Reptile & Amphibian Forums

...for a female of mine who appears to be gravid to drop her litter. It's almost September and I'm getting worried. I had a disappointment about a month ago with a virgin female bred to a virgin male delivering all slugs and stillborns. How long do I wait before doing something? What is it I should do? This gal has had one litter in 05. She took the year off and I observed breeding in Jan and Feb. Maybe I missed the later breeding. Still this puts her several weeks behind the tradition 5 1/2 month time zone. I haven't offered food in several months. She had refused all other attempts to feed. She looks gravid...but what do I know? It's only my 6th litter. She stays in the traditional heat conservation position almost all the time. Her body temp (by heat gun) is nearly constantly 78 degrees.She is housed singly with a gradient of 80 to 76 degrees. Should I xray her? I am not confident of a diagnostic ultrsound and the main reson I haven't attempted one is stress to her (maybe me too). This snake is a little unpredictable...only Rainbow I have that seems to enjoy to scare the !#*&! out of me with her striking.

Any suggestions? I'm just waiting....nothing else I can think of doing.

Well, I don't know of anything you really can do besides wait impatiently and worry. I'm not quite in the same boat, mine are mostly due in the next few weeks, so not overdue!
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Linda,
...Mine bred late this year and many are due soon. A few of them have me nervous already. I always wait because there is nothing that can be done even if I knew a snake was late. X-rays might be a reasonable choice. Ultrasounds are difficult with snakes. The few people who do get good ultrasound results are using linear horse obstetric ultrasound probes. X-rays are generally believed to be terratogenic (cause birth defects) but the risk is much much less late in gravidity than during the earlier stages.
Jeff

>>Well, I don't know of anything you really can do besides wait impatiently and worry. I'm not quite in the same boat, mine are mostly due in the next few weeks, so not overdue!
>>-----
>>Thanks,
>>
>>
>>Dave Colling
>>
>>www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com
>>
>>
>>
>>0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
>>0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)
>>
>>LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
>>24.36 BRB
>>19.19 BCI
>>And those are only the breeders
>>
>>lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Thanks Jeff,
Guess your right....what the heck would/could I be willing to do if I thought intervention was needed? Don't really know. My understanding is that radiographs have the most potential for harm in the earliest developmental period....when cells are most rapidly dividing. At my work we xray dogs anytime after 45 days os so to beasically do nothing more than looking for skeletal development and count pups. We use what I considered very high mass on the breeds that tend to reatin water and are thick bodied and boned. Nothing SEEMS to be a problem. With a snake thay have so much less mass than say a Rottweiler, it would take minimal exposure to get a quaility pic. I don't have any idea how that works out for the Mom....being their mass basically becomes a percentage of KV's/MAS.

If I only had the same amount of photo experience as I have in radiology....I better shut up and take photos....I'm decades behind. Weird how when things are said outloud they become viable. Ewww.

>>Linda,
>>...Mine bred late this year and many are due soon. A few of them have me nervous already. I always wait because there is nothing that can be done even if I knew a snake was late. X-rays might be a reasonable choice. Ultrasounds are difficult with snakes. The few people who do get good ultrasound results are using linear horse obstetric ultrasound probes. X-rays are generally believed to be terratogenic (cause birth defects) but the risk is much much less late in gravidity than during the earlier stages.
>>Jeff
>>
>>>>Well, I don't know of anything you really can do besides wait impatiently and worry. I'm not quite in the same boat, mine are mostly due in the next few weeks, so not overdue!
>>>>-----
>>>>Thanks,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Dave Colling
>>>>
>>>>www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
>>>>0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)
>>>>
>>>>LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
>>>>24.36 BRB
>>>>19.19 BCI
>>>>And those are only the breeders
>>>>
>>>>lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Thanks Dave,
I guess I'll keep on doing as you suggest....worry. I once knew a woman who always said, "Worry is like rocking in a chair....takes up your energy and gets you nowhere." ..a good thing to be reminded of. Maybe I was wanting the magic answer.
Thanks.
-----
When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teachers appears.

Linda,
..Still having PM and/or email problems? I replied to the one you sent.
Jeff

>>...for a female of mine who appears to be gravid to drop her litter. It's almost September and I'm getting worried. I had a disappointment about a month ago with a virgin female bred to a virgin male delivering all slugs and stillborns. How long do I wait before doing something? What is it I should do? This gal has had one litter in 05. She took the year off and I observed breeding in Jan and Feb. Maybe I missed the later breeding. Still this puts her several weeks behind the tradition 5 1/2 month time zone. I haven't offered food in several months. She had refused all other attempts to feed. She looks gravid...but what do I know? It's only my 6th litter. She stays in the traditional heat conservation position almost all the time. Her body temp (by heat gun) is nearly constantly 78 degrees.She is housed singly with a gradient of 80 to 76 degrees. Should I xray her? I am not confident of a diagnostic ultrsound and the main reson I haven't attempted one is stress to her (maybe me too). This snake is a little unpredictable...only Rainbow I have that seems to enjoy to scare the !#*&! out of me with her striking.
>>
>>Any suggestions? I'm just waiting....nothing else I can think of doing.

My post for help was a sneak attempt for the PH Folks to help out. Guess I shouldn't be so subtle.

>>Linda,
>>..Still having PM and/or email problems? I replied to the one you sent.
>>Jeff
>>
>>>>...for a female of mine who appears to be gravid to drop her litter. It's almost September and I'm getting worried. I had a disappointment about a month ago with a virgin female bred to a virgin male delivering all slugs and stillborns. How long do I wait before doing something? What is it I should do? This gal has had one litter in 05. She took the year off and I observed breeding in Jan and Feb. Maybe I missed the later breeding. Still this puts her several weeks behind the tradition 5 1/2 month time zone. I haven't offered food in several months. She had refused all other attempts to feed. She looks gravid...but what do I know? It's only my 6th litter. She stays in the traditional heat conservation position almost all the time. Her body temp (by heat gun) is nearly constantly 78 degrees.She is housed singly with a gradient of 80 to 76 degrees. Should I xray her? I am not confident of a diagnostic ultrsound and the main reson I haven't attempted one is stress to her (maybe me too). This snake is a little unpredictable...only Rainbow I have that seems to enjoy to scare the !#*&! out of me with her striking.
>>>>
>>>>Any suggestions? I'm just waiting....nothing else I can think of doing.
-----
When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teachers appears.