A little something I wrote about "Solidified Yolk Syndrome" in baby Boa babies four years ago:
June-19-2003:
OK, it's good and it's bad. This is by far the reddest Boa I have ever bred successfully. This was her first breeding. She is four years old, seven feet and very lovely.
She had 41 babies. Four of these dead and 37 still are living. Now this female gave birth on day 95 after the Post Ovulation Shed. This is not a good thing. It is more normally that females drop their babies between 104 and 111 days after the Post Ovulation Shed. Had she hung onto them just a week longer three of the four dead would likely be fine when born. These babies were all born with massive bellies full of yolk. This can be a fatal situation. The problem is that many times these babies with the huge bellies have that yolk solidify and become unable to digest or absorb all this food. I am trying something a little different this time. Normally, the female would still be carrying them. They would not be born if held till full term for at least another week. Perhaps two weeks. Anyhow, so now what do I do to maximize the likelihood that these babies survive? I am leaving them in the cage where their Momma had them. Still turning the heat on during the day and off at night. Their Momma if she was still carrying them would be subject to these same conditions so I am guessing this is best as opposed to all heat all the time. She would move toward the heat during the day and away at night when the heat is turned off anyhow. I am hoping that they are all able to absorb this stuff. Here is a picture of one of the babies with the massive gut. We shall see...
June-22-2003:
Well, they are 5 days old this morning and looking much thinner. I think the plan of leaving them in the cage where they can still get access to good heat and move away when they like is the ticket. They should be shedding on Friday hopefully. Although, I can't remember if big belly babies shed a little late or not. I have noticed one change since I began heating my baby room vs. heating in the racks and that is that babies shed now the first time when 11 or most times 12 days old. I know it's hard to wait the extra day or two but they definitely do better in a heated room rather than heated racks.
Now if I can wait for these most red of all Hypos I have ever seen to shed! The waiting is killing me but I'll get over it I guess.
Jeff
June-25-2003:
OK,
A little update. These kids are 8 days old this morning. As planned, I have left them in the cage so they could have access to the same much warmer temps than I normally give babies that their mother would have access to. They all seem to be doing very well. Their tummies are much much smaller and they are all opaque. I hope this will work. At least it looks very good so far. I don't want to touch them as I am afraid that any unnecessary stress may cause some problems with the yolk still not completely digested in their bellies. So I will just wait. I am hoping that many of them begin to shed on Friday on schedule and THEN we will begin to see what these little lovely beasts will bring us! I can hardly wait to see these guys. I was looking forward to this breeding more than any other one this year. I am very anxious to see how red these little hypos end up. I will keep you posted!
Thanks,
Jeff
Back in 2003 this was my first little experiment, done publicly at that time, with what I now call, "Solidified Yolk Syndrome" in baby Boas. That was four years ago. Those babies all faired perfectly well. They did not eat for a couple weeks after shedding, which is typical for babies with the big yolk. But they did well. I had another equally poor litter born that same year with the big bellies full of yolk. I did the same with them allowing them to stay in the cage where their Momma had them. She had them on the heat same as the first litter detailed here. The babies stayed on the heat for a number of days while that yolk was absorbed.
Since then, I have not lost a single baby to the "Solidified Yolk Syndrome". Not one. I think the key is allowing the babies to thermoregulate and reach a 90 degree temperature if desired. Believe me, it is desired. Just a little trick I found a while back that I posted on several forums four years ago. I have not had opportunity to write this in print yet but hopefully will soon where this and many other specific new breeding/husbandry tips will be published.
The idea of using the saline solution sounds really promising. However, I think possibly the "Solidified Yolk Syndrome" may be avoided all together if a thermogradiant is provided from birth allowing the babies to absorb that extra yolk.
Jeff
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