Change in behavior, your thoughts?

[icygirl]

Caspie had not eaten in several months - wasn't losing weight, either. For these months she was hanging out in the front of her tub (the cool area) and nearly always seemed to be looking out of her tub. Thinking she wanted to breed - and she being just about up to size (she's 3 years old) - I started pairing her up with my yellowbelly in the past two weeks.

Well, last night she ate her first rat in several months (WOOHOO!! ) and now is suddenly hanging out in the back of her tub (the hot side) like this:


(I do have substrate in there - I use unprinted newspaper, she just shoved it all to the front of her tank so you can't see it in the picture.)

Could she... maybe... be gravid?? It's almost like she is bowl-wrapping a non-existent bowl. Should I be checking her for follicles, etc.? What do you guys think? I'm super excited about this!! Gonna build my incubator this weekend I know, I know, maybe I'm counting my chickens before they hatch, but I need an incubator anyways if I'll be breeding...

[icygirl]

Bump... Anyone?

[Littlemansboids]

If you run your hand under her belly from top to bottom you should be able to feel something if she is gravid.

[rabernet]

I doubt she's gravid...yet - but she's giving you good signs. Just keep pairing her about once every two weeks with your YB, especially when you have a big weather system rolling in (change in barometric pressure seems to put them in the mood) and keep feeding in between, until you get an ovulation!

[LGL]

Caspie had not eaten in several months - wasn't losing weight, either. For these months she was hanging out in the front of her tub (the cool area) and nearly always seemed to be looking out of her tub. Thinking she wanted to breed - and she being just about up to size (she's 3 years old) - I started pairing her up with my yellowbelly in the past two weeks.

How much does she weigh? What size prey was she eating before her fast and how often? She may have been fasting for many reasons. She could have been eating too large of prey too often, causing her to fast. If she weighs 600-1100 grams, she may have just gone off feed. They sometimes just do that at that size. Also, it may have been a regular winter fast.

Well, last night she ate her first rat in several months (WOOHOO!! ) and now is suddenly hanging out in the back of her tub (the hot side) like this:

I bet you feel relieved! I know I do since I just had one of my females begin feeding again after a long fast.

Could she... maybe... be gravid?? It's almost like she is bowl-wrapping a non-existent bowl. Should I be checking her for follicles, etc.? What do you guys think? I'm super excited about this!! Gonna build my incubator this weekend I know, I know, maybe I'm counting my chickens before they hatch, but I need an incubator anyways if I'll be breeding...

The fact that she just ate for you tells me that she's not gravid. She may have follicles, but she's not gravid.

[rabernet]

The fact that she just ate for you tells me that she's not gravid. She may have follicles, but she's not gravid.

And this:

I started pairing her up with my yellowbelly in the past two weeks.

I really don't think she's gravid that quickly. That's why I suggested to keep pairing her with him every few weeks until she observes an ovulation and to keep feeding her in between (if breeding her is the ultimate goal, of course).

[icygirl]

And this:



I really don't think she's gravid that quickly. That's why I suggested to keep pairing her with him every few weeks until she observes an ovulation and to keep feeding her in between (if breeding her is the ultimate goal, of course).

Thanks all for advice. It's my first year breeding, and I'm still learning about time scales and such. But what do you mean keep pairing every few weeks? I was under the impression that I should pair them continuously, giving them a few days together, few days break/feed, and so on.

She is 1400+, although at the moment more like 1400; she lost around 35g or so over 3 months of fasting. I was planning to wait until normal breeding time in the fall, but I felt she was fasting because she was "in the mood" since none of her husbandry had changed. So I started pairing her with my YB male. While I hadn't directly observed a lock, there was definitely courting going on, and they may have locked over a day that I went away and left them together.

[m00kfu]

There's really no need to pair them up continuously. I've heard a few big breeders mention they only pair their girls up once per shed cycle. I think it was Dan Sutherland that mentioned sometimes he'll only pair a girl up once even. If you just started pairing them up two weeks ago, you've got at least a couple of months of follicle building before she ovulates and becomes gravid.

[rabernet]

Thanks all for advice. It's my first year breeding, and I'm still learning about time scales and such. But what do you mean keep pairing every few weeks? I was under the impression that I should pair them continuously, giving them a few days together, few days break/feed, and so on.

She is 1400+, although at the moment more like 1400; she lost around 35g or so over 3 months of fasting. I was planning to wait until normal breeding time in the fall, but I felt she was fasting because she was "in the mood" since none of her husbandry had changed. So I started pairing her with my YB male. While I hadn't directly observed a lock, there was definitely courting going on, and they may have locked over a day that I went away and left them together.

Even once every two weeks could be argued to be too often by some breeders (ie, there's really no benefit to doing it more often), but for someone new, once every two weeks for 3 days, or until after copulation is completed (but no longer than 3 days together - if they don't lock in 3 days, probably not interested at that time), gives them both a nice rest period.

[icygirl]

Thanks to everyone who answered in this thread... Here's the update - turns out she was just going into shed. You can actually see in the picture above that her belly is a bit pink - now she is turning more opaque. It's funny, I can't even remember the last time she's shed, so I'm very pleased. Also, the male who she was paired with is also in shed... maybe they planned this secretly in the night!

Anyways, Robin I plan to follow your advice, and pair every 2-3 weeks instead of continuously - when I think about it, it makes a lot more sense anyhow.