I could easily over feed her but she looks quite good on a large mouse every week - would every 5 days be an ok schedule till she fills out again?

She has been bred successfully by the boss at least three times and this will be the second year I have bred her ( I wasn't really that intrested in breeding het amels to be honest so never brumated them until this year).

I know the clutch I got last time had no slugs at all and produced some nice healthy babies so both snakes can reproduce.

But then she might actually be getting too long in the tooth to breed. Do they produce more slugs if they are too elderly?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blueapplepaste

Were they both first time breeders?

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Well the male has only bred twice with me but the first clutch was fine and that was about 4 (or maybe 5) years ago so he shouldn't be ready for holstering the pistol yet I hope? I do know his age because I sold him to the original owner 8 years ago. :gj:


dr del

seeing she's at least 12 years old and on the small side i would not attempt a second clutch myself,so heavy feeding is not advised as it prompts the female for a second clutch.hope this helps.

Hi,

Yes it does thank you. :)

Small meals till she sheds then normal feeding pattern and no :date: it is then. :gj:

Do you think I should avoid breeding her again at her age?


dr del

...well i guess that's a tough call,if she very active and generally healthy next year i would try her again.also her weight gain this year would be a good indicator,if she throws a bunch of slugs next year it's probaly time to retire her.have fun !

4-1/2 feet is not tiny, most of my females are that size or smaller. If she'd been eating right up to egg laying she's probably ready to go again. I'd double clutch her if you want any babies from her this year. Shouldn't cause any harm.

Cup is half full.......................some eggs look good, maybe they'll go full term! Good luck! Let us know how everything turns out!

She doesn't sound tiny at all. I don't think at 12 years she's too old to be bred. If she's healthy, active, rapidly puts weight back on then I bet she's fine. You may have just had some bum luck this year. And a mouse every 5 days is aggressive, but not overly so, especially after laying eggs. Once she's back up to pre lay weight, I'd go back to normal feedings though.

Bummer about the slugs, Derek. :( She sure is a pretty girl. =)

maybe the male did'nt get his job done. Mine double clutch every year,first clutch is ready to hatch this week & they just shed & are ready to drop the second clutch! mine double clutch no matter what made sure my male went back with them after the first couble of feedings,last year no male & got slugs in the second clutch.

Hi,

Just a small update. :)

I didn't re-introduce the male but I think she is double clutching anyway - she has managed to get the weight back so I'm not worried she will do herself any serious injury, just hoping it's not more slugs.

I put everything in the incubator including the more obvious slugs so I thought I would show how badly the slugs are doing and the two that still have nice veins.


https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...eggfungus3.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...eggfungus2.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...eggfungus1.jpg

The wierd thing is the dud's haven't gone opaque as I expected and still candle a bright yellow.

Now can anyone guess the two "healthy" eggs, the 4 "started well but didn't make it" and the "oh my god what the heck is that?" specials? ;)


dr del

Sorry man..:(
Slugs are never good

But good luck on the good 2!

oohh yucky! sorry about most of that clutch Derek, but here's to two healthy babies at least. Hope you have better luck with a second clutch.

Ew. Those slugs are looking really yucky. Not sure, but it might be safe to throw them out now. ;)

I hope she does double clutch for you and that you get much better results next time!

Hi folks,

I threw out the duds. :gj:

And this morning I looked in the incubator and saw this - talk about proof that good eggs can survive fungus. :O

The first one would only show me the nose so everything but the first pic is the second lil guy. :banana: :banana:

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/corns2.JPG

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/corns1.JPG

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/corns3.JPG

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/corns4.JPG

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/corns5.JPG

Can't wait to see them out of the eggs.

Yay for snakelings. :banana: :banana: :banana:


dr del

Big congrats Derek!:gj:

I know you weren't expecting much out of those eggs, so its GREAT to see a few hatchlings!

Yay! I was hoping for a happy update on this!

Post more pics when they get out of the eggs! :)

Did the mother double clutch for you? I think you said you thought she was going to.

Big Congrats!! Yeah, healthy eggs are VERY resilient against things like that.