Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This DH Sunglow has not eaten since October. I missed her shed date so I am not sure the exact date she is due. Here is the CRAZY part---I went and checked on her Saturday afternoon and in her cage was only ONE baby albino!!!!(pic enclosed) The baby is doing fine and looks healthy. The pic of the DH Sunglow enclosed was taken about a week ago. Sunday morning I checked on her and she still has not dropped anymore. Has anyone else had this happen??? When will the rest drop??
Thanks for any input.

Mike Yarish

she is obviously carrying more than one baby especially if she hasn’t eaten since October. All I could thing of is maybe something is impacted or... ? That is a weird thing to happen!

Greg Reinert

Congratulations on the baby Albino. You're right it does look healthy.

As for the mom.... I'd give her 10 days from the day the baby was born. If she doesn't have any more, then take her to the vet for an ultra sound. I wouldn't wait any longer than 10 days though. If she's still got babies in her.... Well, if they're still alive you don't have to worry. They can induce contractions/labor and she'll simply give birth. If they're not alive, they'll still induce contractions/labor, but there's a chance of infection. Watch her carefully. If she shows signs of distress "take her to the vet immediately".

Vets will use Oxitocin(spelling??) to induce labor. It's the same thing they use for dogs and cats, but it works in reptiles too.

Good luck with her. I hope everything turns out all right.

it's the same thing they use to induce humans also.
-----
2.1.0 Kidletts
0.0.1 Ball Pyhton (Rex)
0.0.1 Okeetee Corn (Maizey)
0.1.0 BCI (Ruby)
0.1.0 Cat (Ginger)
1.0.0 Pughuahua (Ranger)

Have you actually used oxytocin and had it work? I have tried, at my Veterinarians recommendation several times. It never worked for me. It just made the animal uncomfortable. If you have not, can anyone out there verify that in fact they have used it successfully?

I've never had to use it on a boa before.

I've only had to use it on an egg laying snake. Actually the vet did it. She was at the vet for 3 days. It did work, but the eggs weren't viable. Of course, the mother snake made a full recovery.

This has happened quite a few times in the past. That is, if any fecal material accompanied the baby, she likely was trying to have her pre-birth waxy stool when that single baby was inadvertently pushed out as well. Keep an eye on her and watch for the rest of the kids soon. If the baby, which appears to be full term, did not have a mass of egg yolk in the belly or still in the sack on the outside of the belly, you could soak the cage in an attempt to make her think it just rained. This may make her more likely to have those babies. Babies are very easy to push out as opposed to slugs that are relatively dry and sticky. It does seem pretty unlikely that an animal that you had identified as gravid could only have one baby, but that could be a possibility as well. All that being said, unless I knew it was past about the 110 post ovulation shed date, I would just leave her alone and wait.

Good luck!

Jeff

Hello,

I have used Oxytocin on several boas with very good results. I have actually successfully used it on 3 females where I could see babies in the Ultrasound after she was done giving birth. It was successful everytime. There have been times where it has not worked. Dr. Scott Stahl has used it many times successfully too. He recommends that it has to be used within 24 to 36 hours after the birthing process. After that, it will just cause contractions that may be harmful to the Boa.

I actually have a "filmed" (Caught on Tape) litter back in 2003 where a Het female stopped birthing, and we used Oxytocin, and out popped 1 sunglow, and 3 more babies.

You have to use it with Caution and make sure you don't overdose them. I highly recommend having Oxytocin on hand for a breeder that has a lot of females gravid just in case.

I have also been Careless with this drug, and I had a female back in 2001 where she was 10 days overdue. She was very weak, and I was impatient. I gave her Oxytocin, and waited, and 30 minutes later, the babies were born, and all the albinos were premature. So, My calculations were a little off, and she just needed more time. Stupid Me. One Albino and many of the hets lived.

This is my experience.

Jeremy Stone

Last year my female albino droped out a single baby with her waxy stool. 4 days later (exactlly 105 days from pos) she droped the rest of the litter just fine, nontheless I was still sweating bullets for those 4 days.
Jason

Might be worth throwing a whole load of sphagnum moss in the cage and also a big cardboard box, just to give her some security?
-----
_____

signature file edited, contact an admin. 2/13/06

Thanks for the input. She dropped on Sunday night.

Mike Yarish

Congratulations!!! Looks like a very healthy litter!

-----
Jason Gonzalez
PreMeditated Morphs
www.PreMeditatedMorphs.com
Jason@PreMeditatedMorphs.com

Nice Litter!Good to see everything went well in the end!

Michael Burton

Whats the total count?
-----
Brandon Nixon