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I was wondering if the female typically swells twice (the pre-ovulation swell, and then again while she ovulates)...OR, does she just swell once (the pre-ovulation swell) and then ovulation occurs but you can only assume it is occurring because the pre-ovu. swell took place a couple weeks before ovulation happens?

Thanks,

Mat

>>I was wondering if the female typically swells twice (the pre-ovulation swell, and then again while she ovulates)...OR, does she just swell once (the pre-ovulation swell) and then ovulation occurs but you can only assume it is occurring because the pre-ovu. swell took place a couple weeks before ovulation happens?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>Mat

From what I've read....

There's a pre-ovulation swell and your boa does, sort of a twist thing. If you see it, you'll know what it is.

Then shortly after the pre-ov they have 2 more swellings. The last 2 swellings are the ovulations. Sometimes there's 2 and other times there's 1 really "HUGE" one.

From what I've seen with my boas it a little different. I see what I said above, but I see one more "something".

With my boas I see a "roundness" prior to the pre-ov swelling. It's hard to explain, but if you've seen it, then you know what I mean.

My females will have a "firming" in the area where ovulation takes place. They have a slightly "round" appearance to the last half of their body. Sometimes this roundness is really subtle. The first time I noticed it was when I was cleaning cages. As my female boa slithered through my hands, I felt a slight bulge. Sort of like she had just eaten a rat, but she didn't. Her body slowly got a roundness over the next 2 weeks. Then she had her pre-ovulation swell. It was about 8 days after the pre-ov when she had her first ovulation. The second ovulation was 4 days later.

I bred this same female again this year. I saw the same roundness I had seen 2 years ago. She just had her second ovulation the other day. I was surprised that she had ovulated so early in the season.
Anyway that's what happens with my boas. That roundness is what I look for as a sign that ovulation is pending.Or... At least, that things are going in the right direction.

Right - aside from the pre-ov swell, since they have two ovaries, the ovaries can be active at the same time, or at slightly different times. If both ovulations occur at the same time, a large swelling occurs. If not, one side goes, and then the other, from everything I've heard.

But - sometimes the different swellings aren't as noticible, either! I think they like being mysterious, sometimes....
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com | CageMakers
1.1 Ball Python, 1.0 Hog Island Boa, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 1.1 Saharan Sand Boa

what causes the pre-ov swell if that is different from the ovulation swell(s)?

>>what causes the pre-ov swell if that is different from the ovulation swell(s)?

I believe pre-ov swell is when the eggs are moving into the ovaducts for fertalizaion and ovulation is the swell once they are moving into the uterus for development.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong.
Thanks,
-April
boaphile's article about breeding

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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

Pretty much - I think the pre-ovulation swell is the follicles getting mature. Not sure if they even move when they do that, but the ovaries swell when the follicles are maturing. The follicles of the ovaries release the eggs during ovulation, which is when the eggs travel out of the ovaries into the ovaducts.

Fertilization occurs after ovulation, even if the sperm was already deposited BEFORE ovulation (boas can retain sperm for a long time).
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com | CageMakers
1.1 Ball Python, 1.0 Hog Island Boa, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 1.1 Saharan Sand Boa