Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I can feel little "lumps" in her that never used to be there, so things may be heading in the right direction! Ron.

-----
"If it can't kill you, why keep it?"

She looks pretty swollen. Has she been feeding lately, and if not, when did she stop.

Kelly

She is still eating. I keep thinking that she will refuse each time, but she proves me wrong! How soon before giving birth does your female stop eating? Thanks Kelly, Ron.
-----
"If it can't kill you, why keep it?"

The first female that produced in 2001 fed up to about 10 weeks before the birth of the young. The second female that has produced the last two litters for us now has gone off feed both times about 15 weeks before the birth.

There is some debate over whether this is normal, or an artifact of captivity. It appears that females in their natural environment go off feed considerably sooner than any greens in captivity. Assumptions for wild females are that the act of constricting energetic prey animals risks damaging developing embryo. Captive greens fed F/T all their lives may feed for a longer period after becoming gravid because the risks associated with the constriction of live prey have been removed. At this point it is only speculation. I have a female bred for the first time, that we produced here in the 2001 litter, that appears may be gravid at this time. It will be interesting to see how long she goes before going off feed. I have a good photo of her ovulation that I will post shortly when I get around to downloading it.

Did you happen to observe the ovulation swell with this female of yours?

Kelly

Thanks for the insight Kelly. If you look down the posts from Feb 14 titled "Maybe this year", it shows what I believe was ovulation. Have your females had consistant gestation periods, or do they vary? Ron.
-----
"If it can't kill you, why keep it?"

The three litters of greens we produced from two different females showed gestation periods that were all within about 10 days of each other. The average was about 170 days. I am counting days from apparent ovulation to the birth of the young. Another indicator that can be used to help identify the ovulation is that the male seems to lose all interest in the female about a week or two before the female ovulates.

Kelly