And what were her stats - weight/length ? You'd mentioned about the male being a young guy, but he obviously did his job and I don't think that he would contribute to the prematurity of the neonates. I happen to "matinence" clean as not to add stress. I also keep a towel or a peice of newspaper taped over most of the front of a gravid females cage. I think they like to be in a darker, secluded area without alot of visable traffic.
My original question about the age of the females, was because the only issues that I've had with premies or high slug counts were from a couple of females that I tried to breed at 2 1/2 -3 yrs of age and under 10lbs. Anything that I've bred that were 31/2 -4yrs and older with proper weight have all done well for me. However, I do feed items every 2-3 weeks as you do, but I don't give anything over a med/lg rat. I think a jumbo is kinda large even with longer feeding periods - but I don't know for sure if that, or any of this info is a factor. Hopefully it was just a fluke and she'll give great litters in the future. Take care, David
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I'm just the snake room janitor

[ Hide Replies ]

• What might cause premature birth? - sdi, Wed May 24 18:18:09 2006
• RE: What might cause premature birth? - JOEP123, Wed May 24 18:39:34 2006
• RE: What might cause premature birth? - sdi, Thu May 25 06:06:28 2006
• RE: What might cause premature birth? - VolcomHerp, Wed May 24 19:31:42 2006
• RE: What might cause premature birth? - sdi, Thu May 25 06:35:14 2006
• RE: What might cause premature birth? - sdi, Thu May 25 06:17:03 2006
• RE: What might cause premature birth? - Sharpman, Thu May 25 00:52:33 2006
• RE: What might cause premature birth? - sdi, Thu May 25 06:05:24 2006
• How old was the gravid female ? - Morgans Boas, Thu May 25 06:59:08 2006
• RE: How old was the gravid female ? - sdi, Thu May 25 07:22:21 2006
• Sorry to hear that, she is a ... - tcdrover, Thu May 25 13:00:43 2006