Is she retaining fluid or . . .?

Adult female
Last ate 1/22/09 (Md rat - F/T) - has not defecated
* I forgot to check the last time she DID defecate
Last shed 1/21/09

She is a breeding female and has locked up 4-5 times. When I feel the mass it seems soft and goes all the way down to the tail. I cannot feel whether she has anything (fecal/urates) inside her. Have not been able to feel follicles and have not observed an OV. She has been paired up since early Nov. (off & on) and started getting big in January. At first I thought maybe she was "building" since this is my first breeding season but now it looks like this.
Husbandry: tub/aspen/low 90's - mid 80's/ night drop on flexwatt (12am-6am)/ room constant 80-81
Before her eating the last time she had not eaten since Nov. Thought this as normal since it was the start of the season.


Thoughts?

[IMG]http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...X/P1030450.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...X/P1030448.jpg[/IMG]

Thanks

Jim

it looks like you missed the ovulation IMO . . . keep your eyes out for the pre-lay shed

this was taken from Mark Mandics breeding page ( http://www.ballpython.ca/gallery/breeding.html )

"Tail Suck!

When they ovulate, their tail looks like all the fat is being sucked out of it. It looks very scrunched. Sometimes they will have a scrunched tail prior to ovulation without the body swell. This is just part of the building process."

IMO thats what it looks like you got there, the "tail suck" comes after ovulation and before the pre-lay shed

If she's not gravid, she's gonna crap a volkswagon!

All that extra size at the tail is soft/fluid like when I apply pressure.

Any other comments will be appreciated. I cannot find any info that states the snake body will be soft and fluid-like while building/follicles/OV.

I'd rather have egg on my face than let a health problem go without doing anything.

Thanks

Jim

I'm betting you'll have eggs any day now.

Steve

So after the OV the body is very soft (mooshy)? I realize that the eggs will be soft & flexible but this seems too soft. Only reason why I felt the need to ask.

I always felt she was the farthest along of all my females.

Thanks

Jim

** I just realized that it has been 36 days since her last shed.

Hi,

This may sound an odd question - when you are handling her does the mass ever seem to move about - or even gurgle?

One of my females got blocked once and swelled up at the back end - though to be honest that was quite a quick change.

But as that mass was mainly comprised of held in pee it actually seemed to slosh about slightly when she was handled and never felt "firm".

Hope everything works out ok for you.


dr del

YES! This is exactly it. Although I have not heard any gurgling when I apply pressure to any part of the large area it is very spongy. Almost like a water balloon but not as much give.

What happened with yours? Did she pass the blockage on her own? Did you do anything special?

I think I am going to get her to a vet soon if it does not change. She is staying curled up in her hide on the warm side.

Thanks for commenting!

Jim

Hi,

I may not have explained how mobile the swelling with mine was - typically when the main emergency happened to me I was panicking so bad I didn't get any pics till afterwards.

She did have a less severe recurrance about 3 weeks later though and I took before pictures of that one.

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/00_00007cropped.JPG

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/00_00006cropped.JPG

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/00_00008cropped.JPG

But when you lifted her tail the mass moved so much (just like a half full water baloon ) that it looked like this;

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

My intitial problems seem to have been egg binding and the second bout just related to the lack of muscle tone according to the vet.

Before reading I have to say the lasting lesson I learned was to have a cushion of spare cash sitting in a bank account to deal with emergency vet visits.

The swelling mentioned in the following thread was approximately another third larger than the pictures at the top of this post.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=39527


dr del

Wow . . .definitely a rough story for both you and the snake. Thanks for filling me in. I will find out soon enough when she goes to the vet.
The only "glitch" for me is that I do not have much history on my snake. I got her as a rescue. She was found in someones garage and I am not sure how long she was loose and on her own. Who knows what she ate to survive. But, when I first got her she ate fine and seemed to adjust to her new home with no problems.

I will let you know when I do

Thanks again

Jim

Ok Ok . . . egg on my face! :oops:
She laid 9 eggs Sat night/Sunday morn . . .

I would rather be wrong and have eggs than sitting in a vets office right now!

Jim

That's awesome hun, congrats :D

Congrats!!!

Outstanding!!! Sounds like a nice clutch.

Way to go! Where the pics is?!

Edit: Slim, I did it on purpose!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CruelHerbie

Way to go! Where the pics is?!

Edit: Slim, I did it on purpose!

---

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Dang, didn't know I was E-Thuggin' that bad!

ain't nothing but a gansta party..

awww damn i was hoping volkswagon haha, glad the surprise was a good one. :)