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I just checked on my female Hog Island Boa, DeeDee, who was gravid, and saw that she didn't move when I opened the lid to her cage. I touched her - and found that she is dead.

She was fine this morning - I've been checking on her 3 and 4 times a day because she was near her due date. I went out to do a few errands and checked her when I returned.

I am horribly saddened, this was my first attempt at breeding.

Question - sounds gross but should I bother seeing if there were any viable young that were stuck? She had spread urates around the cage but there was no other fluid. She is still soft (no rigor - I think this happened only shortly before I got home), it feels like there is something hard right near her vent though. The rest of her "pregnancy" weight is soft, I feel no wriggling or anything. I just don't want to put her in the fridge (she will definitely be necropsied) if there is a possibility that there are living young still in there.

Please advise.......

Here is a picture of her as of a few minutes ago.

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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com
1.0 Ball Python, 1.1 Hog Island Boas, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 0.1 Green Tree Python

Im so sorry for your loss. And such a beautiful hogg too! I too am a 1st time breeder this season (still in the couplating stage though). Other than it being a little nasty, it wouldnt hurt to open her up to see. I know if it was my female I wouldnt be able to put my mind at ease if i didnt at least check. I have no idea what the babies chances are, but worth a shot imo. Worst case is they are dead, if you dont check, thats the only case. I wish you the best of luck, keep us posted.
~Lara

Sorry for your loss
We lost one of our breeder BCL early this season as well,she was eggbound.
Dont feel that you would complicate a Necro by taking a peak.
Just open her lower third up and dont go digging around with anything sharp.
Remember do not "freeze" her,just keep her chilled in the fridge.
Spending $100 for inconclusive results pretty well sucks.
Theyll also try and get you to send off tissue samples for further study,which of coarse cost more money. They donate the tissue samples to a Univ.and then keep the cash.With a simple phone call they then retrieve and then return the results to the owner.

Best Of Luck !
TnK

Well, I couldn't make myself cut her open, so we rushed her to an emergency vet. They could detect no heartbeats at all, so if there were viable young, they have all passed away as well. She could have been dead anywhere from a half hour up to 3 or 4 hours when I found her, and the exotic vet said that had we found her even a few minutes after her death, we would have had only a tiny window in which to cut her open and have any babies survive.

She will be sent to have a necropsy by our normal herp vet (the emergency vet tried to get us to leave her there and said everything about the tissue samples - which I declined anyway because I am VERY certain she died trying to pass a slug that got stuck - a disease wouldn't cause that).

I knew there was always a risk when breeding, but hoped it wouldn't happen... and it's just so shocking because earlier this morning she seemed fine. She must've started labor after I left the house to run errands, I wish I would have been home.
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com
1.0 Ball Python, 1.1 Hog Island Boas, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 0.1 Green Tree Python

Sorry to hear that, I to lost a gravid boa this year so I kinda know how you feel. Really sucks, but like you said it's a risk we all take every time we breed.

Mine wasn't as far along, just barely gravid (if at all).
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

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

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
19.29 BRB
14.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I'm sorry to hear that. I knew there were risks, but just like anything figured the chances were small, and in the back of my mind must have thought "it won't happen to me". I just hope that I have better luck in the future.

Thanks for all the replies, and while it is sad to hear that other people have similar losses, it does help to know that...
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com
1.0 Ball Python, 1.1 Hog Island Boas, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 0.1 Green Tree Python

Sorry for your loss, it just happens sometimes....but not to be rude or anything, but you sure she is gravid???? From the pics, it doesnt look so, especially if she was due soon???? Bad pic? Let us know the results and see what happens when they open her...

It is hard to tell from the pic, but she was very backheavy. Yesterday, she was very thin in the front half and thick in the back half. Since she died, it seems the weight moved back up a little. She had a preovulation swell, but I think she has slugs present but not any viable young. This was her first breeding, so while I believe she did ovulate, no, I'm not sure that she was gravid with live young. We will see what the necropsy shows - before I took the photos she looked very swollen right near her vent, like she had been pushing.... but this is my first attempt at breeding, so I can't say for sure about anything.

This is very discouraging.
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com
1.0 Ball Python, 1.1 Hog Island Boas, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 0.1 Green Tree Python

Another note - she was at, or very near, her due date (I didn't see the exact day she had what I though was her post-ovulation shed), so for her to die with a swollen rear end within a few days of her due date seems a little far-fetched if she is indeed gravid (with slugs or young).... The photo does look off though. As of yesterday, she was noticibly swollen about in her back 1/3, and looked a bit skinny in her front 1/3, which is why I was hopeful that she was gravid with live young. She has a large liquidy mass, with a hard small mass near her vent, which is why I think she has slugs, and she has not been fed in more than 1 month (from what I read about withholding food 4 weeks before the due date). She defecated last 2 or 3 weeks ago. She did release a small amount of pasty urates in her cage sometime in the last day.

The necropsy will tell though, and I'll post what they find here.
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com
1.0 Ball Python, 1.1 Hog Island Boas, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 0.1 Green Tree Python

It's a rule that when the mother is dead the babies are dead as well. I have learned this from a vet who works at the animal clinic of the university in Munich/Germany who is specialized in reptiles.
Also, judged by the photo this boa wasn't gravid. I think the lump results from a different reason.
Maybe the boa was ill for some time and now the disease has finished her off.

The autopsy will show it.

I am very sorry for your loss. It was a beautiful Hoggy. Don't give up, try again with another one. And weigh your boas regularly. Loss of weight is a serious sign that something is wrong.

The #1 Boa constrictor site on the internet

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The #1 Boa constrictor website on the internet

This now has me a little hesitant to breed the albino I purchased this afternoon in a couple of years. I would be afraid to lose her and considering I have wanted an albino for so long, this really has me scared.

I am sorry for your loss!

I am discouraged, but at the same time I have a 4 year old surinam that may be gravid (had a shed yesterday which if she did take, will be her post-ovulation shed). So I hope the same issue doesn't happen - but the surinam is older and larger than my hog island was.

I will definitely wait until any females are 3 years old or more (DeeDee was 2.5 years old when I introduced the male to her) to be safer. I will post with the results of the necropsy when it gets in, but it seems likely that she had slugs, and had one hard one that got stuck.
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com
1.0 Ball Python, 1.1 Hog Island Boas, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 0.1 Green Tree Python