Ovulations!? Are they or aren't they? I`m not sure!

[West Coast Jungle]

I think you are still building.
I just posted a thread with OV pics
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...33#post1759433

There is no mistaking it when you see it.

[Dutch Pride]

Thanks you for your input as well Raul.

It seems to get quite confusing right now. Haha!
Some people on a Dutch forum told me they were ovulating for sure, some people here told me they are ovulating as well (at least the bottom two), and now you tell me you think they are still building.
But how about the sheds then?
The first girl did shed 19 days after what seems to be her ovulation.
The second girl is in shed right now, so I quess she'll shed around the 17th of february (20 days after what seems to be here ovulation).
And the third girl 'ovulated' at the 4th of february and she is getting pretty dark now, so she seems to go in shed as well.

At multiple sites it is said that girls will shed between 2-3 weeks after there ovulations, so if you go from there it seems to be that all three girls should have been ovulated.
If it is still building, like some people said, why did they shed then?
It's so confusing right now! Hahaha!

[shelliebear]

Phew!!! Not too sure about the first one, but from everything I've read about, the second and third photos are definitely ovulations
Congratulations! Here come the angry mommas and the cute little babies!

[Dutch Pride]

Thanks Shelliebear!
It's getting more confusing with every post now! Hahaha!

[shelliebear]

Well, I'm no expert, but they sure look like it to me. Watch for sheds and going off feed...I think those will help you pinpoint where they're at.

[Dutch Pride]

All my females, except 2, are allready off food since a month or two. Some allready started refusing food about 4+ months ago as I lowered the temps in october, so it's hard to tell if you would go out from that
The females pictured in this topic allready had there glow, you can see it in the pictures as well, and had there last shed (before 'ovulation') 2 months ago or so.
But I heard from other breeders that there are females who didn't go through the 'normale shed-cycle' at all and surprised the breeders with cluctches which they didn't saw coming. And I even heard of females who continued feeding during the whole 'process' and started refusing just 2 weeks before laying eggs.

So looking at the sheds and going off feed helps in a certain way, but after all it ain't completely reliable....

[West Coast Jungle]

For those who have never seen an ovulation here are a few shots.
Note how the belly pattern is being pulled up the sides of the animal as it is being stretched. Also of you look closely you can see the individual scales being stretched apart.





Again you are looking for stretching and an area around 2/3's down the body that looks way larger than the rest of the snake like an internal explosion. IMO if you have to ask you haven't seen it, it should be that obvious. Even in my pics some don't look that obvious but in person there was no denying it. All the girls in these pics dropped successful clutches.

[Dutch Pride]

Thanks for adding those pictures Raul!

If I take a look at your pictures, and all the others I've found, I would say all three girls I posted were ovulating.
It seems that no ovulation is simular to another, and some just seems to be more obvious than others.

IMO if you have to ask you haven't seen it, it should be that obvious.

I don't agree with this. I quess I've seen a couple of hundred pics by know of ovulating balls, but those are just pictures. In real it will always be a different story, so I posted these pics just because I wanted people to confirm my thoughts, or even to say they weren't ovulating with an explanation.
I just wasn't sure because I've never actualy witnessed it before in real.

[dahlhouse23]

You need to pay attention to their behavior as well. After you thought they ovulated did they hug to hot spot? Stop locking? Stay in a coil? Also, after the ovy they will look almost normal sometimes and others they will get a tented appearance. My advise is count out 45 days after the ovy and be ready for eggs. Oh, and shedding about 2 weeks after you think you saw an ovy is a good thing too! Good luck and keep us posted!

[Dutch Pride]

Thank you for your reply dahlhouse23.

About there behaviour... That seems to be like it should be, they all hug the hot-spot for most of the time in a nice coil. Sometimes the head in the center, and sometimes the tail.
I told before that the first female shed about 20 days after her 'ovy', the second female is in shed right now so I quess she'll shed somewhere close to 18-20 days after her 'ovy'. And the third female is getting so dark, that I suppose she can go in shed every moment. So that seems to look good.
After there possible ovulations I've had them with a male once, for 4 days. In that 4 days I checked the tub once or twice a day and didn't catch any lock.

Here are some additional pics, I don't know if it might make a difference, but I'd like to show them:
The first female
15 days after ovulation, in shed, hugging the hotspot


17 days after ovulation, still in shed but back to her 'normal' colour, at the spot as well


21 days after ovulation, 2 days after her possible PLS, at the hotspot again


The second female
2 days after ovulation, at the back of the tub at the hotspot


These pics are all the pics I've got which shows their behaviour after there possible ovulatians. I`ll see if I can take some pics later this day, to show you how they act right now (first female=31 days after ovy / second female=16 days after ovy / third female=9 days after ovy).