Pregnant or not!

[RichsBallPythons]

For the live of me i can't tell if she pregnant or not. I got her janurary 16th and she was mated same day and day after. Shes not been mated since. IF she is i should have babies by the 10th the latest

Some days shes active playing others she lays around A LOT.

heres pictures i could take of her when active.

[littleindiangirl]

Well it's hard to say. She looks like if she were a young lean rat, she might be pregnant, but not very far along, especially if she is supposed to give birth in 6 days.

[RichsBallPythons]

that's what im thinking. but at some times when walking her belly has a little sag. so unless she gets bigger then idk. its weird i dont hear mating going on anymore. i did introduce a second male to the group to help speed things up.

[ThyTempest]

Over the top shots are best for photo-checking preggos, but like Connie said, unless it was a lean mom, does not look preggo to me. However, I will say that most of our rats dont show much at all until about a week before birth, and even that is slight, and I probably wouldnt notice it in an unfamiliar rat in a pic. About 3-4 days before birth is when they really look big and lumpy....then you know when to expect them.

[littleindiangirl]

I'll have disagree with over the top pics being the best indicator, at least for me anyways.

I agree with frankykeno that holding them up under their arm pits will show the roundness of a pregnant girl clearer than over the top or from the side.

This is showing a mammary tumor, but she is being held up in the manner I described. She isn't preggers btw.

[RichsBallPythons]

i dont think she is more and more i study her. i did feel her stomach and its soft yet firm but didnt feel any babies.

hope the other male will man up and mate them. he seems to be more laid back cause the other male owns the cage.

[Drew87]

my females look like the ate a softball a couple days before giving birth. hope this helps

[ThyTempest]

I agree those shots are good too, but I think it is still easier for me to see from above. I think this is because I try not to disturb our very preggo females, so I have just gotten used to finding ways to give them a once over without having to wrangle them and flip them every which way.

[kc261]

This might not apply to rats, but with our mice, I find it easiest to see if they are preggo when they climb on the hardware cloth on the sides of the enclosure. Our enclosures are similar to the ones in this sticky:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=56321

So when the mice climb the sides, they end up being in a position very similar to the one in Connie's pic, they just got that way naturally instead of being held. Holding a mouse like that doesn't work terribly well; they won't stay still long enough to get a good look.

When they climb the hardware cloth, I can either look from outside the cage, and see their bellies, which will look very round and the nipples will become a little more prominent. Or I can look from inside the cage, and see their backs. From this position, I can see a very pronounced "golf ball in their belly" figure. What gives it away, even when they are closer to a "marble in the belly" stage, is that the roundness starts abruptly, rather than a gradual pear shape that a fat but not pregnant mouse will have.

It also helps a lot to know your individual animals. Once you know the normal profile of a particular female, it will be easier to detect the first subtle signs that she is pregnant.

[RichsBallPythons]

WEll i thought she wasnt pregnant. i guess i missed the actual day she ovulated. figured it was same day but guess not.

this is form 3 mins ago while she was sleeping. her nipples are beginning to show