Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok when females start produceing follicles and swell does that mean they are gravid or are the follicles unfertile until a male breeds with her????

I'm alittle confused on the time line too.. 3 of my females that have been breeding since mid october all have swole up and I think I'm feeling follicles all 3 are going into shed at the same time and for the 1st time last week before the shed began refused food.. Is this the prelay shed and about how long after the shed can I start exspecting eggs???

Any info is greatly appreciate.. My mini fridge incubator is hooked up and ready to go..
Best of luck to all this season!!!!!!

Have you witnessed ovulation? If you have not seen any ovulations, then this is likely the pre-ovulation shed and you should watch for the swelling in the middle!

Susan
SSNAKES

A few of them are swollen already in a similar way just not as radical as yours.. This is my first season breeding and I have had all my girls locked up with atleast 2 different males.. BUT I havent realy noticed any radical signs of being gravid besides some minor swelling.. If this is prelay shed how long til eggs? If this is pre ovulation shed then how long til eggs? I check on them everyday just trying to get a better idea of when I should be exspecting...

Sheds are important indicators to watch for and they give you an idea what is happening. The pre-ovulation shed indicates just that.....ovulation will come sometime after it. I usually look for it 2-4 weeks after shed. Shortly after ovulation there will be another shed - the pre-lay shed. From the date of the pre-lay shed, your female should lay eggs about 30 days later.
Good Luck!

Susan
SSNAKES

how do you go about feeling the follicles? are they easy or hard to feel? i have tryed in the past and never felt anything. i have felt and seen eggs in my frilled dragons and other lizards but never in the snakes is there any tricks to it?
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reed at www.ReedsDragons.com & www.KillerEnclosures.com

In my opinion this is the preovulation shed. After the shed reintroduce your male for at least a week or two. Than keep checking for the ovulation which results about three to four weeks or so from the preovulation shed. If you saw copulation before this shed than not necessary to reintroduce your male again. But it still wont hurt. If you check every day you would know if she has ovulated.

Well I know for a fact two of the females shed about a month ago thats when they swole up and two of them just reshed so Im thinking thats the pre lay shed for them.. I started breeding them in late september... Since I had moved from a hot state to a cooler state I used the temperature change in my advantage.. All the females I have are atleast 7-10yrs old and from my knowledge none of them are proven... Thanks for all the info..
Jbugg

Females have follicles year round. Each one has the POTENTIAL to become an egg, but there is certainly no guarantee, it depends on the rest of the puzzle.

Inactive follicles may be just 2-3 mm in diameter. As the cycle moves along, they grow to 10-15 mm, this is prime time for pairing.

They continue to grow to nearly 30 mm. If they were fertilized, she may ovulate and make eggs. If not, if your timing was off, you have a bad male, whatever, they will shrink back down again and you have likely missed your window for the season.

The Ball Breeding DVD from Doc Seward and TSK has some good video of follicular development and manually palpating for follicles.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles