Daisey after dropping her load of babies.







Daisey has been driving me nuts this last week, due on August 20th give or take, she's been showing signs of being gravid but not been looking that large. OK, small litter maybe? This last week she started moving around, found a "waxy stool" three days ago. The front half of body was all skinny while the later half was larger but not that large. Last night I was feeding yearlings some mice and she was looking hungry so I offered her one, wham!! She's ignored everything for the last several months. I'm thinking maybe she dropped a load of slugs and gobbled them back up? UGH, sometimes breeding can drive you nuts!!



Any ways, late last night I did my final rounds before heading off to bed and saw this...







YUP, she's dropping her litter. Not only dropping them but dropping them out in the open while I'm watching!!! Way cool, most of the time (OK, pretty much always) they drop their litters while nobodies around. I find the pile already out. And typically in the moss hide box.



Was amazing to watch her with her head near her tail, nudging babies with her nose as they came out. Stimulating them into moving. Also, I clearly saw something I'd never seen before, the litter birthing process is not all the babies coming out in a stream. Half the litter was born when I first found her. As she was birthing some of the first ones I saw being born, I could clearly see the later part of her deflate as those babies came out. There also was a mid body bulge. Yup, more babies. Once she finished one group, then would start pushing the next ones down her body towards the vent. Saw this clearly happen twice.



I took lotsa pics so I'll show highlights here and post all the rest in a reply for those that want to see birthing step by step.



Baby being born (birthing sequence #1):





Resting between groups of babies:





While she was resting I looked back at some of the already born ones.



This one is odd colored, and has a yolk, I'm thinking both are related, maybe fertilized late or unable to absorb and is a "preemie" even though all the sibs are well into full term.





There were also a couple in the moss box, this one was stretching the sack:





Then she started working the last group of babies out. I stuck the camera in the cage and took a bunch of pics blind, just aiming the camera more or less in the right direction and snapping away. Many of them came out pretty good. (birthing sequence #2)





Daisey surveying her good work:





All Done, wow she has to have the "flattest tire" I've ever seen:





All in all, 15 babies including the yolker. Not one single slug!!



Babies weighed in as my largest so far this year...



33 Grams - 4

34 Grams - 5

35 Grams - 4

36 Grams - 1

(did not weigh the yolker)



Born at POS + 124
-----
Thanks,





Dave Colling



www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com







0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)

0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)



LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:

26.49 BRB

20.21 BCI

And those are only the breeders



lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

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