Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys, I haven't posted on KS in a long, long time but I have a female borneo that is about 4 years old. She is more of a pet than a breeder, so I haven't cycled her temps or anything and she's had no contact with any other snakes. The past month or so she has refused food and last week went into a shed cycle. She has avoided the hot side of her cage since then as well as soaking in her water dish a great deal and still has not shed. Today I found her on the hot side of the tank curled up almost upside down with her belly looking pretty swollen. I'm guessing she's ovulating and close to her pre-egg shed?

My concern is that she had been finicky eating for the previous 6 months or so, only taking a large rat maybe every 3-4 weeks. How long should I expect her to refuse food and should I expect her to lay eggs or will she reabsorb the follicles? Should I give her more than crumpled newspaper to nest with? I am concerned about her body weight as she didn't receive the normal "fattening up" that breeders most often get before winter.

I'm sorry if these are basic breeding questions, but I haven't ever bred and I'm unfamiliar with the whole process.

I took pics of her behavior today but I need to get my camera cable from work, so I will try to post them tomorrow.

Here's the first pic, she's directly over the hot side of her cage here. It's hard to tell, but she looks very close to shedding.

I've circled the lump in her midsection, it looked as though she had swallowed golf balls or something. Several large lumps in her belly. She hadn't eaten for three weeks, so the lump isn't a food item.

if she has eggs and they hatch i know what u should name one of the males........ BABY GZUS! Good luck, let me know when our saviour is born.

She started shedding last night, should I even try to feed her or will she most likely refuse food after going through ovulation?