I have had this pair since February of this year. I have kept them together for the whole time in a rather large cage and I have always found them sitting in a mass coil together until recently. This last few weeks the female has been acting funny, so I observed them closer and wrote down some notes on what I have seen in the last three/four weeks from this pair.



Week 1:

Monday-Thursday: Temps are lowered naturally due to cold front - Pair buries themselves under the bedding, note - I have never seen them do this together before or stay nearly a long.

Friday: Temps are still around 65-70F in the room during the day. The pair show themselves and no longer are under the bedding. Note - Female is extremely aggressive, never has she been this aggressive.

Saturday: Feeding day, both accept their meals. Female begins to bite male and become rough with him, whipping her body at him.



Week 2:

Sunday-Wednesday:Same behavior ensues so I decide to separate the pair for the first time besides feeding. No bodily damage was done to the male.

Thursday-Saturday: Temps come back up to the high 70's. Female begins building a mass of bedding in the middle of the housing area??? Again not the normal for her.



Week 3 (This past week):

Monday-Friday: Female keeps on building the mass of bedding even though I tear it down (to see what would happen). Male is acting normal, no harm from the female was done. I notice the females bottom half seems thicker than usual and has almost gained girth size by a 1/4th in two weeks.

Saturday: Feed day, female shows no interest in her normal sized meal (1 jumbo mouse) I like to give her, I offer a smaller prey item (1 hopper). Males eats like normal. Temps are still in the high 70's and reaching the lower 80's.



This week:

Sunday: Female is now extremely aggressive tto me which is extremely unusual. She starts to show signs of going into the 'blue' cycle. Female has a considerable thickness now beginning to stretch down to her cloaca.

Monday-Tuesday: Female is now becoming a bit thicker, has empty stomach.



Here is a shot of the swelling I am talking about.





Any idea what is going on? Breeding? Gravid? It seems to point that way to me....
-----
David Hiscock.

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