....now this is from "The Reproductive Husbandry of Pythons and Boas", by Ross and Marzec (1990).,,,,,(this is not verbatim).....when the ova are released from the ovary they are fully mature and increase very little in size after ovulation. in a mammal the baby increases in size as nutrients are passed from the mother to the baby (resulting in a swelling in the uterus), in a boa the nutrients are all in the yolk of the ovum, so the embryo grows and uses up the yolk....the size of the growing boa basically filling the void left by the decreasing yolk. so "basicallly" a boa does not swell greatly as the babies grow like a mammal would. hope this helps, john yocum

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