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An uncomfortable girl

paulbuck Apr 03, 2009 06:14 PM

I'd call her chubs but she's overly sensitive right now. Eve's been basking for the last two weeks mainly where the temps range from 85 to 88. Last night she moved down one level and I gunned her mass at 83.5. Its interesting to watch her slowly adjust her position to regulate the temps. Lets hope for babies and not pills:

Thanks for looking,
Paul

Replies (15)

paulbuck Apr 03, 2009 06:19 PM

Using Dave's 117 days after POS, she is due May 25. Other than the December litter in '07, her other litters were June 4 and May 23. She also slugged out on May 23, 2005.
Paul

Miloradovich Apr 03, 2009 07:09 PM

Wow, she looks huge! Good luck, here's hoping for a lot of baby boas.
Have all her litter's been in consecutive years?

paulbuck Apr 03, 2009 07:51 PM

That position in the cave really bulges her out. She's big but that pic makes her look really big.
Her birth dates are:
--June 4, 2002 (15)
--May 23, 2005 (23 slugs)
--May 23, 2006 (14)
--December 20, 2007 (19).
Ah the wait......
I saw that you've got a BCI cooking; how about your Rainbows?
Paul

Miloradovich Apr 03, 2009 09:29 PM

Either way she looks really good. If she gets any bigger she's gonna have a hard time cramming her self in her cave. What did you do differently in 07 to get a litter in December? Your other dates seem really consistent. I had my litters early last year but I put them together during the cooling instead of after and they courted through the cooling period for me.
As for this year, I don't think that I'll have any rainbows babies. I'll have to live vicarously through you and other breeders on the forum in that regard, lol. My girls oughta have good weight for next year though.
I do have a few BCI litters in the oven right now though so that's exciting. The first one is due in less than a month an the anticipation gets worse the closer I get.
I've had 5 clear BCI ovulations this year, but one of those isn't acting gravid in the sense that I am used too. She had a big swell followed by a shed 20 days later, what I assumed to be ovulation and pos. Afterward though, she started cruising her cage, acting hungry and keeping lower body temps so I put the male back in with her and he went right back to work so I don't know what to think about her.
I also have a couple more girls who've been with males and although I didn't see and ovulation are now acting gravid. I'll have to wait and see what happens.
I did really poorly with BCI last year and had two slug out litters an zero babies. I did really well with my other boids though and had 3 out of 3 BRB litters, 11 out of 12 rosy litters and 2 out of 2 ball clutches so I can't complain. No matter how I do I am having fun and that is what counts. Besides there's always next year for those that don't go this year. (That's been my mantra for a couple of hopefull pairings in years past.)
Here's the O/T girl in question. It's a bad angle but it sure looked like and ovulation to me in person. You can kinda see it in the back of the photo.

Jeff Clark Apr 03, 2009 11:34 PM

Jason,
...You have the RIGHT attitude. No matter what the results are we are having fun with this. If breeding boids was easy and could be done with 100% of our breeders producing big litters everybody would be making baby boids and we would have to give them away. I have tried off and on for the last 20 years to breed Bcc and still have not had a live baby born. Good luck to you this year.
Jeff

Miloradovich Apr 04, 2009 10:16 AM

Thanks Jeff. Good luck with all your pairings this year too. I think if breeding boids was too easy it would also take some of the fun out of the hobby. It's neat to know that all the work you put into the care of the animals is making them comfortable enough to not only thrive in captive care, but also to reproduce.
I think the only part I really don't care for is cleaning rat cages. It could be worse though at least I'm not alergic to them. I've got a buddy who needs to wear a mask and rubber gloves when he changes rat bedding.

paulbuck Apr 04, 2009 02:06 AM

That December litter was a surprise; didn't even know she was gravid (embarrassing). I think I missed the obvious signs because she was pregnant when the temps were high because of the summer months and it wasn't until late November when she started coming up higher in the cage and basking. I remember asking my wife 'wow, does she look fat to you'. Yep, embarrassing.
I don't initiate a cooling cycle; during the cooler months the lower portions get cooler at night and this creates a wide daily temperature fluctuation that seems to stimulate them. Here in Sacramento when that large diurnal swing starts in late October they start getting frisky. That year Adam was breeding her through May by my notes and I think I remember them locked up even in early June. However, she fed heavily through the summer and I just assumed she didn't take.
I run some risks housing them communally but it is interesting.
Thanks,
Paul

Miloradovich Apr 04, 2009 10:23 AM

What a nice surprise though! Was like a Christmas present from your BRB's.
Housing them comunally, do you find that durng non breeding seasons, they stay together, or are they pretty indiferent to having the other in the cage? I have always understood that the introduction is part of the what can trigger the breeding response in males and females but obviously that isn't the case for you.

paulbuck Apr 04, 2009 09:48 PM

There is four adult BRB's in my enclosure (two of which came from Eve's first litter). With the multiple levels and large size they can usually find the temp they want without having to pile on top of each other. However; it is not uncommon to find two together sharing a spot on the floor area (the caves and stump are pretty much one snake spots). When they are all just resting it seems like there is endless room in my enclosure but when several are out and about (occasionally all four) the cage shrinks dramatically. I've yet to see the two siblings engage in any reproductive activity (the young male came of age and acted interested but his dad pushed him around pretty good and he's been submissive ever since).
Paul

Housing them comunally, do you find that durng non breeding seasons, they stay together, or are they pretty indiferent to having the other in the cage? I have always understood that the introduction is part of the what can trigger the breeding response in males and females but obviously that isn't the case for you.

rainbowsrus Apr 03, 2009 11:12 PM

She looks great!!! Pace, Pace, Pace
-----
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

paulbuck Apr 04, 2009 01:37 AM

..

Jeff Clark Apr 03, 2009 11:47 PM

Paul,
...She looks real healthy and real gravid. I love BRBs like that. With due date so close you could use a Doppler fetal heart monitor and probably hear some heartbeats.
Good luck,
Jeff

paulbuck Apr 04, 2009 01:41 AM

Yep, another toy I'd love to have. But then if I could hear little heartbeats I couldn't do my expect-the-worse-and-be-pleasantly-surprised spiel.
Thanks Jeff,
Paul

gfx Apr 04, 2009 12:16 AM

LOL....that poor thing...

Looking forward to the birth announcement!
-----
Julie
www.[url ban]/gfx

paulbuck Apr 04, 2009 01:48 AM

Thank you Julie. I'm hoping to post a 'I've got babies!' too.
Time will tell.
Paul

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