Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,
I have a normal female Columbian that arrived to me gravid via UPS. She was in shed when I got her, and I assumed that to be the POS (I didn't realize she was gravid for a couple of weeks). Calculating from that date, 105 days would have been last Friday, the 28th. So, that puts her now at 114 days. She is still thermoregulating and holding higher than normal temps (86-88 degrees).
At what point should I worry? Could the stress of shipping in the beginning be delaying things now? What happens if she never partuates?
Thanks for the help!
Chris
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Chris
0.1 Normal "Pastel" BCI
0.1 Normal BCI
1.0 Albino BCI
0.1 Normal Het Albino BCI
1.0 25% Suri Het Albino BCI
2.1 Striped BCI
0.1 Normal BP
1.1 APBT
1.2 Rug Rats

Shipping and the lower temps involved could easily stretch out the gestation interval. Some records I've kept and gathered from others on BRB's clearly shows only a few degrees different ambient temps having a significant effect on length of gestation.

When to worry - up to you. IMO if you are providing proper care now there's not much else you can do other than watch and wait.

One item I have that is not only helpful but fun as well is a "fetal heart monitor". They are sold for people to hear the heartbeat of their unborn fetus. Got mine on ebay. I use it to find/listen to baby heartbeats inside the gravid females.
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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:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Thanks, Dave. I figured there's not much I can do right now but wait. I just keep checking about 1000 times every day expecting something. Babies, slugs, something. Good to know about the longer gestation in BRB's due to lower temps. That could definately come into play.
My wife and I had one of those monitors you talked about. We could never find the heartbeat of our child, so I'm not sure what my chances would be with a baby snake Kind of wish I had it to give it a try now!
Anyway, thanks again for your input. We'll see what happens!
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Chris
0.1 Normal "Pastel" BCI
0.1 Normal BCI
1.0 Albino BCI
0.1 Normal Het Albino BCI
1.0 25% Suri Het Albino BCI
2.1 Striped BCI
0.1 Normal BP
1.1 APBT
1.2 Rug Rats

I agree that a Fetal Doppler is a great idea. I've been using one since 2004. I've had 100% accuracy in determining if a boa was carrying live babies.

If you decide to get one. Make sure it's a good quality one. Not the ones they sell at Wal Mart. Those won't cut it.

I got both of my Dopplers on Ebay. They've more than paid for themselves.

This year, I had a female that I didn't know was gravid. She never ovulated. At least I never saw it. I put a male in with her as an after thought. The male had just come off his second female and I wasn't expecting anything from the pairing.

I gave up on her being gravid, since I didn't see an ovulation. She wasn't eating and I was getting ready to take her to the vet. I just knew she was sick. Then..... I decided to check her with the Doppler.

It only took a few seconds to realize she was gravid. She didn't have that many in her either. When she gave birth, there were 4 live babies and 14 slugs. I guess the male was out of "stuff". Anyway, even with just a few babies in her, I was able to hear the Heart Beats.

That's good to know. We had one of the crappy ones before. I'm sure that was a big part of the problem. I think I'll start keeping an eye out for a good deal on ebay. Might help keep me sane with future litters.

As of today (day 115 POS), she's been all over her cage, so I'm hoping that's a good sign. We've had about 3 weeks of sunny days and high pressure, and it's finally starting to cloud over. Hopefully a change in weather will bring good things. Something has to happen...right?
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Chris
0.1 Normal "Pastel" BCI
0.1 Normal BCI
1.0 Albino BCI
0.1 Normal Het Albino BCI
1.0 25% Suri Het Albino BCI
2.1 Striped BCI
0.1 Normal BP
1.1 APBT
1.2 Rug Rats

Yeah,
They're run about 150 dollars. They really give you peace of mind.

Besides being really cool to hear those little hearts beating.

Just don't listen too often. I did a write up on Clay's forum about the results on using the doppler. It would be nice if others used it and kept track of their results to add to it later.

I only verify live babies, then I wait for them to be born. I just don't want to take any chances of the Doppler causing problems, such as deformities or still borns. I really don't think it causes them, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.