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Any answers will be appreciated!!
I had a big female albino locked up with my male DHsunglow from Dec thru Jan 7. On Jan 7th she shed, which I thought was her POS. Now 6 weeks later it's obvious that she's not gravid. Never tightly coiled in the HCP, nor does she keep her temps up in the high 80's which she could if she stayed on the hot side. She also feeds and looks thin(without any mid to low body swelling).
My question to you guys/gals that have gone through this, is do you try again this year. She's plenty big enough(24lbs) and actually has taken a few smaller meals in the past month. If yes to try again this year, do you go ahead and cool her and the male/males again?? Maybe for a week or so?? Not sure what to do here. I was really excited for this pairing and dissapointed she did not take the first time.
Thanks in advance for any input.
Ralph

Try it again next season that is..... The reason I say so is because thats what I did. Last year I bred an arabesque het albino female to a sunglow male. Although I never saw an ovulation, I was sure she was gravid. Well, months went by without feeding, and she turned out not to be. I put her on food again around July when I finally gave up hope, and placed the same male in with her in October. That arabesque female finally ovulated last thursday, and the good kind, the definate "football" ovulation, and is in her POS right now. So it looks like it worked this time around. We will find out the first week of June. Here she is in ovulation about 10 days ago.

Bottom line, if ur 100% sure she didn't take, get her back on food, and when next season comes around, start all over. If cooling is what works for you, do it. Do you're normal routine and act as if this season never happened. Stick with what works for you

Congrats on your ovulation. Hope to see some Arabesque sunglows. The difference in circumstances was that you where sure she was gravid and she turned out not to be, my circumstance is the exact opposite. I'm 99% sure she isn't gravid. She hasn't lost any weight, and is in perfect shape.
What to do??? I'm losing sleep over dilemas like this.
Thanks
Ralph

her body temp and your hot spot temp???
Bob

Bob and others,
Her body temps shoot 85-86 when on cool side and 87-88 on heat. She usually thermoregulates twice a day. As far as the mid 80's thing goes, thats the temp which her enclosure is at. I could and have put a male in and he shoots the same temps after a day. I have put the same male that breed her as well as a super stud DHghost that will breed throughout the year, back in for a few days with her. They both seem not interested, I think possibly the temps are too high. That is my assumption, I'm not optimistic enough to assume they dont show interst because she's gravid. The interesting thing is when she's on the heat, she's never coiled in the HCP. I have a gravid girl who is due on Feb 22 and basically she has been one big piled up lump. Her temps always shoot 88-89, never thermoregulates, just hugs the heat. Anyway with this big albino girl, she never coils tight but when on the heat she makes one big body loop and she looks a little more swelled then when she's off the heat. Here is a pic I just took at 4:00a.m eastern. Between the snakes and 3 sick kids, I can't get any sleep!!lol
Here's the pic:

Real quick example of what I was saying. The last pic she appears thick, almost by looking you would say she's got something brewing in there. Here she is 1/2 hour later. Stretched out and thin. She'll stay stretched out for hours, I'm not an expert and would love for someone to tell me their girl did this too. But I do believe most gravid girls, coming up on 6 weeks post POS do not stretch out like this off the heat. Here she is 1/2 hour after the last pic.

check the scale separation out. That's usually a dead give away. You said you've only been giving her small meals and she looks bigger than she should off of small meals. That combined with the fact that the males aren't showing interest, even your stud... good signs my friend.
Just because she's not coiled up in the HCP doesn't mean she's not gravid. Out of my 2 girls last season, one coiled up and the other didn't. Coincidentally, the one that stayed in the HCP had half and half slugs and live babies. The other that never coiled and only stayed stretched out like yours had 15 babies and no slugs.
I have VERY limited experience breeding but from what you're saying and what I've seen, you're on the right track. Only another 10-12 weeks and you'll know for sure!
Best of luck, jb
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Jonathan Brady
"Sarcasm is angers ugly cousin" -Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) in "Anger Management".

Jonathan,
Thanks for the optimism. The fact that you had a girl that didn't remain coiled gives me some hope. I'll let my two studs stay in there for one or two more days, then I'll pull them and wait for April 22. It makes it so much easier when you witness the big (football) ovulation. It kind of locks up your mind set. Plus the fact that my two other gravid girls have done everything by the book, which is why I'm so skeptical about this girl. I need to find a vet that makes house calls with an ultrasound machine.lol
Thanks
Ralph
P.S. Jonathan, any pics of your girl from last year when she was stretched out. Just curious to see the thickness of the mid to lower body.

my girl was HUGE though, so it's much more noticeable. At 6 years old and only a little over 5.5', for her to have 15 babies, obviously she was enormous. These pics were taken exactly 6 weeks before delivery.

another

These pics show that the HCP isn't necessary to get this:

Hope this was helpful!
jb
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Jonathan Brady
"Sarcasm is angers ugly cousin" -Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) in "Anger Management".

JBrady, I like her so much I got to get one of her kids
Bob

can ya wait a year and a half?
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Jonathan Brady
"Sarcasm is angers ugly cousin" -Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) in "Anger Management".

I'm broke at the momentlol or not, just trying to build up the brb collection a little
Bob

My girl just defecated. It wasn't very lg. but non the less she went. Can A girl who is going on 6weeks POS defecate while being gravid.
Thanks
Ralph

She' enormous in those pics. Thanks for posting, I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Ralph

Like Jon my girl last year didn't remain coiled. She also looked similar in proportion to your female. If this is her first litter it could just be a small one. But she looks good to me. I'm going through a dilemma with 2 females this year that haven't had a POS, but I am 95% sure they are gravid.
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Gilbert Boas
The Boa List!

I'd like to know how that turns out. My situation is similar.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

well, if you are talking about putting the male back in with her this season..... I'm not really sure, I guess I don't really see why not..... Go for it! Worst case is that she doesn't take, and you try it again next season, so you really have nothing to lose when you look at it like that. Someone else already said this, and I'll second the idea NOT to cool them again, just put the male back in the way they are now at the current temps. Worst that could happen is what you already think is going on, so I would try it and see what the male does, if he goes back at her, great! if he doesn't go near her, hope you are wrong in saying she didn't take, but if its true that she didn't, try again next season! Keep us posted!
Tony

If you are that worried about it then put the male back in with her don't cool her again though. Keep feeding her smaller meals,that way if buy some chance she is gravid it will not bother her. This couldn't hurt. Evan when my girls are gravid i still offer smaller meals if they will take it. Like i said this is my 2 cents and there are a hundred different opin. on here

Try again next season. Use the same male though, or you may have a mixed litter.

BTW, you don't need to cool them to have successful litters. I don't change anything.