Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what was the stuff from your girl?......

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.....too many BIG girls.........

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they where eggs in various stages of development. my wife is a nurse and she did surgery on them. when we cut them open they looked like hard boiled eggs. the black ones looked cooked yolks and the yellow ones looked like cooked whites and yolks. the other tissue from what i and others could gather is part of her oviduct. the black ones where twisted when i found them but i untwisted them for the photo. all i can figure is that somehow she got twisted up and plugged up somewhere during pregnancy. i now believe that she is going to be unable to have babies. the snake seems fine and is acting completly normal. thank you for your intrest.

spider

the 2 white/yellow ones were "duds"...ovum....unfertilized or not.......that we know...

the 2 red/dark blobs were the oddballs......(no pun intended)

.......they were yolk-like matter also huh?.....hmmmm....must of gathered alot of blood in them.....usually ovum have blood vessels around them but nothing like those.......usually they are yellow balls of yolk that grow in size then get fertilized........even in turtles and chickens they aren't much more than yolks all lined up in the oviducts.....I cut open a BIG carpet python and she had at least 20 ovum in her also......blood vessels around them and all......but nothing like yours.....(* she had the 1 inch plus ovum in her YET she never laid an egg in 10 years)...go figure.

yours seem to have clotted alot.......

IF it is part of the oviduct she should be bleeding....or dead....keep an eye on her vent......

IF it is the oviduct and she isn't bleeding.....seems snakes can go through alot of damage and not die......

she could still breed and lay.......she still would have another oviduct to use......some females that lay small clutches I think only use the one anyways.....something goes wrong and one oviduct is all that works.......(all my theory not known fact) (but you gotta wonder about 2 and 3 egg clutches)

.......still.......email that pic to Dave Barker......

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.....too many BIG girls.........

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Did you e-mail the vet I mentioned and ask his opinion?
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~* Jen *~

Pink Lady Constrictors

Since she is acting normal and really no blood to speak of, my own gut feeling would be that the oviduct torsed and tore off and she's healing up fine. While it might still be possible to breed her, I personally wouldn't, since she's got a history of trouble. Thank you for posting this topic and some follow up. : )

best of luck,

Kassandra Royer

This is the response that I got from Dave Barker.

I don’t think that anyone can tell you exactly what happened. There is a limited set of possibilities, however, and I’d guess that the female ovulated all her follicles before those “odd eggs” were mature follicles. Two were mature and ready, two were almost ready and the two dark ones were not even close. As sometimes happens, those slugs actually were fertilized and developed for a little bit, but could only go so far. They didn’t even get a good shell.

Another possibility is that last year those two dark slugs were ovulated, but did not find their way into the ovaries and became “ectopic,” meaning (basically) that they weren’t where they were supposed to be. They this year they were moved from where ever they had settled in the body cavity into the oviducts by the actions of this year’s ovulation. It makes a good story, but I don’t know which is the more likely.

That’s my best guess. I should add that I’ve never seen dark slugs like that. It is pretty interesting, but too bad they weren’t good eggs for you. Good luck next year…

Dave

the dark slugs......

were they black or reddish in general color?

I thought they looked more reddish....meaning they were from this year........I thought about them being from last year but the color didn't match.....

I have been told of ratsnakes laying slugs from the previous year and I think a ball.........but none were mine.....just hear the story don't see the evidence.....

........I also know people that used to cut open egg bound snakes and take the stuck eggs out then place unsutured oviduct back inside then sew up the body wall and skin....and bred them a year later......but the oviduct was just cut not a section ripped out.......

.......see.....personally I would breed it to see what the results would be (if it's a normal ball).....

.......anyways......done with this all I guess......

GOOD LUCK.........

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.....too many BIG girls.........

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Personally, I think breeding her again sounds like a horrible thing to do. You don't know what internal damage was inflicted on her, and if she seems normal and healing up fine, than why would you risk making it worse or even causing her pain?? Not everything is for profit. You don't want to kill her.

everything is for profit

......and science experiments killed alot more than you think

and you think Charles Darwin studied the animals with a camera? or a shotgun?.......hhhmmmmmm

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......I know........I like some critters and keep them too long and make no profit also......I also give them away as pets at shows to people with kids......

.....they can keep it for as long as they like and not breed it........

......good luck.......
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.....too many BIG girls.........

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