First time Breeding - A couple questions!

[nikkubus]

Usually it's hard to miss, but sometimes the more dramatic part can happen when you haven't checked on her in a while and so by the time you see, it's less obvious.

Here is this to help have a visual with a timeline:


You can still get one last lock in at quarter size sometimes, but after that not going to do much good. A vet may be able to palp (or ultrasound for $$$), but honestly I'd just keep trying till you get good at it. Just takes practice. I wouldn't do it every single day, but a couple times a week shouldn't hurt till you are getting the feel for it. If you happen to know of any breeders local to you, they would probably be willing to give you an in person tutorial to help you. I started breeding with colubrids, which are far easier to palp in my opinion, so by the time I started breeding BPs, I at least had some clue of what I was doing. If you get that chance, also might be a good time to learn how to pop sex hatchlings if you haven't learned that either! In all likelihood they are nearing nickel size right about now, which is when they start getting a lot easier to feel anyways. Also reminder ahead of time, like the picture states, right around ovy they start getting a lot softer and get much harder to feel, so don't freak out if you feel them one day and then can't anymore - perfectly normal at that stage.

Other than that, try not to get too worked up and worried. I remember what its like and you want to do every little thing right, but if you relax, in all likelihood you are going to be in a better frame of mind to notice things and learn anyway. Observe things, take notes and pictures, and if for whatever reason it doesn't work this year, next year you are starting fresh with a little more experience. Doubly so for incubation.