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My gravid female boa is on day 129 post ovulation. I had to count from the ovulation because she didn't shed until two months after this. She has been in HCP coil most of this time, and temps were correct with a 91F hot spot.

In mid July, she moved her weight all down in her last half.
On July 30th, she passed her waxy stool.

Then, two days ago on August 14th, she dropped this weird looking thing...I have been told by a number of people on another forum that these are most likely little slugs. This is my first boa breeding so I have no idea.


The thing is, she is still huge...you can see the entire last half of her body is crammed full.


Should I be concerned at this point, considering how overdue she is? She is not pushing with her body or showing any signs of distress, mostly she just lays still on one side or the other of the cage.
Is it possible the little slugs were just a few bad ones and she still has babies?
At what point do I need to get worried?
Any help appreciated, thanks!
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Heather Martin
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that is not even close to what slugs look like. Youll know if she drops slugs.

Greg

Dumb ? for you but have you been feeding that monster? if so what size and how often and yeah that girl is huge. I hope she drops some beauties for you
Bob

She is around 6' and had good weight/girth before I put the male in.

She ate on April 8th the day before ovulation, and has refused all food since then...
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Heather Martin
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That's a tough one. Those could be small slugs that just didn't harden?? I betcha that you have babies soon. Gravid Boas have been known to drop neos a day or two early and then drop the full litter. I am not sure I would rush her to the Vet especially if she's acting like she is going to drop but I would definitely keep my eye on her....just in case she seems lke she is having difficulties....I wish you the best of luck.....I hope you get a ton of albinos!!

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Voices in the darkness... scream away my mental health. Can I.. ask a question.. to help save me from myself? Enemies fill up the pages, are they me?... Monday till Sunday in stages, set me free!!! " Diary of a Madman " Ozzy Osbournewww.freewebs.com/bahreptiles

I'm not sure that I would be overly concerned about what you are seeing. I have seen piles of stuff like this before only it was in healthy non-gravid snakes. It looks more like a pile of unsolidified urates to me. If it were a slug I would think you would see a different consistency to the pile. Sorry for those of you with weak stomach's but slugs usually look more like a partially boiled egg yoke or a very very very over ripe appricot and they usually stay together when they are released from the body.

Sometimes, things like not eating for a while or having more than necessary fluids could promt urates to come out with more of a "jelled" concistency. No offense to the women out there but add to that the fact that we are talking about a female that probably has a hormone imbalance at this point could explain urates like that. For any of you that have kids out there, think back to when thier mother was pregnant, their bodies do really wierd things around the time that they are going to have babies which could be the case here as well.

If the temps during the duration of gestation were cooler than required, the date could get push out further than normal. I have been discussing this recently with a colegue of mine. He mentioned a big time breeder stating having gestation periods of over 200 days. Watch to see if she sheds soon or within the last few days, they will usually give birth from one to three weeks after that. She may not shed at all prior to giving birth. Look for an increase in her actuvuty level. That usually happens just before giving birth. You could also try increasing the himidity in the enclosure. Maybe it's to dry for her to give birth at the moment. And maybe she's just not ready yet.

If you have to move her to take her to a vet, be very careful how you go about it since you could injur babies a this point. At any rate, hope this gives you a little to think about and good luck. Post some pick swhen thos babies come.

Chris

If you're counting from the ovulation....

Then she might not be "overdue" just yet.

Sometimes a boa will have a pre-ovulation swell. Then right aferwards they'll have an ovulation. Sometimes the pre-swell can look like an ovulation.

If your girl had the pre-ov and actual ovulation right on top of each other......

It could be safe to figure she's got "up to" 10 more days before she delivers.

Now if what you saw was the pre-ov and the actual ovulation wasn't "right after" then.....
that shed she had was the POS and you count 105 days after that.

Now if what you saw was an actual ovulation then.... You need to count 125 days from the ovulation. She can be up to 10 days after that or 135 days. Some have even gone longer than that. You really don't need to worry unless she's showing signs of "distress". If she starts to show sign of distress(odd behavior other than birthing behavior, lethargic, discharge from mouth or nose.. etc) then take her to the vet right away.

Does she have the thinning out of her upper half yet?

She looks pretty thick still. Thinning out on the upper half is a good sign that she's carrying a good litter and birthing time is close.
Does she still drink lots of water?

Boas cut back on the amount of water they drink a few days before giving birth. At least mine do.

Does she have any "birthing behavior"?

Birthing behavior looks like.... "nesting". She'll start to search the cage. She'll rearrange her cage piling up her substrate or pushing her water bowl around. Sometimes she might just dump her water bowl daily. This behavior can be seen up to 10 days before she actually gives birth.

From the pictures she looks pretty darn good. I don't think you should have any worries. Just keep an eye on her and give her lots of privacy.