Ovy or what? Confused...

[Inknsteel]

This year is my second attempt at breeding after a disasterous and tragic first attempt, so I'm kinda nervous and kinda confused. Backstory from last year starts with this thread if anyone wants to read about it.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-out-right-now

Anyway, to my current confusion. I started pairing this female in October of last year. I observed no less than four locks with my pastel yb. She was pounding food until late December when she stopped taking food and started refusing the male. I never witnessed an ovy, but all the signs seemed to be there that she took. I believe she shed in late January but I didn't write it down for some reason. She did shed on March 5th, so I wrote that down as possible post ovy shed. I figured I shuld be seeing eggs any day so the incubator is ready to go. I came home from work today to find her like this... (Excuse the dirty tub in the first pics. I havent been taking her out at all since last shed)





She has a bulge like an ovy but the ridgeback like she could be close to laying. I took her out to clean the tub and check her out after those pics and I can clearly see 4 egg-sized lumps in her abdomen. Here is another pic i snapped when I put her back.



So, there it is. I'm confused and worried and don't want a repeat of last year. Any thoughts guys and gals? Thanks...

[WmHrbst]

The signs you explained are all good. Has she been staying in the warm side most of the time, what about palpating, have you felt the follicles grow in size?

[Inknsteel]

Yeah, she's been parked on the warm side since that March shed. I didn't take her out at all since I cleaned out after, so I don't know about the folicles. Being unexperienced, I wasn't even sure what I was feeling for when I did try. I could definitely see the lumps when I took her out tonight though and they felt like eggs to me.

[WmHrbst]

IMO I would say keep an eye out for some eggs

[boafa]

To help release stress in he snake breeding process it will really help if you could learn to palp. Females can develope follicles anytime in a given year. I have some that will develope them in the same months every year. they are the easy ones. I know when to start paring her.

You can pair your snakes antime of the year you would like, and as often as you like.... just don't kill your male. most of know that a female can retain sperm for up to a year. But if she never developes folicles she won't have eggs.

I will start to introduce my snakes like most uf us do, in late fall. But before paring i will palp the female and check the male for sperm plugs. If I have a female that doesn't develope folicilies til june on a constant basis, I won't introduce them together until late April..

i have found for me, keepin records of when they develope folicles is the biggest key in my success rate..

When you first start the palpating techinque, you won't know what you feeling. You are feelin all stsges of undigested rodent, poop, organs....But once you feel a string of folicles, there will be no dening what your feeling...It will feel like a pearl necklace at first. as time goes on and they increase in size they will feel like marbles and eventually golf balls...As you slide you fingers down the inside of her belly, you should feel a bump...bump...bump.. for each folicle you run across.

sorry this was a little long...many first and second year breeders just throw their snakes together in Nov,Dec and wonder why they don't have eggs byMarch...

Ralph Davis and some others have some videos on youtube that will walk you through the proce

[Inknsteel]

Well, it happened again. I walked into the snake room for my first check of the day and this girl is dead in her tub. I don't understand what is going on but I'm taking this as a sign from the snake gods that breeding ball pythons just isn't in the cards for me. Check the for sale section this afternoon if there's anything in my sig you might be interested in. I'm getting out...

[MorphMaster]

What was her weight before pairing her? Maybe get a necropsy of her... I feel for you. I remember the first time. I just don't understand why this would happen again. Good luck man, and if you do get a necropsy, feel free to share.

[Inknsteel]

What was her weight before pairing her?

She was right around 2400 grams.

[MorphMaster]

She was right around 2400 grams.

I'm lost then... There's no way this should be her egg bound... Must be some disease. Was this female related to the first one that died?

[Inknsteel]

I'm debating now whether to attempt to salvage the eggs again. I just feel so defeated at this point that I don't want to go through the whole process if the eggs wouldn't be viable anyway.

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