Male acting strange, like a female?

[bunnykit]

Hello there! I have eight ball pythons now, three of them are females that are being 'dated' right now with my males, two of them already look big and pregnant.
I do however have one male that is a Spider morph, who although he is extraordinary pretty for a spider will not be breeding this year since all my females have the spider gene in them too.

When I got him in may last year he was more or less starved, only given one mouse every three weeks or so, severely dehydrated, and thin. I started feeding him properly and he quickly not only gained weight, got fabulous colors, but also he started to grow longer. I was happy too see him getting better, and feed him once a week, or every two weeks with either several crawlers 10 days old, or one 3-5 week rat.

I noticed some time back that he had gained weight, which is not all that weird, since he gets feed with the left overs if the others refuse, which they have been. He still have not been feed more than one meal/rat once a week, and the meals aren't gigantic either.

I came in today and he had his head outside of his hiding cave, kinda laying with his head on the side, not moving. I thought he was dead first, and got really freaked out, but when I opened his box he moved, and I saw that he was in shed and that he had laid a massive poop that day or the evening before.

Now I noticed him laying strangely again, and this is him, laying on his side, just like one of my pregnant females;



He is clearly in shed right now, is that why he is acting so strange? I noticed that he had moved his hide slightly so it was right on top of the heat mat under the box, normally he likes it that way, but maybe it got too hot? The hide itself wasn't all that warm, there was no moisture on the inside of it, and the snake didn't feel to warm either :/ The moisture ring is from the fresh bedding I put in a few days ago, it doesn't dry out when the hide stands on it.

Should I be worried about his behaviour?

I haven't gotten any firm proof that he is a he other than word-to-word, but the previous owner said that he had been bred by the guy before him (he have only had three owners, the breeder who made him, the new guy, and then me). Could he be a she somehow? O_o It would be simple enough to wait until he is done with his shed, put him with another male and see if there is any tail wagging or locking going on, but still...

He is my first snake and I love him. He isn't my top breeder or my fanciest snake, but in my eyes he is my favorite anyway, so I'm worried when he acts in a way I haven't seen him act since I got him.

Opinions? :/

[KayleighBrown]

That is atrange. My female lays the same exact way. Is it possible that his gender was identified incorrectly?

[bunnykit]

That is atrange. My female lays the same exact way. Is it possible that his gender was identified incorrectly?

Well, like I said in my post, from the info I've gotten he has been breed once. Considering the condition he was in when I got him though I don't consider the information to be entirely trust worthy... :/

[ZacharyPoller]

pop ur snake ? you will know right away the sex

[ZacharyPoller]

That a tell tale sign of ovulation laying on the side

[bunnykit]

From what I understand it isn't wise to pop and adult snake O_o He is a -07, he is adult.

Do they ovulate even if they are 1. in shed and 2. haven't mated?

Also they get really huge around the waist when they ovulate, he is evenly thick through his entire body, I don't think it is ovulation.

[Marrissa]

My first thought is just a spider doing their weird spider things. Only way to know for sure is to get him popped or probed.

[bunnykit]

Yeah, but he hasn't done anything like this in almost the entire year since I got him :/ He just make some small circular movements if he's picked up and freaks out about it, never when he is just relaxing.

He doesn't have a bad wobble :/ He doesn't even freak out when I handle him, that was just when I had just gotten him. He is completely fine being handled now, long long time since I saw any wobble.

I dunno....I'm just a bit worried, haven't had snakes that long :/ I have a probe set at home, but no vaseline/lube. Can pick some up tomorrow though if I'm lucky.

[bunnykit]

Another pic, this one more from above;

[rafacacho]

Get some probes, and sex him/her. It doesnt look like ovulating. Laying on the side is more of a girl thing but Ive seen males doing it also.


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