A female with a healthy litter usually shows a large amount of abdominal distention. A female with a lot of slugs will not be as large. This is a relative thing so is definitely easier to gauge if the snake has produced previously or if you have had many litters previously. Females with healthy litters usually are blown up like the one pictured below. If a female is just a little larger than normal, I become worried that she will slug out.



It is purely anecdotal, but I have witnessed a couple premature deliveries on days when the temps suddenly got a lot warmer than normal. I am not talking about a few degrees, but warm spells that push the background temp into the high 80s or more. If you keep your snakes in a room where you do not control the temp (mine are in the garage) then the temp inside the cage can get a lot warmer than you might think. Here in Davis, CA they are forecasting 90 degrees on Friday. That is 20 degrees higher than it has been here recently. I had some secondary heat pads on my females that I turned off last night since the extra heat is no longer needed by my females.


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Rick Staub

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