Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys, just thought I'd ask a quick question to you pro's or not so pro's out there. I have an ATB i just bought today at the Reptile Show in Raliegh NC.

Ben Seigel Had so many nice snakes, he didn't have the ball pythons I was looking for but he did have one of my other favorites, the ATB.

He had some awesome colored ones, but I am in love with Garden Phases. I know, simple. I also like the reds and solid yellows. I have another Garden here at home and wanted another. So I told him I needed a female. First couple he looked through were males I was beginning to lose hope. Although he had quite a few gardens. He told me that he was positive this one was female, they were stacked behind the table, so I couldn't really see. He said $100 and she's yours. (The others were $40).

Long Story short, she is gravid. I kept asking how far along she was, but he kept talking about how to treat her, she'll be my first pregnant snake. Although I do plan on breeding het balls this fall.

Here is a pic, if anyone ccould give me a rough estimate of how far along she is, please let me know. And any advice on temps would be great too.

Right now she is in a room with my other snakes. (1.1 Albino Green Burms, 0.1 Het Albino Burm, 0.1 Tiger Retic, 1.5 Ball Pythons, 1.0 (1.1 now - ATB's.)

Temps are as follows -

Day - 86-90
Night - 82-85

Temps in my opinion are to hot. I would only keep it at a high of 82-83 in the day time and drop it down to 75 at night.

Joe

Your temps seem fine to me; about where I kept my female. In fact, I kept a 85-90 spot 24 hours a day once I was sure she was gravid. She decided on her own and what temperature she wanted to be at any given time. Just give her as many choices for basking (several branches at different levesl) as possible.

It's impossible to know how far along your girl is without knowing when she bred. Only thing you can do is pay attention to her behavir, feeding response, etc., and just wait it out. They won't change size or shape much for the duration of pregnancy, and their shed cycles aren't reliable enought to give any accurate estimate. She could be a few weeks away, could be several months. Just offer her food, keep her warm and well watered, and let her do the rest. Be prepared now for babies, though, in case it is only a few weeks off. One thing you could watch for at some point is a pre-birth defecation. Even if she's not been feeding while pregnant, she'll probably have a small bowel movement (may be mostly urates, slightly slimy - it varies) up to a few weeks before giving birth. Besides this, there's really now way to tell without just watching her and making a "guesstimation" based on changes in activity, etc. Good luck,

-Christian-
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pythonelmer.com

"Game over man, game over!"
-Hudson, Aliens

Thanks! That makes me feel a lot better. She does have several braches to choose from and a nice basking spot. She moves freely within the cage to where she wants.

Thanks for the replies.

Joel

that ATB's have a very long gestation. The best way that I can tell that babies are coming within several days is to watch the mass move down towards the vent. For the main portion of gestation the mass will be somewhat mid-body with a few inches between the end of the mass and the vent. About two weeks or so prior to birth, the mass will move all the way down to the vent. Once this happens, it is coming very soon. Babies seem to always appear when the lights go out, like most other snakes. Also be advised that they are very small. This was my first year using Vision 222's and when I walked in on babies, one had nearly escaped between the two sliding glass doors. I have only been using colored adults and always get a high amount of colored babies. You can expect to see any assortment of colors and patterns even with gardens. You don't know what the male looked like that bred her so ya never know. Good luck!