Can Small Ovy = Slugs?

[DemmBalls]

I have a girl that was bred last year. She had a HUGE ovulation and gave me 8 nice big healthy eggs. This year she went through what appeared to be a small ovulation (I questioned if she even ovulated or not). After this "ovulation"...the eggs have now dropped to the lower 3rd of her body and feel softer, but still somewhat distinct. About a week ago I palpated her and felt 8-10 big follicles, so I was expecting a larger ovy than last year.

In my limited breeding experience, you can still feel the eggs after ovy, but they are not very distinct. This leads me to believe she may be carrying some slugs this time? Could the smaller ovy be linked to her carrying slugs or maybe I just caught the tail end or beginning of the ovy and never saw the "football" ovulation?

Either way...I will just have to wait until she lays to know if she slugs out. She's due around February 19th. She was bred to my Dinker this year.

Here are two crappy recent pics of a lock and possible ovy. These were taken with my cell phone, so they are low quality.

[JTrott]

Honestly, that does not look like an ovulation to me. Either building, or a turd......put the male back in with her, adn if he breeds her, then, generally, it was/is not an ovulation.

Jason

[RichsBallPythons]

Thats still building, which new breeders often confuse with ovulation.

You will know when they ovy as they lay stretched out not curled. Then will be on heat more

[DemmBalls]

She definitely ovulated. Whether that photo was the ovulation or not...She ovulated. Last year she was huge during ovy, this year i checked everyday and she just became gravid without me catching the ovy? Now she either had a very short ovy and i missed it, or it was so small I missed it. I palpated her again last night and it feels like she has 3-4 eggs and about 4-5 slugs. This is based on my opinion from palpating her. I just find it odd...That's all.

P.s. I had the male in with her for the past few days with no locks. They were locking like crazy before. Also...She has not eaten in two months.

[Mike41793]

Off topic question but can you post some more pics of that male? I love checking out peoples dinker projects and looking for the differences. Does that stripe go all the way down his back?

[DemmBalls]

Off topic question but can you post some more pics of that male? I love checking out peoples dinker projects and looking for the differences. Does that stripe go all the way down his back?

No Problem.

[Wexotics]

It's a possibility that she will slug out. I have only been breeding for a few years but my sable female seemed to have had an ovy but she didnt seem to look large enough so I assumed she wasn't going to lay even though I felt folicles. But I went ahead and kept track of her breeding cycle and around her lay date I found 5 tiny little quarter size eggs which were obviously slugs. So I would say keep an eye and prepare for the worst to happen just in case.
w
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[wendhend]

I've had a couple of girls lay slugs, and they were palpabale but small-feeling in one of them and not palpable at all in the fatter one, and of course they both fasted the whole time. If your girl laid a good clutch last year, from what I hear, you are more likely to get slugs if anything this year. Let's hope for the best!

[twistedtails]

I've had a couple of girls lay slugs, and they were palpabale but small-feeling in one of them and not palpable at all in the fatter one, and of course they both fasted the whole time. If your girl laid a good clutch last year, from what I hear, you are more likely to get slugs if anything this year. Let's hope for the best!

That comment is not neccessarily true. There are plenty of animals that lay viable clutches every year. It just depends on the animal. Including feeding habits, husbandry and even the males sperm. My guess is if she did ovulate and she has some slugs, she probably didn't bounce back fully. Meaning she did not gain enough weight back. That is why it is good to keep record and make sure your animals are the same if not heavier weight than the year before. Also, as Rich stated, that girl does not look like she ovualted. She would be a lot fatter all the way down to a couple inches above the cloaca.

[DemmBalls]

That comment is not neccessarily true. There are plenty of animals that lay viable clutches every year. It just depends on the animal. Including feeding habits, husbandry and even the males sperm. My guess is if she did ovulate and she has some slugs, she probably didn't bounce back fully. Meaning she did not gain enough weight back. That is why it is good to keep record and make sure your animals are the same if not heavier weight than the year before. Also, as Rich stated, that girl does not look like she ovualted. She would be a lot fatter all the way down to a couple inches above the cloaca.

Hey Mike,

Thanks for the comment.

None of these photos are of her post ovulation. I can try to get some next week as I am out of town this weekend. The eggs/slugs are sitting in her lower 3rd of her body. Im not a veteran breeder, but I did have a few girls go last year, so I feel 100% confident in saying she ovulated.

This girl gave us a big healthy clutch last year and ate like a house from the week I pulled the eggs from her. When I started pairing this year, she was 300g heavier than last year at the same time. We actually keep very detailed records on each of our snakes.

Going back to your comment on the males sperm...This male is a first year breeder, so you may be 100% correct there. I didn't give that much thought.

Thanks again,