Does anyone think my female is Gravid?

[yzguy]

I've thought she was before and been wrong. Also she was a bit more agressive than normal, she struck at me (has never done that before, not that she gets handled a lot)

She is 2166 grams, and looks fat to me (maybe she is just big boned ) and even looking fat, you can see her spine a bit.

Just wondering what others think from looking at her, and if others have noticed females getting cranky when they have eggs .

[angllady2]

It's hard to say with her balled up. but possibly. One thing to look for is a prominent ridge back. Her spine will form a very sharp triangle shape just before she lays her eggs.

It can be really hard to tell unless you catch her ovulation. I had four females lay this year, and only one of them was I sure she was going to.

Gale

[rlditmars]

She looks a little ridge backed in the last photo but that isn't any kind of a confirmation. Is she staying on the hot or cold side? Have you caught her layting inverted much? Has she had any sheds out of her normal cycle? Other than that it is just a wait and see game. Good luck.

[yzguy]

I've seen her on both sides. Hot last night cold this morning. She is normally in one of the hides so I don't see her laying around a lot. I had seen her on her side in the hides but that was about a month ago. I have not been keeping track of sheds. I had 3 others lay so far this year, but normally just find eggs. . I did try to open her up a bit but that is when she started to get annoyed so I put her away.

[rlditmars]

I've seen her on both sides. Hot last night cold this morning. She is normally in one of the hides so I don't see her laying around a lot. I had seen her on her side in the hides but that was about a month ago. I have not been keeping track of sheds. I had 3 others lay so far this year, but normally just find eggs. . I did try to open her up a bit but that is when she started to get annoyed so I put her away.

If she had ovulated already, I would expect her to be staying mostly, if not exclusively on the warm side, but laying inverted and such to regulate the egg temps inside. The fact that you say she is going back and forth could indicate that she is just building and has not ovulated yet. Is she still eating regularly? Have you tried putting her with a male and witnessed any refusal or disinterest. Again, these are all possible indicators but not guarantees as some snakes simply don't follow any of the rules. That's the beauty of them. Again, I wish you the best of luck.

[yzguy]

Yeah, still eating like she normally does. I have tried putting the male with her, and they have not hooked up in a while, but then he has not in a couple months with anyone, so I don't know if it is him that is not in the mood.

I know it is not a perfect science, and was just wondering if anyone else thought she looked large

[SlitherinSisters]

It can be hard to tell sometimes. What I look for: food refusal, staying on the warm side, male refusal, and unexpected weight gain. If she looks a lot bigger, but hasn't been eating it could be eggs. Have you tried holding her up at all? Be gentle about it, but pick her up and let her hang straight down. Sometimes you can see the egg bumps, especially as they move down her body as she gets closer to laying.

[yzguy]

well I guess this answers that question



and she ate less than a week ago (for that matter, my het pied female ate while she had eggs in there before I found them, she came out to eat and I thought she looked skinny)

[jasonmcgilvrey83]

Congrats papa. Keep us updated.

[rlditmars]

Congrats! That's really cool. As I said, some of them just don't follow the rules, (case in point). Looking forward to some pipper pics in about 60 days or so.