Last September, two of our female ball pythons, Priscilla and Penelope, went on a breeding loan. Penelope, the smaller of the two, ovulated early this year, delivered three gorgeous eggs, and all three hatched just about two weeks ago.

Priscilla, on the other hand, didn't take. She wasn't observed locking up, but she was with two different males for quite a while. She ate the entire time, and continued the trend when she came back home.

They both came back with a pretty bad bacterial upper respiratory infection, but after a few vet visits and some cultures, they both made a full recovery.

She's always been very jumpy. She's not aggressive, she doesn't bite or hiss, but she jerks away from pretty much all touch.

So fast forward to earlier this week. She took her meal about two weeks ago, but refused this time. Fine, no big deal, she was going into shed... Even though she usually eats in shed...

And then while cleaning her cage a few days later, she absolutely FLIPPED out on me. A complete and utter change in behavior overnight! She was hissing and striking, throwing an absolutely epic fit. Ah. Something in my head clicked and I managed to get a quick feel down her tummy and sure enough, bump-bump-bump, couldn't get a count, but definitely felt something.

Being the crafty kid I am, I sent Priscilla and Penelope to the vet for a recheck today. I did genuinely want to make sure that they were both fully recovered from their bacterial infection - which they both are, yay! - but I also wanted a second opinion on Priscilla.

Sure enough, she's just ovulated and is currently grumpily making her way through her post-ovulation-shed.

So..... The last time she was even WITH a male was February. Early February at that. And just NOW she's ovulating? What do you suppose are the odds that the sperm is still viable? Will she slug out? Reabsorb? Give us an awesome jackpot of healthy eggs? I know that sperm retention is possible, but still, pushing six months... We'll see I guess!

Here's the very upset little princess herself: