Female ball python returned back to normal size after ovulation?

[AlexM]

Hey all, I'm not sure if this the right section of the forum to post but I have a question that's left me puzzled. On March 29th it appeared as though my female was ovulating as her lower body had swelled up quite large. 11 days later, which is today, she has gone into shed but seems rather normal in size now. Before her alleged ovulation I had felt 5 follicles slightly larger than chicken eggs. Is it possible this ovulation I thought I saw was just a huge build up? Or could she be on the verge of slugs. I know I shouldn't really bother but I cautiously palpated her and can't really feel much but she still has a slight bulge around her lower body. Anybody that can help I would greatly appreciate! Also she hasn't taken food in over a month but I haven't really noticed much inversion or any tail suck. Thanks in advance -Alex

[rascal_rascal_99]

Sounds totally normal. After ovulation, they do go back down to about normal size and from the way it sounds, she sounds like the post ovulation shed is right on schedule, expect eggs about a month after she sheds. The closer to laying, the more she'll probably swell back up some and right before laying a lot of times they'll look really out of proportion when the front half of the body looking thin compared to the back half of the body looking fat. It's also not uncommon to have trouble palpating and feeling the eggs right after ovulation even when you could feel nice big follicles before...they move in her, they change, they're different. Before ovi they usually also stay towards the cool end of the tub, after ovi they stick to the heat like a magnet. It also seems like the weird posturing and laying inverted tends to be more during pre ovulation, after ovi they usually lay in a nice tight coil... there are exceptions to everything though with all I've said and I did have one girl this season who was almost always twisted up like a pretzel right up until the day she laid. While I watch for certain behavior some, I watch just as much for simply...different behavior...from how each animal normally is.

Best of luck!

[Pythonfriend]

both of you should attempt to add some more structure to your post.

look at me, im a failure, i dont even manage to capitalize the first letter in each sentence. but people still read and comprehend it, because i add structure.

i think its going quite well, the female is building, i hope you will get some eggs soon. BTW, apart from structure, people here also love pictures

and they also love videos. like for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEsVc61hMzE ok thats just a diversion.

[J.P.]

same thing happened to my female normal. huge ovy, shed, then nada. this reduction in girth was not in the bp breeding articles i've read so i was ready to accept failure.....but as the days pass, i'm noticing her developing the ridged back, and the swelling seems to be returning little by little so my hopes are high again. my expected lay date based on ovy is May 9, i'm monitoring her size and behavior very closely.

[rascal_rascal_99]

That's part of why it can be so easy to miss an ovi and not be sure a female is going or not if you don't have an ultrasound. You see them building up some, but ovulations don't always last long and if you miss it then all you know is she had been a little thicker, now she's looking pretty normal again. Once you see an ovulation though, that's the point of no return, she has to lay something after that. They'll usually dig in and nest up before laying also, but depending on what cage substrate you use, this may or may not be obvious...and even though they do that, sometime during the 48 or so hours prior to laying, they suddenly do some major cage cruising, doesn't always last long, like they're making one last search around to see if there is another better spot to lay than where they'd been sitting for the last month or so. I'm not sure I see balls do it quite as much as other python species (some boa species will really do it in the last 24 hours prior to birthing...if she's been sitting on the heat and suddenly she's cruising the cage instead of just straight between the heat and water bowl, I try to constantly watch the cage because she may be really about to start delivering babies)...but I do see it some with bp's also. Fun exciting stuff.

[AlexM]

I just uploaded two pictures that can be viewed when you visit my profile. The one where she is with my pied male, you can notice that she is rather big in her mid section. The picture does no justice but she was slightly smaller than a soda can in girth, which subsided two days later to a rather small bump. Hope this helps. Thanks again for everyone's input. -Alex

[rascal_rascal_99]

Looks to me like you'll be getting some eggs to hatch in the near future...congrats!