Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK so here is the scenario. I just separated my males as they were (doing very little for a couple of days) for a feed. Bear in mind that my season has been a bit "sluggish" as far as courting attempts so far. As I was checking the my setups I noticed that one of my heat pads that was on the bottom of my AP cage has fallen off (adhesive went beat) and is no longer touching the cage (I have an inch spacer between stacked cages). This is no the cage that the Yagi female is in (who was breeding Hercules). Just for kicks I decided to check her body temp as the ambient is only around 81° at this point. Guess what.....Her body temps are in the high 80's.

The gound she is sitting on ... well ... see for yourself....

This pair has only been together since 10-26-07. Breeding has been "sparatic" at best and I have not seen ovulation. She doesn't really appear to be going into shed but I will give it a check over the next few days. All of my other snakes (including the other female that is breeding) are reading between 80 and 82 and they have heat.

My questions are....
*is it possible for a boa without a heat source to raise their body temps to that extent
*could she be raising it because she is already gravid and I just missed ovulation and it is before she is going into her POS

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks
-----

My suri female was due last summer (but wound up not being gravid). When I was asking for advice then, many people told me to look for elevated (86-89 degree) body temps as a clue that she was gravid. Her temp was about 86, but her hot spot was 90, so that might be why.

I do think they can thermoregulate to some degree. Not sure if they "shiver" to do it like some snakes do around their eggs.

Was she directly over where the heat pad had been? Maybe the floor was warmer right there. But still, seems like 88 is a good sign if the people who told me gravid females tend to have higher temps are right.... Good luck!
-----
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

I have been checking my snakes lately as a matter of fact. Most are 1 to 2 deg. higher than their substrtate. All boas. Juveniles and adults. I have no under tank heat source, just a couple of space heaters I'm constantly adjusting and moving about.
I'd venture to guess you have something. Probably a good sign.
jsc

I wouldn't put that much faith into it. Too many factors come into play, especially since it's so early in the season.

Oh believe me, the male is going back in after another day of digestion. Just seemed strange how her temps were that high when there was no heat source to elevate it. I am not used to seeing temps that high in a boa that isn't gravid. Just thought I would throw it out there as food for thought
-----

I had an Argentine that would get her body temp up and over 120 degrees throughout her gestation. That was of course with a heat source, so 88 degrees to me wouldn't be out of the norm. And most if not all snakes are not completly Ectothermic by definition. I can't remeber the exact term, but the Barkers had an article about how it works in thier online magazine ( along with alot of other good scientific articles ).

I have never actually tried this but a cool expeirament to try would be to wait for the male and female to coil together in the exact same spot. Then measure both temps. Maybe male will be thermoregulated to lower temps?
-----
2.2 Columbian common boas (Zeus, Athena, Aphodite, Hades)
1.1 Corn snakes (Appolo, Boreas)
0.1 King snake tri striped cal morph (Helios)

One thing I have noticed is that newspaper very quickly cools off when you open the door. The skin of the paper is so thin it looses its heat almost immediately while the female Boa will retain her heat for a long time. Though you are measuring less than 83 degrees in the picture, I'll bet when the door is closed, before cool air rushes in from the room, that the newspaper is a far more toasty temperature. You can even watch this happen by having your arm at the ready and slipping it in very quickly. Shoot the paper and watch the temp drop precipitously as the room air cools it. If you have a stand alone thermometer that you can place beside her, with the door shut, that will give you a more accurate temperature reading of the area. Just a little food for thought.
-----
Boaphile Home
All Original/Boaphile Plastics
The Boa Network

Just to update what was going on. She is in blue right now. I still don't think it is a POS as that would have been wayyy too quick (only about three and a half to four weeks of breeding) AND I just put Hercules back in with her last night and he mounted her immediately. He, I suppose doesn't feel like he is finnished with her. The interesting thing is that her last shed was only about 5 weeks ago (i called Phong to figure that out). I will keep everyone posted.
-----