Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Greetings
So at 3:30 a.m. I'm the one who found baby #21 of a 20-baby clutch in on the kitchen counter. It was very much alive, still had its umbilical cord, and I imagine was looking for a snack. We have a decent 2BR apartment--from the "snake room" to the kitchen might be 30 feet (*measuring snake lengths in my mind*). Our mystery baby is currently in with the one hold-out who hasn't eaten yet (they were born the 16th). Didn't look too dehydrated.

Is it normal that this baby would still be largely ok, despite being free range (we're guessing) in our apartment all this time? Its got water now, and hopefully we'll be trying to feed it in the next day or two--but is there anything else I can/should be doing for it?

I'm just glad it didn't go down the kichen sink (which has a trash compactor) since it was only inches away from it!

Antigone

I don't understand?

Do you let your boa's run free in your house?

She had a single baby that she gave birth to in the kitchen by the kitchen sink?
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Ashley Lopez's Black Forest Constrictors.
blackforestconstrictors@gmail.com
website

Still had it's umbilical.....should not if it was born with the others. I'm assuming all the others have lost theirs? Maybe not been "free range" as long as you think. I remember reading/hearing something about babies being born days after littermates.

Aslong as it has water, it will probably be fine. I'd let it settle in to "captivity" for a couple of days before feeding it. You know how those WC babies can be.

>>Greetings
>> So at 3:30 a.m. I'm the one who found baby #21 of a 20-baby clutch in on the kitchen counter. It was very much alive, still had its umbilical cord, and I imagine was looking for a snack. We have a decent 2BR apartment--from the "snake room" to the kitchen might be 30 feet (*measuring snake lengths in my mind*). Our mystery baby is currently in with the one hold-out who hasn't eaten yet (they were born the 16th). Didn't look too dehydrated.
>>
>> Is it normal that this baby would still be largely ok, despite being free range (we're guessing) in our apartment all this time? Its got water now, and hopefully we'll be trying to feed it in the next day or two--but is there anything else I can/should be doing for it?
>>
>> I'm just glad it didn't go down the kichen sink (which has a trash compactor) since it was only inches away from it!
>>
>> Antigone
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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

hi

*IS* it really possible that all the babies weren't born at once??? My bf suggested that ...he had the mother out recently for a quick photo session....but I didn't think that was possible. Still, I'm only used to catching horse and pony babies, and we've already learned that everything I know to do for them has NOTHING to do with baby boas.

Antigone

How was the unmbilical, still damp and fresh? or crusty and about to fall off?

If the BF had her out yesterday would definately be an opportunity for one to be born outside cage and escape. And moving her around could induce parturition. But the BF would have to be not paying full attention to let her deposit a baby un-noticed. Check around where he had her, should be a slime pile somewhere from the sack and fluid.

Also, I assume the cage is baby escape proof? Even if so, while the BF had mom out yesterday, likely left door open? Check in there as well. Like I said before, there has to be some slime somewhere.

And most important, if there was one late baby, could be more!!!!
Find that slime so you'll have a better idea if more and where to begin looking!!!! Also, could palpitate female to check for more egg sacks inside?
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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

Thank you for following up

The cord was dry and crusty. The mother is in a glass tank with plexiglass locking lids. All the other babies were in steralites which I had popped closed.
BF has been sick with the flu and not really taking my questions about it all, but I think that he really didn't have her out long enough to let her spend real time unobserved. He had her out for pictures (I'm not sure what the date was, but it might have been a week ago), then realized after taking them that she was ready to shed, so I think she went back quick.
I haven't really done a "slime-check", but that will be next. It's likely (?) dried at this point though, no? I'm not too sure about palpating mama just yet though, as we fed her a RodentPro xxxl guinea pig this past weekend.

It's funny-- I had meant to take the name Odin20, for the mama and her babies, but mistakenly typed "22"....now I'm wondering if there isn't at least one more we've missed.

Thanks again,
Antigone

hi

New question: Is it likely that slugs were retained at all, and if so, how would I check? All babies to date were born live, and no slugs were passed. Odin has been hungry and eating, and shedding (not remembering now if urates and [bleep] were also on the list), so I think pretty healthy.

but then we also thought there were only 20....

Just want to have the bases covered,
Antigone

I've heard so many stories of baby snake getting out and never found or found not alive.

First time I've heard of finding your baby snake AND it's one you didn't even know you had!
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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 found a baby Rainbow Boa inside the mothers humidity hide once, one week after removing the babies from her incloser. But this is the first time I have ever heard of an unkown turning up outside the cage, especially to be right out on top of counter, that is pretty funny... and lucky.
Just being there to spot is really "being in the right place at the right time".

*smile*
My bf, who has been sick with the flu and coughing up one or both lungs for the last few days, did not appreciate it at all when, after we got the pookie settled into a container, I told him "Thank you for being sick." We never would have found it otherwise, cos I don't like being up at 3:30 am!

Antigone

I found this girl almost 2 weeks after her brothers and sisters were born-I was quite excited!! She was fine but had a stuck shed-after a nice soak she was good as new!

Needless to say, that cage is no longer being used...

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~Brian Ott

www.squamations.com

Damn, no wonder you were excited. That would be a nice find!

Wow----that's one hell of a find

A

Is it possible one you put in the rack or w.e you use for the babies possible that one got out?
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1.0 Green Iguana - Yoda (3ft-2lbs )
1.1 BCI - Nessy (6ft-11lbs ) and Val (5ft-7/8lbs)

We missed the delivery, but arrived in time for the slime. As newbies, we were both a little frantic about how to proceed. We had been told that taking them away from mama was the thing to do, so we did that. My bf, mistakenly, tried to help a few out of their sacks (I would have been doing that too--I have with horses), while I tried to clean up mama's tank. All the babies were put into a large steralite for a few days, before we got all the smaller ones and the heat tape. He says that he remembers counting 20 even then, but maybe in all our running around he got the number wrong. Once we were shopping for containers though, it was definitely with the understanding we were shopping for 20, so 2/container. We did have one escape since that, but that one was found. Last night no one got out-- the one I found has been out longer than that.

Antigone

is that you found little Midnight on the counter. I don't think a baby boa can climb up there. What a crazy thing. Good luck with the little critter.
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Caden Chapman
slithering.serpents@gmail.com

*smile* "little Midnight".....actually, I thought it was a nice double entendre for my bf to choose---the father's name is Midnight.

I didn't think the babies could climb that high either, but I suspect it used the lower cabinet door edges for leverage. Even as neonates I'm surprised at how long they are.

And I don't know about the climbing abilities of red-tails, but I used to have a ball python who was capable of using a dresser to reach a first wall plank shelf, and from that a second, so that by the end of it all he was prolly 7-8 feet off the ground. I wouldn't have even known he was there if he hadn't knocked the stuffed animals off the shelf.

Sheesh, it's hard enough to find these things on the ground sometimes, let alone at levels above your head

Antigone

I guess it's possible that the little snake used the handles on drawers but wow how amazing is that? I would love to see that!
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Caden Chapman
slithering.serpents@gmail.com